If you don’t have SQL Server 2005 installed, you can download the Express version free, from
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/.Compared to the full version, SQL Server 2005 Express (SSE) has a number of limitations, but it is
fine for experimenting with SQL Server as a back end, or developing small applications. SSE
includes all the core database features of SQL Server 2005, but it lacks support for enterprise fea-
tures. If you need to create an enterprise application, you will need one of the other editions of
SQL Server 2005, but for individual or small business use, SSE is very suitable.For a full comparison of the features of the five editions of SQL Server 2005, see the
tables here: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/features/compare-
features.mspx.SSE is an upgrade to the Microsoft Database Engine (MSDE), which was included in the higher-
end editions of previous Office versions. Compared to MSDE, SSE has several enhancements:n The maximum database size has doubled, from 2GB to 4GB.
n MSDE’s limitation on the number of concurrent users to five (with performance degrad-
ing significantly if there were more users) has been removed.
n The SQL Server Management Studio (included with SSE) gives you a user-friendly inter-
face for working with saved queries and stored procedures, as well as various administra-
tive tasks.
n The new XCopy deployment feature allows you to copy a database file to another com-
puter, even if the database is not open. Other users can then connect to the database copy
using the AttachDBFileName connection string argument.SQL Server 2005 must be upgraded to Service Pack 2 to work with Access 2007. If you
have an earlier version, when you first run SQL Server 2005, or attempt to connect to it,
you will get a message advising you of the need to upgrade, with a reference to a web page with the
SP2 upgrade links for both SQL Server 2005 and SSE.Preparing an Access Database for Upsizing to SQL Server ................................................
To convert an Access database (or just its tables) to SQL Server (this is known as upsizing), you
need to run the Upsizing Wizard, as described in the “Using the Upsizing Wizard” section later in
this chapter. However, before you run the Upsizing Wizard to upsize an Access database to SQL
Server 2005 or SSE, you need to make some preparations in your database:n Make sure that each table has a unique index, because a SQL Server can’t update a table
that lacks a unique index.
n Make any hidden tables visible (see sidebar that follows), because the Upsizing Wizard
can’t upsize hidden tables.
n Compile all the code, and correct any errors.NOTENOTE
NOTENOTE
Working with SQL Server Data 18