I am looking to replace my existing Access database that I distribute with my application to sql server 05. There are many different versions of sql server 05 and I am confused. My application is standalone and I am looking for something extremely simple like file based Access.
Thanks,
hi,
Access is different from a SQL Server (all editions) installation... both from and engine view as long as from a "file based requirements" point of view... but these are not the only differences.. the Jet engine does not support all the "security" issues SQL Server is based on..
and these differences are the same for all SQL Server editions... SQLExpress, the free edition you can downolad and use for free offers an additional solution that can be viable in scenarios like your, "User Instances", a feature you can have a deeper look at http://msdn.microsoft.com/sql/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/dnsse/html/sqlexpuserinst.asp..
personally I do not like this solution very much, for lots of reasons... it does not scale (it's usually a single user solution 
) but it should be very easy to deploy as you read from the "ads"... this argument is tricky to me as, soon or later, you'll be involved in database's metaschema updates and you'll require to modify the user's database metadata.. and this solution will postpone your problems to this time.. I do prefer a "traditional" distribution/deployment... it's littler harder at the beginning, but consider that you have to deploy the engine in both cases... the difference is on how to deploy the users databases only... the best article I ever read (IMVHO) about database deployment/update can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/04/09/customdatabaseinstaller/, for reasons reported in the article and others, but other viable solutions could be even commercial, like http://www.red-gate.com/products/SQL_Packager/index.htm as well...
regards
