1. SQL Server has an embedded version. Very light-weight. SQL Server Express also works
2. It "should" be as easy as change the connection string
3. The .NET Framework can easily get the connection string from the app.config file
4. How are you doing username/password? You can setup SQL Server to use Windows authentication, then give that user access to the database. SQL Server will handle things. If they can't get access to the data, abort the program.
5. How difficult would it be to migrate to .NET 4? MAJOR improvements of 1.1


>Hello Everybody.
>
>I have designed an application which is already fully functional on my system. I want to adjust it now to be able to make it a shrink wrap app.
>
>Currently that app is connecting to my MS SQL 2005 database. For it to be a shrink wrap the database connection should be flexible. Maybe the end customer already has SQL (any version) installed or maybe my app needs to install a light sql version, such as sql express or so.
>
>For this process I have a few questions:
>
>

Which light weight sql do you recommend?
>

Do I just need to change the connection string to the different database (given the table and fields are the same)?
>

Where do I change the connection string in the code? Or rather, should I have instead of the connection string a function call which returns the connection string?
>

How about username/password security? In my case here I am connection to a database which also has our enterprise data. I don't know if the password is encrypted and/or hidden - can someone get to it? How do I ensure this is save?
>

Any other thoughts concern to bring me on the right track?
>
>Thank you for all your great help!

Craig Berntson
MCSD, Microsoft .Net MVP, Grape City Community Influencer