Intro to SQL Server with ASP.NET - Page 2
       by kirupa  |  25 December 2006

Now that you have a basic idea of what to expect from the previous page, let's first start by creating our project and setting up the database.

Setting up the Project and Database
In this section you will create a new ASP.net project configured to use our database. The following steps should help you out:

1. First, launch Visual Studio 2005 or Visual Web Developer. Go to File | Open and select Web Site. From the Open Web Site window, select the Local IIS tab and press Open:

[ go to File | Open | Web Site, and select Local IIS as your project location ]

2. You should now see your localhost location displayed in the Solution Explorer. Right click on the http://localhost node and select New Folder. Give your new folder the name dbTest:

[ create a new folder called dbTest ]

3. Now, right click on the dbTest folder and select Add New Item. The Add New Item window appears. From this window, select SQL Database from the Templates view:

[ select the SQL Database template from the Templates view ]

4. For the database name, in the Name field change the default Database.mdf name to Games.mdf. Press OK to close this window:

[ give your new, empty SQL database the name Games.mdf ]

5. You will receive a prompt asking you about creating an App_Data folder if this is the first time you are setting up a database. This is harmless, so click OK. If you expand your App_Data folder in your Solution Explorer, you will see Games.mdf displayed:

[ expand your App_Data folder to see where your database is ]

6. Double-click on the Games.mdf database icon. The Server Explorer panel will display on the left-side of your screen with the internals of your database displayed:

[ the Server Explorer gives you detailed access to your database's internals ]

7. It is time to add a Table to store our information. Right click on the Tables folder and select Add New Table. You should see your main window display empty cells representing your table's columns and their data types:

[ the Add New Table view where you specify columns ]

8. Let's add two columns - gameName and gamePlatform. Under Column Name, first enter gameName, under Data Type type varchar(50), and check the Allow Nulls box. Press Enter, and repeat the above process for adding a second column for gamePlatform with varchar(50) being the data type with nulls allowed.
   
   Your table view should look like my following screenshot:

[ create a new folder called dbTest ]

9. Click the Save button or press Ctrl + S. You will be prompted to save your table. Give your table the name gameTable and press OK:

[ give your table the name gameTable ]

10. You now have your database with a table setup! You just finished the first of the five parts of this tutorial.

Getting the database created and the table configured will be your only direct interaction with the database in this tutorial. In the subsequent pages, you will learn how to connect and interact with the database.

Onwards to the next page!

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