ASP.NET 2.0 Reading/Writing to SQL 2000 Text DataType Field

[Guest]

ASP.NET 2.0 with Text DataTypes:
I've got a similar question going in the SQL group, but I was wondering if
anyone has successfully implemented reading/writing character data from a
Text datatype column in SQL 2000. I know there's a Varchar(MAX) feature in
SQL2005, but my budget mocks me right now and I need to do it in SQL 2K.

Situation:
I'm building a resume DB, and for ease of input, I'd really like to be able
to use a single "Experience" field in my Web Form. Because these are
resumes, some people are going to have pages of text to copy/paste in here,
and it's going to exceed the 8K character limit of the Varchar field. From
everything I read, this pushes me into the netherworld of the Text datatype.
I see lots of warnings saying "Only if you really need to" or "Beware
unexpected behaviors" but have yet to see something concrete on what I need
to do to get text data out of the DB, display it to an ASP.NET web form, and
then put it back into the DB.

Questions:
1. What web control do I need to use to handle text of this size?
Multi-line text-box? Text area w/Runat=server? Please advise.

2. Is there any help in ADO.NET for handling text of this size?

3. If you've tried something similar, any lessons learned, etc?

At this point I'm more looking for strategic advise. If I really need to, I
can divide the Experience entry into separate rows in another table
w/varchar, but I'd like to avoid this if at all possible.

Thanks in advance everybody,

Chris

 

[bruce barker]

from ado.net, a text field is like a long string, plus there are routines
for reading and writing in chucks if needed. form sql, text field have a lot
of restrictions. there are limted functions to manipulate them, nor can you
create a local text variable. if you are not writing a lot of sql, then just
making a text column is all you need.

-- bruce (sqlwork.com)