Greetings All,

My name is Zak Greant. I work for MySQL AB as their community advocate - I am also helping to organize the content for our upcoming MySQL User Conference (http://mysql.com/events/uc2004) that is happening in April.

Our deadline for choosing the final list of sessions is a couple of days away. We have so much excellent content that has been proposed that we need some help from the community in choosing the content that is best for the event.

Here are three Win32-focused talks that we are considering. Please let me know which talk you would best like to see.

Notes: * We will be posting addition information on the accepted sessions to http://mysql.com/events/uc2004/sessions.html within the next day. * Even if you are not going, your feedback is valuable to you as we will work to post papers from most of the accepted sessions. * We are open to suggestions for other content in the form of BoF sessions and lightning talks (see http://www.mysql.com/events/uc2004/speakers.html)

The session titles are: * Combining MySQL, Apache and Linux with C# and Visual Basic to build web based applications * Converting MSSQL and Access databases to MySQL * Using MySQL with .NET

Combining MySQL, Apache and Linux with C# and Visual Basic to build web based applications

Mono is an open source technology sponsored by Ximian and Novell that allow open source developers to leverage technologies that have traditionally been associated with Microsoft.net and Visual Studio. Once these components have been designed and built they can be deployed against the most popular open source componets available including Linux, MySQL and Apache. This session will provide attendees with the opportunity to observe how simple web components can be designed and built using C# and Visual Basic. No windows machines will be injured in creating this demo. There will also be no .ASP extensions allowed.

Converting MSSQL and Access databases to MySQL (Recommended)

MySQL is becoming increasingly popular on the Windows platform as more software developers see the benefit of MySQL's dual licensing and open development model. As more developers become aware of the benefits of moving to MySQL there is an increasing need for developers who can migrate existing applications to MySQL from other RDBMSes.

This session will cover the basics of converting an application based on MSSQL or Microsoft Access to MySQL. Topics will include business considerations, migration planning, data conversion tools, and special considerations when migrating including differences in date formats and SQL syntax.

Examples will be given through case studies of recent migration projects involving both Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access.

Using MySQL with .NET

The session would cover using MySQL 4.0 and 4.1 from .NET by utilizing the ByteFX managed provider as well as the standard ODBC provider included in the .NET framework. The session will include detailed discussions of the following:

1. Use of the ADO.Net interfaces including prepared statements (4.1), internationalization (including Unicode) support, the new binary client/server protocol, connection pooling, and BLOB access.

2. Creating a Data Access Layer (DAL) to work with MySQL. This DAL enables the user the flexibility of switching providers or databases without rewriting the entire project.

3. Developing applications that leverage MySQL using the Mono framework (.NET framework available for Linux and other operating systems). An ASP.Net website running on Apache and using Mono and the open source ByteFX MySQL provider will be shown and discussed.

4. Review of the ByteFX MySQL Pro product. This product integrates into the Visual Studio.NET environment and allows viewing and editing of table data and structure. It also provides functions for importing and exporting table data in XML format.

5. The differences between using the ODBCClient provider and the ByteFX provider will be highlighted.

Cheers!