Create SQL Server CE database file programmatically

Question

How can I create a new SQL Server Compact database file (.sdf) programmatically, without having an existing template file to copy from?

Answer 1

There is some good info here: Create a SQL Server Compact Edition Database with C#

string connectionString = "DataSource=\"test.sdf\"; Password=\"mypassword\"";
SqlCeEngine en = new SqlCeEngine(connectionString);
en.CreateDatabase();

Answer 2

First, go click on the Browse tab. Now navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v3.1. Now pick the System.Dadta.SqlServerCe.dll, click on it, then click on OK to pull in the reference.

Now let’s write some code. First, go to the head of the class, whoops I mean header of your class and let’s create a using reference.

using System.Data.SqlServerCe;
using System.IO;

  string connectionString;
  string fileName = "aminescm.sdf";
  string password = “aminescm”;

  if (File.Exists(fileName))
  {
    File.Delete(fileName);
  }

  connectionString = string.Format(
    "DataSource=\"{0}\"; Password='{1}'", fileName, password);
  SqlCeEngine en = new SqlCeEngine(connectionString);
  en.CreateDatabase();

You can find more and more about this, it's really an amazing web site:

http://arcanecode.com/arcane-lessons/