Create Connection String during installation - vb.net

Question

I have a Windows Forms application. I want to create a setup file for this application. I used Visual Studio 2012 and SQL Server 12.
I want this setup to work in every new environment.
So, how do I make this connection string dynamic? Can I create a connection string after installation and make it available for every form to access, like in my local machine?
Any kind of source code, video links, explanations or examples will be a great help for me.

Answer 1

I propose to search on the machine for instances of the SQL server, and then in every instance search for the databases. You could setup some logic for example if only one instance is found, and on this instance only database with specific name exists then use this database, but if two or more instances are found, or different database name then preferred is found, show window to user where he can choose the right one.
To find Database instance you could use following method:
private static DataRowCollection SQLDataServers()
{
System.Data.Sql.SqlDataSourceEnumerator instance = System.Data.Sql.SqlDataSourceEnumerator.Instance;
DataTable dt = instance.GetDataSources();
if (dt.Rows.Count>0)
{
return dt.Rows;
}
throw new Exception("No SQL Instance Found");
}
To find tables in the database you can use following method:
private static List<string> GetDatabases(string conString)
{
List<string> list = new List<string>();
using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(conString))
{
con.Open();
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT name from sys.databases", con))
{
using (IDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader())
{
while (dr.Read())
{
list.Add(dr[0].ToString());
}
}
}
}
return list;
}
To generate connection string you can use nuget package or following methods:
public static string GetSqlDataSourceConnectionString(string dataSource)
{
return GetSQLDataSource(dataSource).ToString();
}
private static SqlConnectionStringBuilder GetSQLDataSource(string dataSource)
{
var r = GetDataSource(dataSource).AddIntegratedSecurity();
return r;
}
private static SqlConnectionStringBuilder GetDataSource(string dataSource)
{
SqlConnectionStringBuilder sqlBuilder = new
SqlConnectionStringBuilder();
sqlBuilder.DataSource = dataSource;
return sqlBuilder;
}
private static SqlConnectionStringBuilder AddIntegratedSecurity(this SqlConnectionStringBuilder connectionStringBuilder)
{
connectionStringBuilder.IntegratedSecurity = true;
return connectionStringBuilder;
}
The method which connects all this elements can be as following:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var servers=SQLDataServers();
foreach (DataRow item in servers)
{
string serverName = string.Format($"{item.ItemArray[0].ToString()}\\{item.ItemArray[1].ToString()}");
var connectionString = GetSqlDataSourceConnectionString(serverName);
var listOfDB=GetDatabases(connectionString);
}
}