ADO.NET Cookbook

1.7. Connecting to a Named Instance of SQL Server or Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE)

Problem

You want to connect to a named instance of a SQL Server or Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE).

Solution

You need to understand what a SQL Server or MSDE named instance is and how to connect to one. The sample code contains a single event handler:

Connect Button.Click

Creates and opens a connection to a named instance of a SQL Server. Information about the SQL Server is displayed from the properties of the SqlConnection object.

The C# code is shown in Example 1-6.

Example 1-6. File: ConnectNamedInstanceForm.cs

// Namespaces, variables, and constants
using System;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Text;
using System.Data.SqlClient;

//  . . . 

private void connectButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder( );

    SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(
        ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["Sql_Msde_ConnectString"]);

    try
    {
        conn.Open( );

        // Return some information about the server.
        result.Append(
            "ConnectionState = " + conn.State + Environment.NewLine +
            "DataSource = " + conn.DataSource + Environment.NewLine +
            "ConnectionState = " + conn.State + Environment.NewLine +
            "ServerVersion=" + conn.ServerVersion +
            Environment.NewLine);
    } 
    catch(Exception ex) 
    {
        MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
    }
    finally
    {
        conn.Close( );
    }

    result.Append("ConnectionState = " + conn.State);

    resultTextBox.Text = result.ToString( );
}

Discussion

SQL Server 2000 introduced ...