I'm not sure if this is a true IDE question or not, but... Are the Express versions of VS 2005 capable of anything other than an Access database or a SQL database FILE I also have SQL Server 2005 Express installed and I'd like to write my small home programs using a normal SQL connection to the database. However, it appears that this isn't possible with Express. I doubt I'll ever purchase the full version of VS 2005 because I just use it for home hobby projects, but how would one migrate an application written in Express to the full version if they wanted something other than a local database file, and say use a full version of SQL Server 2005 running on another system Is it possible to just change the connect string How do you get the remote SQL server into the database explorer and GUI, or is that not possible
Thanks,
Fred
Database Connections in Express IDE
Zau
Yes, the Expression version don't support anything else than Access and Sql Express database file. You cannot show any remote sql servers in database explorer.
Still, this is only a designer limitation. You can write code that connects to any database on the same computer or remote. At the end of the day any code that uses Sql Server local file or remote server must go through a SqlConnection with some connection string so changing the connection string should be just enough.