What are best practices for database setup from a winform client

Question

I have written a winform application that connects to a database on our corporate network. I created the database as I was writing the application. Now it’s time to document the schema and to provide a method of recreation in the event that it is lost for what ever reason.

I have been considering that the client application should ask the user if it should recreate it or provide new connection parameters. Note: the current Connection parameters are kept in an obfuscated text file that is included in the application setup.

What are best practices for recreation of the database or the storage of the schema. Should the schema be just kept in a text file in the application directory, or should it be embedded in the application as a string resource.

Also, does anybody know of a open source application that I could use in documenting the database.

Thanks for any assistance or direction you can provide

Answer 1

Probably the schema should be embedded within the application as a resource. I'm thinking this because you said the connection parameters are obfuscated, which suggests that you don't want users to have any real knowledge of the database. Providing the schema as a plain text file would allow them to make very reasonable guesses as to what the connection parameters are. Another easy way to recreate the database is to simply keep an empty copy of it embedded as an application resource. Instead of actually recreating the database, you can simply stream out this copy.

As for documenting the schema (your second question, which in the future please ask as a separate question entirely), I'm not really sure what you mean. Are you just wanting to document the tables and rows within your database?