>Isn't that a little simplistic, Grigore???
>
>I mean (and I've been told this a few times) MSDE *IS* SQL Server. That being the case, who's going to specify and take care of the logging and all of the other care and feeding that comes with SQL Server (remember, MDSE *IS* Sql Server).
>
>JimN

Hello, Jim.

Thank you for involving. It was a long time we chatted last time. :)

Yes, you're right. It's a little simplistic. It was intended to be.
Yes, you're right again. MSDE *IS* SQL Server. If it's installed on a NT machine and SP2 is installed, it even has the same interface as SQL Server! :)

But I really believe no one should be scared about this. The configuration is quite simple (I've done it in two days of reading books). Right now I can do it again, without reading anything. Also, if the machine is a NT one, the SQLSERVERAgent can be configured to run at every OS start. This little gem can do the backups and the data reordering and indexing without any user intervention. Also, the logging can be skipped, if the UID and Password are stored with the connection. I know this is highly unrecommended, but at a 'MOM-POP' business I don't see the necesity of high security issues.

Also, the views are stored in a local DBC, and that DBC can be 'included' in the exe. So DBC corruption is gone. One should be worried only by MSDE corruption. In this case, the regular back-up is a saviour. Givin the fact the back-up is done entirely silently, the developer is the only one who know that in fact there is a back-up. Also, the log file generated from the last back-up, used in coroboration with the last backup can restore the entire database.

You know, all this message comes from a former enemy of MS solution. I was once a big fan of MySQL. And now, as you can see, I don't even mention it. So I think my change in opionions should be based on something. Maybe it's my current app, which take care of a hospital with 18 client computers. Maybe it's my experience - I really don't believe if you take care of regular back-ups you'll loose all your data. Maybe it's the speed I've seen -- at the beginning, the MSDE is slower than VFP, but if the database is over 1 GB, MSDE is quicker (it *is* SQL server, remember?).

I gave you three maybe's. You'll pick one.

Thank you