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C# building/resource/publish/create and exe file with database

I was wondering how can I create the exe file for the app I made. I tried giving the exe file in the bind/debug folder together with the database (MS Access). But having an error with the filename of the mdb file, it is pointing to my directory.
{
InitializeComponent();
connection.ConnectionString = #"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;
Data Data Source=C:\Users\asdf\Documents\questionbank.mdb;
Persist Security Info=True;
Jet OLEDB:Database Password=asdfasdf";
}
And the error getting is "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permission to access the item.

Put your connection string in a configuration file, eg., by createing a setting in the Settings tab when you right click on your project and go to Properties.
Hard coding your connection details, as you've done, means it cannot change when you deploy your application.

Get path to config file which is stored in AppData

I have to read app setting file and get some value from another my application. My settings class is located in a separated asembly, but when I try to get value:
var id = MyAppSettings.Default.UserId
I get default value which is equal 0. I understood that setting file is 'exe' specific. Setting file is stored in
%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\<Company Name>\<appdomainname>_<eid>_<hash>\<version>\user.config
I tried to get path and have found this SO answer. But this code also return 0(my default value), because it looks config file in the local folder.
How to properly read setting file (not app.config and local)?

You can use this, if user.config file is accessible to your user and you have permission to read this file ::
string path=#"%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\<Company Name>\<appdomainname>_<eid>_<hash>\<version>\user.config"
System.Configuration.Configuration config = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(path);
//and then access setting and so on....

Relative path to DB in connection string

I am developing a db application in C# and my current connection string is
#"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=D:\Shop.accdb;Persist Security Info=False;"
How can I modify it so that the db is in the folder of the project and not in D? I mean I am planning to send the project to a friend so I don't want to include the full path but just the folder of the project.
Thank you in advance!

Change your connection string to
#"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=|DataDirectory|\Shop.accdb;" +
"Persist Security Info=False;";
|DataDirectory| is a substitution string that (for WinForms apps) will be set by the Framework to the value of the current directory.
In code (before any Data Access) it could be changed to something to your likes with
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.SetData("DataDirectory", #"D:\temp");
See this thread on MSDN
However, keep in mind, that, if your reason to change that value arises for permissions problems, you would have the same problems storing your database in the same folder with your program (C:\program files) because that folder is also severely write restricted. The best way is to store your database in a subfolder of C:\PROGRAMDATA\<myAppDatabaseFolder>
string myFolder = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData);
myFolder = Path.Combine(myFolder, "myAppDatabaseFolder);
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.SetData("DataDirectory", myFolder);
(I suppose that your setup procedure creates the MyAppDatabaseFolder so I have no check for folder existance)

Connectivity between access database and c#

I was checking about access database connectivity with c# in social of MSDN where i found the sample connection string as follows
string ConnStr = #"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=D:\abc.mdb;Jet OLEDB:Database Password=password";
Now my question is suppose i have created a form application and i put the database file abc.mdb at the same location where the .exe file resides. In that case can i write the connection string as follows?
string ConnStr = #"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=abc.mdb;Jet OLEDB:Database Password=password";
I was trying this with SQL database file but it was not running may be the full path is mandatory for this case. I'm i right?

If you can't use a relative path in connection string, you can generate it at runtime something like:
string connstring = string.Format(#"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source={0};Persist Security Info=true", Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "MyDatabase01.accdb"));

try, (although not tested)
string dbpath = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory + "abc.mdb";
string ConnStr = String.Format(Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source={0};Jet OLEDB:Database Password=password;", dbpath)

To answer your first question, yes, having the .mdb file in the same directory will work with your second connection string.
Assuming you meant a MSSQL or MSSQL Express in the second "question," you need to specify the SQL Server instance as part of the connection string.

For ASP.NET 2.0 or higher, the database file (.mdb or .accdb) should always go into the App_Data folder. There are two reasons for this: first, App_Data is configured to prevent users from browsing to the folder and downloading a copy of your database. Second, you can take advantage of the special DataDirectory token (or substitution string) to reference the file within a connection string. DataDirectory defaults to the App_Data directory.
So your Access datasource goes like this.
<asp:AccessDataSource
ID="AccessDataSource1"
runat="server"
DataFile="~/App_Data/MyDb.mdb"
SelectCommand="Select * From MyTable">
</asp:AccessDataSource>

I have not tested this, but the DataDirectory substitution string could be used.
string ConnStr = #"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=|DataDirectory|\abc.mdb;Jet OLEDB:Database Password=password";
Then you could do
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.SetData("DataDirectory", #"D:\MyApp");
As describe in the following KB article:
|DataDirectory| substitution string support
|DataDirectory| (enclosed in pipe symbols) is a substitution string
that indicates the database path. Therefore, you do not have to
include the full path in the code. When you include the full path in
the code, you may experience problems because the full database path
can be serialized in different locations. The |DataDirectory|
substitution string also makes it easy to share a project and to
deploy an application.
For example, if you include the full path in the code, the application
can have the following connection string.
Data Source= c:\program files\MyApp\Mydb.sdf
If you use the |DataDirectory| substitution
string, the application can have the following connection string.
Data
Source = |DataDirectory|\Mydb.sdf
To set the DataDirectory property, call the AppDomain.SetData method. If you do not set the DataDirectory
property, the following default rules are applied to access the
database folder:
For applications that are put in a folder on the
user's computer, the database folder uses the application folder.
For
applications that are running under ClickOnce, the database folder
uses the specific data folder that is created.

Error opening connection to SQL CE file on test machine

I'm testing my application on a non-administrator windows 7 account. The application is installed into program files. This includes the .sdf file I need to read from. I've got the connection string marked as read only and set the temp path to my documents. This is the error that it spits out when I try to do connection.Open()
Internal error: Cannot open the shared
memory region
I've got the connection string defined in app.config, but I'm modifying it before I start using the connection. This part is in app.config Data Source=|DataDirectory|\DB.sdf;Password=password;
And then I modify it like so:
connection = new SqlCeConnection(connectionString +
";Mode=Read Only; Temp Path=" + Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments));
This works on my developer machine (obviously) since its running from outside of a read-only directory. But even when I manually mark the .sdf file as read-only it still works, and successfully creates the temporary db file in the correct folder. However, on the test machine everything is located in a read-only program files folder, and it doesn't work.
The main goal of this problem is trying to make sure my program doesn't have to be ran as an administrator, and I would like to keep from moving the main copy of the db file from outside of the installation directory.
Let me know if I need to explain anything else. Thanks

I'm using a sql ce database too and had the same problems. my solution was to create the database in a subfolder in Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData. If only one user will use it you can create it in Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData. But here you don't need admin rights.
Another point is your connection string in your app.config. If you'll modify it in your program like me, it must be located in such a 'non-admin-right-needed' folder too. I have a static app.config in my app-folder in program files, but a second one with the connection string in Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData (this is 'username\AppData\Local' in Win7). And I protect my connectionstring with DataProtectionConfigurationProvider encryption, so no one can read the data base password.
This is how you can map your second app.config to your app:
string ConfigPathString = #"{0}\MyApp\MyApp.config";
string ConfigPath = String.Format( ConfigPathString, System.Environment.GetFolderPath( Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData ) );
ExeConfigurationFileMap fileMap = new ExeConfigurationFileMap();
fileMap.ExeConfigFilename = ConfigPath;
Configuration Config = ConfigurationManager.OpenMappedExeConfiguration( fileMap, ConfigurationUserLevel.None );
string myConnectionString = ConnectionStrings.ConnectionStrings["MyConnectionStringKey"].ConnectionString;

Like Calgary already mentioned in his comments you can't really open the file directly in the programs folder due to the restrictions of Windows 7 to non-admins. But due to the fact that you don't want to write anything into it, why don't you simply copy at startup the file into Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData?
When your program starts up simply copy the file out of the programs folder into a proper location, use it as you like and delete it on application exit. So you don't leave any fragments (except the application would crash).
Just to be sure for the last scenario, you could add an additional delete operation to the setup deinstallation routine. So if the application will be removed and it crashed at the last start the setup will remove the trash, leaving the machine as before the installation of the software.