CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#visual-studio-2015console-applicationinstallshieldsql-server-2016
parisa
parisa

Reputation: 101

How to attach my Microsoft SQL Server 2016 database to installshield project in Visual Studio 2015?

I'm coding a C# Console Application that connects to a database and runs some queries where my database Engine is Microsoft SQL Server 2016 and I code in Visual Studio 2015. I have already installed and activated InstallShield Limited Edition on my visual studio and I'm able to make an installation(setup) file for my C# Console Application.

I don't want to to install Sql Server on my customer's PC and attach the database to that manually, instead I want to give everything in an installation file that includes .Net framework 4.5 and my database. The first part(.Net Framework) is done by InstallShield easily, but I don't know how to attach my database to the installation file.

Please explain how to do this and if any other version of InstallShield(Express, Professional or Premier) is needed let me know and explain the steps in that version.

Note that I want to give the installation file to the customer and make every feature of the app function well after he/she installs the program without needing to do anything manually.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 806

Answers (1)

Gusman
Gusman

Reputation: 15161

Sql server 2016 cannot be installed automatically as it needs to be configured by the user, he must set the instance names, permissions and so on, which makes it unusable for your scenario.

What you need to use is Sql Server LocalDB, this is a subset of Sql Server Express for your concrete scenario, something which can be installed without the need of configuration and capable of attaching a database file also without user interaction.

You can find information about LocalDB here, as you see it can be downloaded as a .msi, in this way you can add this msi to your installshield project and chain it (more info on how to chain an installer here), it will not ask to the user about complex configurations, just a simple installer. To download the .msi you get the sql server express installer on your development machine and instruct it to download media and select the LocalDB package, that will give you the .msi.

Finally you will add the database file as part of your project files, then you only need to specify on the connection string the path to the file.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions