Embedding SQL Server Express in Applications
[This topic is pre-release documentation and is subject to change in future releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]
To install and use Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (SQL Server Express) within an existing application, complete one of the following tasks:
Create a bootstrap program that uses sqlexpr.exe. This is the recommended method because sqlexpr.exe uses checkpoints to prevent problems that arise during installation.
Note
A bootstrap is a program that installs or runs other programs.
If you do not want to use a bootstrap, you can use Visual Studio 2005 to build a setup application that installs SQL Server Express along with your existing application by calling the SQL Server Express setup.exe program. The SQL Server Express installation can be run in silent mode.
In both of these situations, the user has to be an administrator to install SQL Server Express.
For more information about embedding, see "Embedding SQL Server Express into Custom Applications" at MSDN library.
See Also
Other Resources
Using Command Prompt Options to Install SQL Server Express