My June 2007 Data Points column has been posted to the MSDN Magazine web site. This edition is titled "SQL Server Management Objects".

Here is an excerpt from the article:

"Not only must database developers query and manipulate data, but they must also perform administrative tasks on a regular basis. SQL Server™ Management Objects (SMO) offer developers a robust toolset for operations such as backing up and restoring databases, and issuing Data Definition Language (DDL) commands. Using SQL SMO you can also connect to SQL Server, iterate through a collection of database objects and perform a variety of tasks against them.

In this column, I discuss how SMO can be used to examine a database’s objects and to perform a variety of administrative tasks. Specifically, I cover topics such as how to design your project to use SMO and how to connect to a server. I also walk through a sample application that issues DDL or Data Manipulation Language (DML) commands against the database. Finally, I demonstrate how to use SMO to perform database backups, restores, and backup verification."