Microsoft Gives Away SQL Server Web Services ToolkitMicrosoft Gives Away SQL Server Web Services Toolkit

Microsoft is giving away new development tools for building Web services that run with its SQL Server 2000 database. The toolkit for building XML-based applications supports Microsoft's Visual Studio.Net development environment that also was unveiled Wednesday.

With the toolkit, developers can build Web services that extend applications and stored procedures built for the SQL Server 2000 database without changing the database, says Jeff Ressler, SQL Server marketing product manager. Web services provide a way to share data and applications within a company and outside a firewall. For example, the tools will let database administrators make data available to a broad range of internal applications in a consistent fashion, Ressler says.

Microsoft is making the SQL Server 2000 Web Services Toolkit for Microsoft.Net available on its Web site. The kit also includes white papers, code samples, and documentation.

In a related announcement, Crystal Decisions says its Crystal Reports query and reporting tool is being bundled with VS.Net to let developers build interactive reporting capabilities into XML Web-service applications. That will let a company share reports through the Internet and provide a way for customers and business partners to host those reports inside their own applications.