I got a bit of time this weekend to play with SQL Server Express (SQE) and here are some more details on it. I installed this part of Whidbey 2005. By default the setup installs this under the SQLEXPRESS instance name, so to connect to it you would use something like “machinename\SQLEXPRESS”.

The API set for SQL Server Express is the same as SQL Server so upgrading from one to the other would not be a problem. A new GUI tool called SQL Server Express Manager (XM) will be freely available as a separate Web download. XM will allow easy database management and query analysis capabilities, will have a small download size, and will be freely redistributable. XM is a lightweight tool built on top of the latest version of the .NET Framework and the new SQL Server System Management Objects API.

Only the memory on the local machine is accessible by default for SQE, although you can explicitly turn on both TCP/IP and Named Pipes. VIA and HTTP protocols are not supported in SQE. With only shared memory available by default, connections from a remote machine to SQL Server Express will fail unless the networking is turned on.

When you install SQE, there are no databases installed by default - which is of no use, unless you already have something from your existing databases. I have not tried importing from another server, so not sure how well that option would work. Anyways, there is an easier way if you want to just install a few sample databased and get started. Here are the steps:

  1. Download and extract these <strong>scripts</strong>  (267kb).

  2. Assuming you installed SQE in the default location, then run the following:

    • “C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\binn\SQLCMD90” -S “machine-name\SqlExpress”

    • Make sure you update the path according to the location on your machine. Also make sure to replace the machine name with the name of your computer on which SQE is running.

    • Also do not run this in a command prompt but rather from Start ==> Run. You can see a screenshot <strong>here</strong> .

  3. Open the the script for the relevant database (pubs or northwind) in Notepad, Select All and copy it to the clipboard.

  4. Right click on the SQLCMD90 command window that you opened in Step 2 and chose the paste option as shown in the <strong>screenshot</strong> .

  5. Once the command is done executing you can quit the command prompt by typing in the command “quit” (without the quotes of course).

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