Kickstart courses

Our unique Kickstart courses are designed to quickly get developers up and running building applications, giving you a solid understanding of the technology and build your confidence with hands-on experience of using the design tools and best practise design techniques.

Is this course for me?

This course is designed for people who have an understanding of relational databases; they understand how to use tables and relationships in an application and have some knowledge of working with SQL, but need to know how to do this in SQL Server. We assume you have not had any experience of using SQL Server, although we often have developers with SQL Server experience on the course that need to gain a far deeper understanding of how to best design SQL Server applications. During the course we look at how Microsoft Access can be connected to SQL Server.

Example candidate profiles

Ian has existing Access database applications and wants to move the data into SQL Server but keep the application running in Access connected to SQL Server, he has some exposure to SQL but is not confident in writing SQL. Ian has never used SQL Server and needs to get started on several conversion projects.

Mary has converted several Access applications to SQL Server, but is self-taught and wants to find out much more about the details of how SQL Server works, she needs to understand subjects like clustered indexing, how to write triggers, how to run maintenance plans, how to analyse her SQL when it has poor performance, what timestamps are and solve a problem with log files which seem to be getting very large.

Jake is building applications in .net and has inherited an Access application to convert to SQL Server, he needs to understand how to best do the conversion, but he also needs a much better understanding of writing stored procedures and triggers with TSQL. Jake also wants to understand how to work with temporary tables and needs a solid understanding of how to plan security.

Course overview

To build and maintain applications in SQL Server you need an understanding of key SQL Server concepts including Services, Instances, Log Files, Backups, Maintenance Plans, Security and Schemas. It is also important to build a good level of confidence in writing SQL for use in stored procedures, triggers and views, and in understanding how TSQL extends the SQL standard with programming language features. We also cover the topics of transactions, indexing and multi-user locking ensuring that you can resolve problems in performance and application behaviour. Finally we discuss issues relating to connecting an Access application to SQL Server such as how to migrate the data and re-link the application, using pass-through queries and linking to stored procedures. This is a comprehensive course to enable delegates to either efficiently get started with SQL Server, or fill in gaps in their knowledge when building SQL Server applications.

Course format

An instructor-led online course consisting of 6 modules and presented over three days, each day requires 4 hours study and covers 2 modules.

• Concepts and tools
  

  In this module you will gain an understanding of the key concepts and the architecture of SQL Server providing you with a solid introduction in how to work with and configure the product. You will also learn about the differences between a file-server database like Access and SQL Server, allowing you to start planning how to develop a client-server application.

          Client-Server Design
          SQL Server Products
          Services and Instances
          SQL Server Management Studio
          Creating databases
          Transaction Log Files
          Maintenance Plans and Backup/Restore
          Installing and Configuring SQL Server
          Security, Schemas and Database Roles
  
  
  
• T-SQL Part1: Creating Tables, Relationships and Manipulating Data
  

  In this module you will learn now to create objects in SQL Server using both the interactive graphical interface, and using TSQL. By the end of the module you will also have a significant level of expertise in working with the management studio tool.

          Creating tables
          Choosing field/column data types
          Scripting design work
          Working with the IDENTITY property
          Check constraints
          Built in functions
          User Defined Functions
          Inserting, Updating and Deleting Data
          Schemas and synonyms
  
  
  
• T-SQL Part2: SELECT and Views
  

  In this module we have a review of writing of SQL, and extend this knowledge looking at many of the extensions to SQL supported in SQL Server. The module ends with an introduction to the important topic of views.

          SELECT, ORDER BY, DISTINCT, table and column name aliases
          WHERE clause syntax
          UNION, JOIN syntax and Cartesian products
          Sub-queries and Correlated sub-queriesbr
          Aggregates, GROUP BY and HAVING
          CASE statements
          COALESCE, NULLIF and ISNULL functions
          VIEWS
          TOP
  
  
  
• T-SQL Programming, Stored Procedures and Transactions
  

  The module provides you with an understanding of how to write TSQL program code, it covers the use of variables, programming loops, error handling and working with temporary objects. You will also learn how to write stored procedures and work with the transaction model.

          Object Syntax, Scripts, batches & Transactions
          Variables, IF Statements, While Loops and Temporary Objects
          System Stored Procedures
          Writing Stored Procedures and using parameters
          Transaction Processing
          Transaction Isolation Levels
          Locking
  
  
  
• Triggers and Indexing
  

  Triggers enable you to hang program code on a table which reacts to Insert, Update and Delete events; they provide a unique flexibility in tracking changes made to data and performing specialised operations such as auditing and validation. In this module we also look at best practise in indexing a database, this includes explaining common indexing terms and investigating how to investigate the performance of SQL in respect of how the database is indexed. A final section in this module looks at multi-user locking issues; how to monitor and resolve locking problems.

          Creating Triggers
          Virtual Tables
          Detecting Trigger Actions
          Using Triggers in Applications
          Clustered & non-Clustered Indexes
          Choosing what to index
          Investigating Index Plans and Resolving Indexing problems
          Monitoring locking
          Resolving locking problems
  
  
  
• Linking Access To SQL Server
  

  In this module we look at connecting an Access application to data held in SQL Server. The module starts by looking at creating DSN connection, ODBC drivers and how these are used when linking to tables and views, pass-through queries and ADO connections. Then we look at how you plan to convert a database, the conversion process and changes that need to be made to the application after conversion.

          Drivers, DSN’s and Connections
          Linked Tables and Views
          DAO and Pass-through Queries
          Cursors and Timestamps
          Error Handling
          Transactions
          ADO
          Converting Access Databases to SQL Server
  
  
  

Course Fee

The course fee is £450, around $717 USD for USA and non EEC Countries, ( £528.75 including VAT at 17.5% for UK and EEC Customers ), this includes all telephone conferencing costs as detailed below.

Inclusive audio-conferencing costs in course Fee

In order to provide the highest quality training experience our courses are delivered using 12 hrs of telephone conference calls, all call charges are included in the course fees for delegates attending from the following countries :- UK, USA, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

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Equipment and Software

Delegates need to their own computer loaded with appropriate software; SQL Server 2005/2008 or SQL Server Express and a copy of Microsoft Office (2000/XP/2003/2007).

If you do not have a copy of SQL Server, then we would recommend purchasing the 'SQL Server Developer Edition' which is available from sources such as Amazon and can be purchased for under £50.

FREE Online training session

We offer a FREE 30 minute session to enable you to fully understand the level of each course, meet the trainer and ensure the online training experience will meet your individual training needs.Click here for details of our FREE Online training session

Course scheduling for international time zones

Course times are scheduled for both USA and European time zones. View our training schedules to see how these times meet your own local time-zone requirements. Training Schedule

Watch a pre-recorded 10 minute overview of our courses

Use the link below to visit our training centre and select Recorded Sessions from the menus to view a 10 minute overview of our training courses

Delegate Comments On Our Courses

"Many thanks for the course I picked up a lot of holes in my knowledge due to learning on the hoof just what I needed for the job in hand. It was an unexpected bonus to have this on a one to one basis! The use of online technology was not so daunting as I expected and for a large part of the time I was able to forget it was there. It was strange doing it at home, but very convenient in many ways. Fortunately I had my customers primed not to be contacting me except in dire emergency. That was always the big advantage of physically going away to a course but this time they did listen to me."
- Ian Johnson : barnsoft.plus.com

"An intensive course, with fast pace, but small number of trainees, together with a friendly, relaxed atmosphere made for a good learning experience. The course material was well prepared, with CD to take away at the end of it. Thanks, Andy." 
- Angela Rowe : CapGemini

"One of the best courses I have ever attended - well presented with strong support."
- David Calder : King's College Hospital NHS Trust

"Just a quick email to say thank you for the excellent course you presented. People have asked me how it went and I've been telling them that on a number previous (so called expert)courses I've been on, I've sat there, whilst they ramble on about things I already know, thinking what time's lunch! But your course was far from that situation and I learnt an awful lot and judging from the scale of SQL Server still have a lot to learn."
-Mark Walton

"Many thanks for organizing and running your SQL Server course. This course was perfect for me in terms of the scope and detail that you covered and two days was an ideal length of time for me to commit. I liked the venue which had all of the facilities we needed, set to a good standard and providing a comfortable environment for us. I liked your choice of course numbers that enabled each of us to obtain some 1:1 time with you for the personal guidance that (I for one) needed as we progressed the exercises. Most of all, I liked your presentation that was clear and interesting throughout. I felt as if the course had been tailor made for me, needing to use SQL Server but not sure where to start and with experience in Access taken as a “given”. I will have no hesitation in recommending your course to others."
- Frank Douglass, Delian Systems Ltd

"I would also like to thank you for the course, I enjoyed it but see it very much as a stepping stone, so I still have a lot of work to do."
- Liz Dicks : Nice Work Ltd

"Excellent course as ever - thanks for all your hard work."
- Andrew Willis : Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust

"Thank you Andrew for a very informative course. It was time well spent. I feel as though I am now up and running... well at least walking!"
- Glenn Cullum : Starting Point Solutions

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by Andrew Couch Office Access MVP, Director ASC Associates andy@ascassociates.biz