SQL-DMO API

SQL Distributed Management Objects (SQL-DMO) encapsulate the objects found in Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 databases. SQL-DMO allows applications written in languages that support Automation or COM to administer all parts of a SQL Server installation. SQL-DMO is the application programming interface (API) used by SQL Server Enterprise Manager in SQL Server 2000; therefore, applications using SQL-DMO can perform all functions performed by SQL Server Enterprise Manager.

SQL-DMO is intended for any Automation or COM application that must incorporate SQL Server administration, for example:

• Applications that encapsulate SQL Server as their data store and want to shield users from as much SQL Server administration as possible.
  
  
• Applications that have specialized administrative logic incorporated the application itself.
  
  
• Applications that want to integrate SQL Server administrative tasks in their own user interface.

Windows Management Instrumentation

The SQL Server 2000 compact disc contains support for a new API that will allow you to administer instances of SQL Server using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). WMI is a scalable Windows® 2000 component with an object-oriented API that lets management applications and scripts monitor, configure, and control the operating system and devices, services, and applications in a Windows network. Using standard Windows security, WMI allows only properly authorized users to manage the system. WMI core components are also available for Windows NT® 4.0, Windows 95, and Windows 98. For more information about the WMI support for these operating systems, see the MSDN® page at Microsoft Web site.

A component, such as SQL Server, enables WMI support by supplying a WMI provider and defining a WMI class schema. The schema models the objects in the component that can be managed using WMI. SQL Server 2000 includes a SQL Server WMI provider and a schema class model that maps instances of SQL Server 2000 to WMI classes. The SQL Server WMI schema models objects such as databases and tables. The SQL Server WMI implementation provides management functions such as:

• Create, change, or delete managed objects. For example, create a database.
  
  
• Administer managed objects. For example, back up databases and logs.
  
  
• Enumerate managed objects. For example, list all the tables in a database.
  
  
• Retrieve information on a specific managed object. For example, determine whether full-text indexing is enabled on the Customers table.
  
  
• Query managed objects that meet a specific criterion. For example, list all encrypted stored procedures.
  
  
• Execute methods defined for managed objects. For example, execute a method that bulk copies data from a table.
  
  
• Generate events when a managed object is created, changed, or deleted (for example, send a event when a database option is changed).
  
  
• Describe relationships between managed objects (for example, identify which logins are authorized to access a database).

All WMI data is available remotely and is fully scriptable. The SQL Server 2000 WMI implementation maps over the SQL-DMO API, but does not support the management of replication. The SQL Server WMI implementation can be used with SQL Server 7.0.

The SQL Server WMI support is not installed by SQL Server 2000 Setup. All of the WMI materials, including a separate setup and documentation, are included in the folder \x86\OTHER\wmi on the SQL Server 2000 compact disc.

See Also

Administration Architecture

Developing SQL-DMO Applications