|
<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation: Apollo VCL Components > Getting Started > Getting Started |
See: Installing Apollo into IDE
Apollo's two main components are TApolloTable and TApolloQuery. Both are native TDataSet descendants. TApolloTable is used like TTable and TApolloQuery is used like TQuery, with some minor variances. Both allow you to access local tables or remote tables through the Apollo Database Server simply by changing the AccessMethod property.
The TApolloQuery component is similar to Delphi's TQuery and allows your applications to communicate with remote data through and Apollo Database Sever, or to local data using the Apollo SQL add-in, and quickly pull back result sets using a subset of SQL-92. TApolloQuery also supports the use of SQL for updating and creating tables and indexes. The TApolloQuery component communicates to the remote Apollo Database Server or to the Apollo SQL add-in by connecting to a TApolloConnection component.
Apollo Server supports server-side DLLs that can be executed on the server. These server-side DLLs were formerly known as TApolloServerDLL, but have been appropriately renamed to TApolloServerDLL. These DLLs are powerful in that they can do anything that can be done locally, but do so on the server. For example, these DLLs can access data on the server as though the data were local and manipulate it with extensive rules written in Delphi, rather than SQL. Use the new TApolloServerDLL component to connect to and access these DLLs from your client application. Similar to Delphi's TStoredProc component, TApolloServerDLL is even more powerful in that it allows you to select and execute server-side DLL procedures. The TApolloServerDLL component communicates with the remote Apollo Database Server by connecting to a TApolloConnection component.
Local aliased database pathing can be specified using the TApolloDatabase component. This is used similarly to the standard TDatabase component, except that it works with Apollo tables rather than BDE tables. For remote tables using Apollo Database Server, the database aliases are created using the Apollo Server Manager (ADSManager.exe).
All global (application-wide) settings can be set using the TApolloEnv component.
Other Apollo features include User-Defined Functions (UDFs) within index/query expressions, built-in Mach SIx™ Query Optimizer, Index Scoping, Conditional Indexing, and record-level Data Encryption.
After installing Apollo VCL, you simply continue developing as you did with the BDE, using TApolloTable in place of TTable and TApolloQuery in please of TQuery. Just select the Apollo engine dialect to be used from the TApolloTable.TableType property (ttSXFOX - FoxPro, ttSXNSX – HiPer-SIx, ttSXNTX - Clipper, or ttSXNSX_DBT - Legacy Clipper DBF/DBT/NSX file combination).
The Apollo VCL setup program should have pre-installed the Apollo VCL compoents into your Delphi / C++Builder IDE. If not, you would need to do so before you can use Apollo. See the Installing and Using Apollo section for additional details on manual installation, if required.
Once Apollo VCL is properly installed into your development environmnt, the Apollo VCL Tutorial is a good place to start becoming familiar with TApolloTableand its associated components. If you will also be doing client/server development using Apollo Database Server, you should also see the "Step-By-Step Client/Server Tutorial" section.
For information on getting the best performance from your Apollo application, see the Optimizing Performance section. Additional optimization tips for projects using the Apollo Database Server can be found in the "Optimizing Performance under Client/Server" section.
The TApolloTable component is the primary component you will use in Apollo VCL for local table access. It is a TDataSet descendant and is used much in the same way as the TTable component is. TApolloTable also supports connecting to remote tables through the Apollo Database Server by using the TApolloTable and AccessMethod properties. For SQL support, see the TApolloTable component.
Also, for those developers who have an Xbase background, many of the extended TApolloTable property and method names will seem familiar. Those without an Xbase background may want review the various TApolloTable methods to become familiar with all that Apollo has to offer.
See the Notes For International Users for important information regarding international collating sequences in index files using international character sets.