SQLite Database Creation not being Created - vb.net

Question

I was storing my SQLite DB name in App.config and using System.Configuration Reference to retrieve the DB name
I decided this was of no value so I removed the readConfig code
Now I can not create the DB and its two tables
Would someone be kind enough to review the code below and explain what I am doing wrong?
Setting in Module
Public gv_dbName As String = "Notes.db"
Declarations top level on frmStart
Public connStr As String = "Data Source={0};Version=3;"
Public conn As SqliteConnection
Dim cmd As SqliteCommand
Other Relevant Code
Private Sub frmStart_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Icon = Icon.ExtractAssociatedIcon(Application.ExecutablePath)
connStr = String.Format(connStr, gv_dbName)
If My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists(gv_dbName) Then
btnCreate.Visible = False
btnToEnterData.Visible = True
btnToViewParentTable.Visible = True
ElseIf Not My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists(gv_dbName) Then
conn = New SqliteConnection($"Data Source = '{gv_dbName}';Version=3;")
tbMessage.Text = "Created Database & Tables"
End If
End Sub
Private Sub btnCreate_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles btnCreate.Click
makeDB()
End Sub
Public Sub makeDB()
If Not My.Computer.FileSystem.FileExists(gv_dbName) Then
Try
conn = New SqliteConnection($"Data Source = '{gv_dbName}';Version=3;")
conn.Open()
makeParentTable()
makeChildTable()
conn.Close()
Catch ex As Exception
tbMessage.Text = "Database NOT Created"
End Try
End If
End Sub
I even tried this top level of frmStart
'Friend gv_dbName As String = "Notes.db"
Here is what I based this code off of
Link to Code

Answer 1

Assuming that Notes.db is in your application directory (where the exe is), that's how you open a connection on sqlite. Just remove the options you don't need.
dim strConString As String = "Data Source=Notes.db;Version=3;Pooling=True;Synchronous=Off;journal mode=Memory;foreign keys=true;;"
conn = New SQLiteConnection(strConString)
conn.Open()
if it fails on Open() you can try to add New=True in the connection string
conn = New SQLiteConnection(strConString & "New=True;")

Answer 2

Using Microsoft.Data.Sqlite.Core or System.Data.SQLite (Db Version 3) it doesn’t matter to see if file exists or not.
Just give a Phisical/Absolute path, if not exist there is created a new file named.db otherwise the existed database comes back:
Example:
Friend dbPath As String = IO.Path.Combine(Application.StartupPath, "Notes.db")
Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
TestMySqlite()
End Sub
Private Sub TestMySqlite()
Try
'You can use this but it is not important for version 3 as is auto created the new file by itself
'If Not IO.File.Exists(dbPath) Then SQLiteConnection.CreateFile(dbPath)
Using conn As SQLiteConnection = New SQLiteConnection("Data Source=" & dbPath & "; Version=3;")
conn.Open()
Console.WriteLine(conn.FileName)
Using command As SQLiteCommand = New SQLiteCommand("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS Test (RowIndex INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT COLLATE NOCASE, name varchar(20))", conn)
command.ExecuteNonQuery()
End Using
Using cmdInsert = New SQLiteCommand("INSERT INTO Test (name) values ('this is a test')", conn)
cmdInsert.ExecuteNonQuery()
End Using
End Using
Catch ex As Exception
Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString)
Stop
End Try
End Sub
In this example is created a file (if not exist) named Notes.db under the folder your app is running.
The next call SQLiteConnection just return Notes.db