(sorry if this posts twice....I waited several hours and didn;t see it - so
here it is again.....)

Perhaps I am somewhat dense.....but, I still need to know.....

What do you need to do in order to ship a SQL server Express or Developer
edition database with your Visual Studio .Net 2005 application?

Does SQL Server Express need to be installed on the target machines?  Or,
can the database file be used as a stand-along databse (like an Access
database)?

Books on SQL Express and VS 2005 Database programming abound (I have 4 of
them) - but these simple ehings do not seem to be covered.

ljh,

The SQL Server data files, .mdf and .ldf files, cannot be used in a
standalone way, unlike Access .mdb files.

Your application must access these files attached to a running SQL Server.

Either SQL Server must be installed and running on the target pc, or the
target pc must be able to gain access to a running SQL Server via a network,
etc.

Kerry Moorman


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You cannot ship SQL Server Developer Edition with your application to users.

Yes, you must have SQL Server Express installed. Then you need to create the
database your application requires on the SQL Server Express. You can either
wirte SQL script to create it, or ship the database file (*.mdf/*.ldf files)
to the user and and attach the database files to SQL Server Express. With
SQL Server Express, you can also use "User Instance". In this case, you can
use code to attach database files to SQL Server Express dynamically. To
user, it seems, as if your app is only work with database file.

You can make your app intallation package to handle SQL Server Express setup
(quite complicated). I'd prefer install SQL Server Express seperately.

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Express must be installed.
The setup you generate with VS2005 can detect and install it if necessary.

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