VistaDB 3.0 Worth a Look

For data deployment simplicity on a shared host, it's hard to beat FTPing your database file to the site and configuring its connection string. We almost have that simplicity with SQL Server 2005 Express, but not all ASP.NET hosters offer Express. For some, you've got to move your Express database to their SQL Server 2005 system. It's doable, but takes some effort.

So, when Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition was released, I wondered if a low-volume Web site could use CE as a replacement for the much-maligned Microsoft Access. After all, I reasoned, ASP.NET would be just "one" user of the database and it would all be managed code.

Well, Microsoft saw that coming. As soon as my ASP.NET code tried to connect using

Dim conn As New SqlCeConnection(connString)

CE threw a no-nonsense exception:

System.NotSupportedException: SQL Server Compact Edition is not intended for ASP.NET development.

Okay, I  tried. Fortunately, there's another way to get easy deployment and managed code. I've been following with interest the progress of  VistaDB 3.0 from Vista Software. I threw together a quick page that imports the VistaDB.Provider (RC1) and connects to their sample database:

Dim strDBFilename = _
            Server.MapPath("App_Data/Northwind.vdb3")
            Dim conn As New VistaDBConnection _
            ("Data Source=" & strDBFilename)

Copy the page, the DLL, and the database to my ISP's server, open the page and it works! Hey, I think these guys have something here. I'm going to continue exploring this as an easy-to-deploy solution. I'm curious to see how VistaDB performs on a busier site than mine.

[Full Disclosure] Vista Software (as with many software vendors) offers freebies of its products to Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals in the Visual Developer category.