can i view aspnet.db in sql server 2008 management studio

Question

i have just started playing aorund with asp.net mvc and i want to view the database (aspnetdb.mdf) in sql server 2008 management studio

but it doesn't seem to let me view this file.

any suggestions?

Answer 1

You have to attach the database to the SQL Server instance using CREATE DATABASE FOR ATTACH or sp_attach_db, and then connect to the instance with SQL Server Management Studio to view the contents of the database. I am assuming that you are using SQL Express, which would mean that your application is configured to use User Instances where the connection string attaches the database to the SQL Server during code execution. This isn't a optimal way of doing things performance wise since you have to pay the cost to bring the database online repeatedly. If you attach the database permanently to the SQL Instance you will need to change the application connection string because the database can only be attached once since SQL Server takes an lock on the file to prevent it from being changed by another process.