This tutorial uses the predefined SQLConnectionDlg dialog and all the settings will be collected during install time and then passed to the installer. In order to do this public properties will be used.
- 1. Create project
- 2. Add SQL connection dialog
- 3. Create the SQL connection
- 4. Test the installation package
1. Create project
If Advanced Installer is not currently running, launch it by double-clicking the desktop icon or selecting it from the “Start” menu. When the application starts, you will see a dialog where you can choose the type of the project you want to create.
This tutorial requires at least an Enterprise project.
2. Add SQL connection dialog
Go to Dialogs
Page and select FolderDlg dialog.
Select “Add Dialog” toolbar option or “Add
Dialog...” context menu option.
The Add Dialog dialog will appear. Select SQLConnectionDlg from the list and press "OK". The new dialog will be added in the chain after the FolderDlg dialog.
In the SQLConnectionDlg dialog select the "ODBC Resource" static text control and from the Properties pane located in the right side, set the Visible attribute to False.
Repeat the same procedure for the edit box control associated with "ODBC Resource".
3. Create the SQL connection
Navigate to SQL Scripts Page
and select “New SQL Connection -> Predefined SQL
Connection” option from the toolbar or context
menu.
This will change the installation type to "Per-machine
only".
Rename the connection to something meaningful. Using the "SQL Connection" properties pane from the right side, write the following settings:
| Parameter name | Value |
| Connection Type | Microsoft SQL Server / MSDE |
| Connection Mode | ODBC Driver |
| ODBC Driver | SQL Server |
| Server | [SERVER_PROP] |
| Port | [PORT_PROP] |
| Username | [USERNAME_PROP] |
| Use a property to set password | [PASSWORD_PROP] |
| Database | [DATABASE_PROP] |
Since we are going to use this connection with Microsoft SQL Server we will not use a property to set the "ODBC Driver" parameter and we will hard-code it instead.
Add all the necessary resources like files and folders to the
project, build and run it.
4. Test the installation package
It is wise to test if the package is correctly connecting to your SQL Server before giving it to your customers.
The Test SQL Connection How To
article shows the steps needed to take in order to test your SQL
connection.
Once the installation package is running navigate to the "SQL Database" dialog and enter the following information:
- Server
- The name of the SQL Server. If the server is hosted on the local machine use (local) otherwise use the following format: Computer-name\Server-name.
- Port
- The port used by the SQL Server. By default, Microsoft SQL Server uses the 1433 port.
- Database
- The name of the database to which the install package will connect to.
- Username
- The username under which the connection will be initiated. This user must have privileges to connect to the SQL Server. By default, Microsoft SQL Server comes with the sa user (System Administrator).
- Password
- The password associated with the user. For the sa user this password is set during the SQL Server installation.
The End
This concludes our tutorial. To learn more, please read the MySQL Server Connection tutorial.