Confused as to which SQL Server version the Express languages work with

I have SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition installed on my PC. I also have the Express Editions of VB and C# installed. Is there any purpose served in my installing SQL Express, also?

I've read comments that the Express languages can only connect to SQL Express databases and not SQL Server 2005 databases; however, I'm not sure how that is enforced. The 'connect to database' wizard does seem to be different in the Express IDE than it is in Visual Studio.

I've read other Express language references that say that they can only connect to SQL Server databases via something called User Instances; however, it's not clear to me if that infers that only SQL Express supports User Instances.

Regarding User Instances, it's not clear to me whether this technology is for single-user (i.e., exclusive) access or not. What scenarios are User Instances good for?

Can anyone explain this?|||

You should ask questions about VS Express in the VS Express forums for more specific information, but I can confirm that the functionality presented in the VS Express UI is limited to working with SQL Express. For example, if you use the Add New Item command to create a database, VS Express will check to verify that the server you target is actually SQL Express. I don't believe this restriction extends to code access, so you should be able to write code that creates a connection to any databases and run commands against that connection.

Again, check out the VS forums for more specific information if you need it.

User Instances are a option you have when using SQL Express, but not a requirement. User Instances only support single user access and are designed to be most useful when embedding an application into a VS application or some other application. If you need multi-user access to your database you can still use SQL Express, but you can not specifiy User Instances. You can learn more by reading the User Instance white paper.

Hope this helps clear things up.

Regards,

Mike Wachal
SQL Express team

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