SQL Server and Universal Resource Locators
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are formatted strings or streams that an Internet application can use to reference resources on the Internet or an intranet. Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 supports URLs that work with data in SQL Server databases and return the results as XML documents. The URLs can execute XPath queries referencing mapping schemas that provide an XML-based view of the data in SQL Server tables. The URLs can also execute Transact-SQL statements or templates.
Although not strictly an API, URLs are the recommended mechanism for accessing SQL Server data from Web applications running on Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). URLs are easily integrated in HTML and XML-based environments, such as HTML pages or Active Server Pages (ASPs). Specifying a URL that executes an XPath query or Transact-SQL statement that returns an XML document is a relatively simple way to integrate SQL Server results into a Web application.