CONNECTING TO SQL SERVER DATABASES

The tables you create in a LightSwitch project are put into a SQL Server database file. When you run the application, it uses a connection to the SQL Server Express instance installed on your computer. The connection is established so that the SQL Server instance receives the name of the file storing the data, and it uses this file to retrieve and save the information your application works with.

This is a very convenient solution for application developers because the data is in your project folder structure. When you move the project folder, the data also moves with it. You can copy it to another machine and continue with the development there.

The situation is a bit different with existing data. Of course, for security reasons, in many cases you cannot copy the data to your development machine. Databases can also be so huge that you can’t place them on your machine.