Can I avoid installing SQL Server on client machines? - c#

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 .

Related

Do I have to install sql server on each client to use my disk top application?

I have a disk top application made by c# visual studio. My question is do I have to setup SQL server on each client to use my application? or there is another way to attach my database with my application and compress it as one and send to each client and those just extract that file and use the application correctly?
On a real scenario, your database should be placed on a remote server and the clients should only access the database through your API (that will need to support authentication or any other identity based systems).
If your application only needs to store some local information (relevant only for your client app), then you can just use LocalDB or AppSettings, depending on your data structure.
Otherwise, if your application contains more complex features, then you will need an API and a remote DB managed only by you.
To conclude, you only need to setup Sql Server once, when you want to create the design of it (tables, columns, links). The clients will only have to connect to it and pull their data. And this task can be done without installing SqlServer. This link shows you that you only need System. Data assembly to connect to a Sql Server DB.
Yes you need to instal SQL server on each machine or if you go for LocalDB then also u need to instal SQL server engine ,and you have a better option u need to buy sqlserver from AZURE (it's free for one month try if want click here AZURE)

Making database mdf work across different computers

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).

Database to use when creating an installer for your c# application

I am creating a c# application which requires to use a database and i am also planning to create an installer for my application. I just want to ask which database would be best to use in my application and how do i install it on a user machine while installing my application through installer file.
I have thought of using MYSQL database but for that u need to have MYSQL installed.
Update
i want each user to have there own instance of database when they install the application
You do not have to ship a full database server with your application; only the redistributable runtime which your application would use to connect to the actual database server remotely. In the case of MySQL, you only need the assemblies.
Applications I wrote relied heavily on SQL Server. In order to simplify evaluations and the initial deployment, the installer would install SQL Server Express (installed as an application specific instance). This is an approach I'd recommend if your application is intended to a centralised database.
What is key to understand, especially with commercial application, is that the database engine you install may have to co-exist with existing versions of the respective database engine. That is why application specific instances was created for SQL Server Express.
The alternatives, which are embedded, are:
SQLite.net
SQL Server Compact Edition. The deployment process is well defined.
VistaDB
Embedded databases have some challenges when deployed as part of a server application. For many years, Microsoft refused to allow SQL Server Compact Edition to be used for ASP.NET applications. If the database is per user, per device, an embedded database may be perfect.
Also be aware that MySQL has license restrictions when shipped as part of commercial software (aka you're acting as an OEM, ISV or VAR).
Have a look at SQL Server Express Edition.
It's just a file which you can copy and a class library which allows to access it. And after you finished your installation you can just delete the files (or to keep them if you need them to uninstall the product).
may be u are a fresh.
MYSQL is ok ,but u are creating a C# application,i strongly advise you use mssql
because C# has a close relationship with mssql,develop more convenient.
My advice would be using SQL Azure.
But only if:
You don't need much storage (<1GB).
You don't save sensitive Data there.
Your users have an internet connection.
It's a cloud based Sql Server Database. And the Conneciton is very simple, basically you connect like to any other Database via the Connection String.
www.windowsazure.com

Database access on other machine

I'm working on a program that will work very nicely with a database structure and using mysql. I could easy do this with a common server and common database. However I'm looking for a way to have my client(s) use the program on an offline machine without having to install any database managing software.
Basically I want the installation to set up the necessary tables on their machine and have them fill in the database with information relevant to them. Before I start though I wanted to know if this was possible to connect to and manage a database through a C# application with out installing sql software.
You could consider using SQL Server Compact Edition.
SQLite is another option.
Both of these can be deployed with your application and need no separate configuration.
Yes. It is possible. How to do it exactly depends on the database connection approach you're using. For example, this approach shows how to use DataReaders. That's a very old approach. Modern approaches are recommended to use LINQ to SQL, which can be configured to access remotely by setting up a DataContext to point to an external resource.
Basically, wherever you can define a connection string to connect to a DB, you can make that string point locally or externally. An external resource must obviously be available through some URL in order to connect, of course.
You can not connect to a mysql database without installing mysql.
However you can use in process database like sqlite or Compact SQL. They are not traditional server, but rather a library that keeps the database in a local file.

changing the location of C# code files along with db

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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