How to Connect and Use Local Database in Visual Studio 2019

By FoxLearn 7/16/2024 8:57:30 AM   29.7K
To connect and use a local database in a C# Windows Forms application using Visual Studio 2019, you can follow these steps.

What is a local database?

A service-based database are databases that are accessed only through a database server. Local database is a database that is used only locally for your application.

Through this c# example, you will learn how to create a local database in visual studio 2019, then use the visual studio to connect to the local database.

Next, create a new table to the local database and create a simple winform to help you insert update delete select data from the local database using c# code.

How do I create a SQL database in Visual Studio?

To connect and use a local database in C#, you typically follow these steps.

  1. Create Database: Create your database file or instance. If you're using SQLite, this is usually just creating a file with a .sqlite or .db extension.

  2. Connect to Database: Write code or drag and drop the table that you want to perform CRUD Operations, then connect to your database from your C# application. This usually involves using a connection string that specifies the location and other connection details of your database.

Creating a new Windows Forms Application project, then right click on your project->Add->New item->Service-based Database.

Click the Server Explorer tab on the left, then add a new connection to the local database.

visual studio server explorer

Next, Add the sql script below to create a new Customer table.

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Customers] (
    [Id]       INT            NOT NULL,
    [FullName] NVARCHAR (100) NULL,
    [Email]    VARCHAR (150)  NULL,
    [Address]  NVARCHAR (500) NULL,
    [Phone]    VARCHAR (25)   NULL,
    [Gender]   BIT            NULL,
    PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ([Id] ASC)
);

or you can design the table from the sql designer.

visual studio sql designer

Where is LocalDB stored?

You can find the local database in the same directory of your project.

After creating a Customer table, click the Data Source tab on the left side, then add a new datasource to your project.

How to connect local database in c# windows application?

Finally, Drag and drop the fields of your datasource to your winform, then design a simple UI allows you to insert update delete select in c# sql as shown below.

Connect and Use Local Database in Visual Studio 2019

Visual studio automatically adds the Form_Load event handler to help you retrieve data from your database.

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    // TODO: This line of code loads data into the 'modelDataSet.Customers' table. You can move, or remove it, as needed.
    this.customersTableAdapter.Fill(this.modelDataSet.Customers);

}

Adding the click event handler to the Save item allows you to save data to the local database.

private void CustomersBindingNavigatorSaveItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    this.Validate();
    this.customersBindingSource.EndEdit();
    this.tableAdapterManager.UpdateAll(this.modelDataSet);

}

Adding the CheckedChanged event handler to the CheckBox control allows you to change Combobox text.

private void GenderCheckBox_CheckedChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    if (genderCheckBox.CheckState == CheckState.Checked)
        genderCheckBox.Text = "Male";
    else if (genderCheckBox.CheckState == CheckState.Unchecked)
        genderCheckBox.Text = "Female";
    else
        genderCheckBox.Text = "??";
}

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