ASP.NET ConnectionString AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|

Question

This is about ConnectionStrings / ASP.NET MVC with Visual Studio 2012 ultimate & SQL Server Express 2012.

Following up with this tutorial here: http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/mvc-4/getting-started-with-aspnet-mvc4/intro-to-aspnet-mvc-4 I came across an issue with these two connection strings at my web.config:

<connectionStrings>
    <add name="DefaultConnection" 
         connectionString="Data Source=(LocalDb)\v11.0;
                           Initial Catalog=aspnet-MvcMovie-users;
                           Integrated Security=SSPI;
                           AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|\aspnet-MvcMovie-users.mdf"
         providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

    <add name="MovieDBContext" 
         connectionString="Data Source=(LocalDB)\v11.0;
                           AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|\Movies.mdf;
                           Integrated Security=True" 
         providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
</connectionStrings>

the website works fine but I couldn't fingure out why the first db is created in the App_Data folder while the second one is created in "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA"?! I supposed that both will be created in App_data because both utilize this attribute: AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|!

note: the tutorial mentions that it should be in the App_Data & they added a screenshot that shows it there indeed!

I have been looking for an answer and got into the complicity of SQL (I thought User Instances might be the solution) but couldn't reach an answer for this : |

(this might be useful to read about User Instances http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb264564(v=sql.90).aspx)

Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Regards

Answer 1

after research/tests it turned out to be as follows:

VS will look at the class name of the DataContext and will look to see if you have provided a connection string with the same name as the class name; for example:

public class MovieDataContext : DbContext

and

<connectionStrings><add name="MovieDataContext" ...

if it manages to find a matching connection string it will create the DB based on the criteria you specified in the respective data string (to add the DB to the App_Data set the path of the DB to |DataDirectory| as shown in both connection strings mentioned in the question); if the name doesn't match or you didn't provide any connection string, VS will fall back to the default settings and will create the DB in the default location/settings (usually C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA).

note neither the "Integrated Security" settings nor the "Initial Catalog" play any role with this (I was able to create the DB in the App_Data with both Integrated Security = True & Integrated Security = SSPI and with/without Initial Catalog).

Hope this helps. Thanks for everyone that participated.

Answer 2

I had the same issue. I believe the difference is in the Integrated Security setting. I have SQLExpress installed and found my Movies database in there using MS SQL Server Management Studio.

Check out this response for a better explanation. Difference between Integrated Security = True and Integrated Security = SSPI

Answer 3

What AMT has given is exactly right. It was confusing as it is to use connection strings with .mdf and .sdf files.

I have another pointer for you though, you can change the default setting where the application looks for a connection string with the name matching the class name of the context class by overriding the constructor of DBContext and providing the paramter nameOrConnectionString as follows

public BlogsContext()
            : base("name=EFBlogs")
        {
        }

Application then searches for a connection string named EFBlogs, if it cannot find connection string then it creates the database with name EFBlogs, instead of BlogsContext

Answer 4

Hi I notice a difference when you add a database and it asks do you want it to be placed in the app_data folder if you click yes then it goes to the app_data folder and the full path name of the mdf is also in the app_data folder whne you use file explorer.