1
Using Microsoft Transaction Server with an Oracle8 Database

This chapter describes Microsoft Transaction Server and Oracle8 database integration.

Specific topics discussed are:

• Using Microsoft Transaction Server with an Oracle8 Database

• What is Microsoft Transaction Server?

• How are Microsoft Transaction Server and an Oracle8 Database Integrated?

• How Do I Get Started?

Using Microsoft Transaction Server with an Oracle8 Database

This chapter describes Oracle8 database integration with Microsoft Transaction Server. This integration enables developers to:

• Develop and deploy Component Object Model (COM)-based applications using Microsoft Transaction Server with an Oracle8 database

• Have application transactions for an Oracle8 database coordinated by Microsoft Transaction Server

What is Microsoft Transaction Server?

Microsoft Transaction Server is a proprietary COM-based transaction processing system that runs on an Internet or network server. Microsoft Transaction Server is used to deploy and manage application and database transaction requests on behalf of a client computer. Microsoft Transaction Server provides the following:

• An ActiveX/Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM)-based programming model to develop distributed applications and a runtime environment in which to deploy these applications

• Atomicity Consistency Isolation Durability (ACID) properties to components in transactions

• Access to performance enhancing features such as component caching and database connection pooling

Microsoft Transaction Server is a component of the three-tiered, server-centric architecture model. This enables the presentation, business logic, and data elements of applications to be clearly separated onto different computers connected in a network.

See Also: Microsoft's documentation for additional information on Microsoft Transaction Server

How are Microsoft Transaction Server and an Oracle8 Database Integrated?

Without any special integration, you can deploy a COM component in Microsoft Transaction Server that connects to an Oracle8 database release 8.0.6 or higher. However, the following features require the installation of Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server:

• The COM component to be marked as transactional (using the Properties dialog box of the component in the Microsoft Management Console Explorer) and have Microsoft Transaction Server control the transaction

• Client-side connection pooling used in Microsoft Transaction Server

After Oracle Services for Microsoft Transaction Server is installed, you create a special Windows NT service (referred to as an Oracle Service for MTS) for each Oracle8 database to which your COM component connects. Use the Oracle Manager for MTS Services snap-in located in the Microsoft Management Console Explorer to create and manage these services. The Oracle Service for MTS provides the following:

• Maps all of Microsoft's proprietary Object, Linking, and Embedding (OLE) transactions to Oracle transactions

• Handles any recovery scenarios

The COM component can be created using the Oracle Call Interface (OCI), Oracle Objects for OLE (OO4O), Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), or Oracle Provider for OLE DB. Additional application program interfaces (APIs) may be integrated in the future. For a given Oracle8 database, you only need one Oracle Service for MTS on the network.

This illustration shows Microsoft Transaction Server and Oracle8 database integration.

How Do I Get Started?

You are now ready to use Microsoft Transaction Server with an Oracle8 database. To get started quickly, follow these chapters in the exact order listed:

To...	See...
Install the Oracle and Microsoft products required for Microsoft Transaction Server and Oracle8 database integration or migrate from a previous version of Oracle Service for MTS	Chapter 2, "Installing and Migrating Oracle Products"
Create a new Oracle Service for MTS	Chapter 3, "Creating a New Oracle Service for MTS"
Run the Microsoft application demo	Chapter 4, "Using the Microsoft Application Demo". The demo consists of an application that: uses COM components marked as transactional enlists in a transaction controlled by Microsoft Transaction Server accesses the Oracle8 database through an Oracle Service for MTS
Create your own COM-based applications	Chapter 5, "Programming with Microsoft Transaction Server and an Oracle8 Database" for instructions on using OCI, OO4O, ODBC, or Oracle Provider for OLE DB with your COM-based applications.