How to check for the existence of a DB?

Question

I am wondering if there is an elegant way to check for the existence of a DB? In brief, how do test the connection of a db connection string?

Thanks

Answer 1

Set the Initial Catalog=master in the connection string and execute:

select count(*) from sysdatabases where name = @name

with @name set to the name of the database.

If you want to check the connection string as a whole (and not existence of an independent database), try connecting to it in a try/catch block.