I have an application written in c# [WPF] which involves lot of communication with several databases, hence i used SQL server 2008. Now i need to move the code files along with the database files to another system(it doesn't have sql server installed). Once i run the applications exe , it gets struck as it is not able to retrieve data from .mdf file.
Is it possible to access sql server 2008 installed in my system through a network ?
It is pretty simple . I think you are using .mdf files as your database. Instead of it use .sdf as the database format which is mostly used in mobile development. There are lots of .mdf to .sdf converter available in the net.
You can have the second system access the SQL Server of the first system.
You need to modify the connection string so that it accesses a server on a remote machine, and make sure the proper authentication mechanism is used. If both machines are on the same Winodws domain, it's going to be fairly simple.
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How can I ran x86 .net 3.5 Windows Forms app with .mdf database on the computer without SQL Server (for example, XP of common user).
I have found few samples of connection strings, but all of them are contains something like Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS
Doubt, that user will be having SQLEXPRESS on his computer. I want something like work with Access db - so user could work without even knowing, what's server, only with local file
MSSQL I have chosen instead of Access, because in the future I can add publish DB on server, but not now.
Maybe, I should use SQLLite, but how in that case?
Thanks.
How can I ran x86 .net 3.5 Windows Forms app with .mdf database on the computer without SQL Server?
This question has very simple answer - you can't!
You must distribute and install some version/edition of SQL Server with your application, otherwise the .mdf file will be nothing more than waste of disk space. You can install SQL Server along with your app. For more information you can see Install SQL Server from the Command Prompt and Install SQL Server using a configuration file. If this is a simple app working locally on a single workstation, you may want to consider using SQL Server Express LocalDB.
Another option is to use different database engine, which has easier deployment and embedding - SQLite, Firebird Embedded, etc. Pick one that you like. Most of these solutions require only to distribute one DLL/assembly with your application. You will not get the full power of SQL Server, but for most apps, it isn't needed anyway.
I know this is kind of a stupid question but it gives me a lot of problems. Me and my partners in college projects have a lot of issues making the database mdf work when we send each other the visual studio projects. It gives us errors about the versions of sql server. Is the only solution to this to install same version of sql servers for the entire team or is there some other workaround?
Yes, you must be using the same version of SQL Server across all PC's.
You can never "go back" in time with a SQL Server database - once a .mdf file has been attached to a given version, it can never be attached to an older version anymore. And you cannot get around this by using the database compatibility level, either - the internal database file structures are just too different between versions, and no backwards "downgrade" path is provided.
One way to get around this would be to have a common, shared server somewhere that everyone can connect to and everyone can work with - making in unnecessary to send around "free-floating" .mdf files altogether... after all, it's SQL Server - a server-based system - not so much a file-based "database" system ....
Another way to go would be to stop sharing the binary .mdf file, but instead work with SQL scripts that you can exchange within your team, and that each team member can execute locally on their respective SQL Server instances - regardless of their local version
I suggest that instead of passing around mdf files, every person on your team creates the DB and then uses SQL scripts to create the objects. These scripts can be very easily created and exported from the SQL Server Management Studio.
This has the added bonus of being able to put the scripts under version control as part of the project.
I made such practice, with one way , by create separate pc running under windows server, only using as sql server to store all data record , then the data is called via "connectionStrings" of IP with server name of user policy, which is also secured by password and username , so this practice is used , to enabled two different programs to share that data , for example , that I made ( one web localhost app to create internal registration ),( the other web app using to access to mainpage via Login form).
I am looking into using the new SQL Server Express LocalDB (I think it is code named "Denali") for a desktop application.
It is currently running with SQL Compact, but the user is wanting to share the database between multiple PCs on a network. Unfortunately this is not something that SQL Compact can do, so I am investigating other solutions.
The client requires the ability to send database files easily to other sites or to back them up to a flash disk, so I am avoiding going to SQL Express because there is quite a bit of "administrator" knowledge required to backup and restore.
So, my questions is, does the new SQL Express LocalDB support remote connections to the database over a network and/or through a shared network folder with the mdf file in it?
LocalDB does support supplying a path for an attached local DB in it's connect string (AttachDbFileName) hence the shared network folder option.
NOTE: This question pertains to "LocalDB" the new version of SQL Express 'Denali' and not to SQL Server Express 2008 or prior.
See article here announcing LocalDB's release: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlexpress/archive/2011/07/12/introducing-localdb-a-better-sql-express.aspx
No, SQL Server Express LocalDB doesn't accept remote connections.
The idea with shared network folder might work, but only if you are able to make sure the LocalDB instance is shutdown before you try to copy the file. Also keep in mind that only one LocalDB instance can have any given database file open at the same time. and don't forget about the log files!
Additional security warning: unlike SQL Server Compact databases, SQL Server Express databases (including LocalDB ones) are not designed as secure data exchange format. For instance, they can contain malicious code in .NET assemblies embedded in them. So you should never open databases from untrusted source.
Maybe providing the customer with a simple tool that automates the backup process would be a better idea?
This isn't a fresh thread, but I would like to share my experience with SQL Server Express database LocalDB.
I have a WPF C# project using SQL database with LocalDb Engine. It is working fine no problem, I can use the database with the WPF app. I wanted this app to work on network with more PCs.
On the network another PC can use the database from my PC using UNC path in the connection string.
It seemed to me the remote connection is working. However when the remote PC is connected, I am not able to use the database with my local WPF app. If I run my app first the remote PC could not connect. So this tells me that the remote connection is working, but the multiple connection is not allowed.
OK, I didn't give up and I run the app from my PC twice and I saw it is working which tells me that the same SQL LocalDB engine can handle multiple connections locally only.
I hope this experience will help someone. Thanks.
In short, yes it can. Here is a tutorial on how to configure it.
Also, here is another post with a potential issue that might occur.
Both explain how to configure SQL Server Express to accept Remote Connections.
I have a nice program idea, it will be a very simple application that will save your username and password on a sql server database file, i know how to do it, but the problem is i don't want the client to install sql server in order to add or remove a record in database, besides i want my database file embedded into the application so the user have a single .exe file, i heard about a library called sqllite or something, it`s function is not to let the user install sqlserver to make the application work.
You can use SQLCE and search for SQLCE private deployment, basically it is a light weight of MS SQL on client side. With privatedeployment you just need to copy related DLLs to your project folder without installation.
You are looking for SQL Server Compact edition.
You need to use a file based SQL database.
There are several - most popular are:
SQLite
SQL Server CE
See this SO question - Free portable database.
As you mention, Sqlite is an option. It's a compact and file based database. No need for installing anything. The full database resides in a file. You'll need to reference the Sqlite database engine for connecting to it, however.
I probably wouldn't use SQL at all if you are only going to create one table with a few (< 100) rows. Its way to much overhead for that small amount of information.
I would save the username and password in a file, then use the Enterprise Libraries Cryptography Application Block to secure the file.
You also most likely don't want the storage engine embedded into the exe, then your passwords are tied to that specific application on that specific computer. You will have to implement an import/export program anyway to move your info to another machine.
Check out http://keepass.info/
Yes , you can implement it by
SQLite ,
SQL Server CE ,
Or Xml
And also , in my last project , the application call the webservice when need to access DataBase.
So , there are lots of ways to avoid install SQL Server on client PC .
I am starting an application (c#, .net) that will interact with a Microsoft SQL database. I need the ability for multiple clients to access the data concurrently so I an going to use a service based database (.mdf). Is it possible to develop the application using a local database (.sdf) and then easily switch it over to a service based database when it comes time for deployment? Is that how this type of development it typically done?
You can control the data source by providing connection string to your database in .config file.
You can even create Debug and Release versions of your .config file with different connection strings. Debug can point to your local machine and Release to production.
Development shops vary, but it is pretty common to develop apps using SQL Express locally and then use a full installation of SQL Server for the production environment.
The only thing I would advise is make sure that the DB you chose for your dev environment supports the same features as what you expect in production. For example don't use SQL Express on your dev box when you expect to use Oracle in production.
If the database schema in both backends is exactly the same than the only thing you will need to do is change the connection string when you are ready to move to the service based database.
Be aware that the slightest change in the schema can (and probably will) cause problems.
You want to use SQL Compact Edition (as you said database file extension is .sdf), right? You can use MSSQL Express Edition instead, as it acts more like full MSSQL Server, and is still free and not so hard to install on developer's machine (I personally prefer this option). There are differences between the two (as explained here: http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/04/22/sql-server-difference-between-sql-server-compact-edition-ce-and-sql-server-express-edition/). If you don't want features like triggers/procedures/views in your database, you can still use CE, though.
If you have multiple clients then you should use SQL Server Express (.mdf file) - SQL Server Compact (.sdf file) is useful when you are building an application that is going to be deployed on client machines and will run standalone, e.g. windows forms application with a local database. SQL Server Compact is just an alternative for MS Access .mdb files or SQLite, the so called "embedded databases", while SQL Server Express is a real database server (albeit with some limitations to render it unsuitable for large commercial applications) and should be used in the cases where multiple clients use central database, e.g. web applications and smart client apps (the latter could also make use of a local embedded database though).