CE support from ASP.Net 2.0

MS states that CE does not work with ASP.Net applications 'by default'. What is needed to change this default?

Bascially, my desktop app. is configured from a browser app. (ASP.Net 2.0) and I want to use CE as the datastore for the application.

Thanks.

I don't think this is such a good idea. SQLCe is not designed for this type of application and while it can be adapted for use with ASP.NET, I don't recommend it and (frankly) don't want to encourage you to do so. The information on how to use it on ASP.NET has been published...|||

Please explain. What does "SQLCe is not designed for this type of application " mean? No. of connections? Performance?

In my case the web site is the admin. console of an application, so typically the number of users will be low.

Thanks.

|||Steve Lasker described the pros and cons in detail in his blog

http://blogs.msdn.com/stevelasker/

Basically it can be done - but there are limitations

Brian|||

Thanks for the reference. There still seems to be a gap in the SQL Server lineup. A small embeddable database that supports ODBC. Something like Firebird.

- A

|||Access files (.mdb) can still be used if that is what is needed ...|||

Yes, but Access/JET is also not designed for the way that data must be accessed in ASP. Consider that when you're running a site, many "clients" (pages) try to access the database at the same time. While JET is a "multiuser" engine, its file-share architecture funnels all operations on to a single operational thread. This means it works fine in testing and under a light load, but when you site is sucessful, it locks out all but one user at a time. In the case of SQLCe, again only one user is supported at a time but since it's not designed as a multiuser DBMS engine it's not a good choice for a webhosted database. I discuss this in my book. See www.hitchhikerguides.net

|||On a hosted website often one doesn't have a choice over the database. .mdb works fine for me on my relatively low access site.

As OLEDB and SQL Server were not possible then there are few choices.

Perhaps MySQL is another option.

What programming language are you using to access the database? Perl/python/Php?|||Right. The ISPs are often hesitant to install/support a high-maintenance DBMS engine--which is another reason I hesitate to endorse JET.|||

Access is now officially unsupported. That is part of the problem.

- A

|||Strange - just installed Access 2007 ... have you the reference for the non support?

No maintenance for Access under 2003 server with .NET2. Correct levels of MDAC come installed. That is why the ISP's let you create a file dsn for ODBC. - not using JET.

From Steve Lasker's blog 27 Nov 2006:

"For many of you, this may sound like the Jet comparison, and it is.

Developers started with Jet, and on their box, everything was fine.

They ran their app, all the commands executed, but they didn’t really

test with different concurrent users. They were able to easily post

the database to their hosting site, and all seemed good. Only after

their app went into production, did they realize they were using a

product that just wasn’t intended for that type of usage. Sure, Jet is

fine for small sites, but did all developers know that when they

started? When they do hit the limitation, what do they do? Re-write

or “upgrade”. "

I have found that for small site usage .mdb is fine. Not every can have a dedictated server or pay the extortionate fees for SQL Server. In my case the upgrade path would be to MySQL - not one I want (or need) to take.|||Hi Bill,

I just bought your ebook on SQL CE, it looks good -- just haven't had time to dig into it yet, but i love the ebook format. I just wanted to point out that we added Connection Pooling and APTC (Allow Partially Trusted Caller) support to VistaDB 3.0 RC1. These are very important features to ASP.NET developers and helps make VistaDB 3.0 an excellent database solution for building small to mid-size ASP.NET applications. So, if you like what SQL CE offers in terms of size and features etc. but want to use it in an ASP.NET application, check out VistaDB 3.0 RC1.

Anthony Carrabino
http://www.vistadb.net/