ADO`s Stream Object (Page 1 of 6 )
The Record and Stream objects were introduced with ADO 2.5 (the present version is ADO 2.8) to extend the then data manipulation capabilities of ADO to cover a much larger information base. Especially with the Internet emerging as a global repository of data of all kinds, a means was necessary to look at the details of such a repository. Since these were file- and folder-based, methodologies to look at these hierarchical data sources were necessary. The Record and Stream objects provide such a capability and exist in the ADO Object Model.
Introduction
The Record object navigates through the file and folder structure, manipulating (copying, moving, and deleting) the files and folders. The Record object is inherently associated with a Stream object, a buffer area from which the content of the Stream can be read. The nature of the contents of a Stream could be text or binary type of information, although Microsoft documentation mentions just the binary part.
Tutorial content
In an earlier tutorial we have seen how Record objects can be created using the URL of a web site and also as an object riding on top of a recordset. The recordset in this case was opened using the URL as an argument. The focus of this tutorial is to describe how one may create a Stream object using ADO.
The properties of the Stream created will be described using examples of documents on the intranet site as the record; Stream objects are really meant for looking at such objects. As for the platform for testing, MS Access 2003 is used. Of course all this can be done in VB 6. But most readers already have MS Access; that is the reason the tutorial uses this platform for examples. Typically a form is used for testing with a single button. The URL used in the tutorial is the local IIS (5.1).
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