How do you program against a Database you can't see in Visual Studio?

Question

I'm writings some ASP.NET and I tried connecting to my MySQL database. I found out GoDaddy doesn't support remote connecting to the database (free hosting). Is there a way to program against it? Maybe prototyping the database locally?

Answer 1

Setting up a local MySQL database to develop against would seem the easiest solution.

Answer 2

I always use unbound controls so I've never run into that problem. That would be one option.

Another would be to have a "widget" class sit between your data and your program. During development, have the widget return what you expect. During testing and release, have the widget return real data.

Answer 3

A mock data layer would work and give testing benefits as well. Rhino.Mocks for instance.