Querying table storage data with Windows Azure

Question

This question has 2 parts.

1. Is there a way to view the data that is stored locally. I understand that local table storage is actually done using SQLExpress behind the scenes. Where is that SQLExpress database located and can I open it using any query tool? Is there a specific account I need to use?

2. Once the application is deployed to the Azure services, how do I query the data? The Google App Engine has a data viewer / query tool, does Azure have something similar?

Answer 1

I'm not sure about your first question, but for the second part: It's the same as when you're developing using the local table service, when you're using the ADO.NET Data Services client, at least. Just use the service root of your Azure storage account. Or you can use the REST interface, if you need the flexibility of the (schema-less) Azure Tables.

I'm not aware of a tool similar to GAE's data viewer, but it's not very difficult to build something like that yourself.

Answer 2

I just found my answer to #1. Apparently the database is sitting under my default SQLExpress instance with a database that is the same name as my project. There are tables that map to my entities, each with columns that map to my properties.

Answer 3

1. The SQLExpress intance that you can see is only in the dev fabric and has no equivalent once you deply, so be careful about using it.
2. You can try and use Linqpad to query your tables. Look at this post by Jamie Thomson.

Answer 4

I found this on Codeplex and found it useful for browsing live storage: http://azurestorageexplorer.codeplex.com/

Answer 5

For #1, may I recommend that you use our product Cloud Storage Studio. You can find more information about that from our website: http://www.cerebrata.com/Products/CloudStorageStudio/Default.aspx.

It also has a "query" feature as well so that you can execute queries against your table storage.

Hope this helps.

Thanks

Gaurav Mantri

Cerebrata Software

Answer 6

Since I am a new user and there is a limit of 1 link per answer for new users, hence this one more answer.

You may find these links useful as well when querying against Azure Table Storage:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd135725.aspx

Answer 7

You can also use the Windows Azure TabeleBrowser to view what is in the tables of a specific account name.