SQL Server CE and Visual Studio 2013

Question

So now we know that SQL Server CE is no longer supported by Visual Studio 2013. We can get some access to it using the SQL Server CE Toolbox add-in, but this does not eliminate the fact that the data provider is not and therefore we are no longer cannot use SQL Server CE with Entity Framework, etc.

I have not yet found an explanation from MS about why this is missing now, but I accepted it now, and I'm looking for ways to move on.

My question is: what is the best migration path for this? I am using the first Entity Framework with SQL Server CE and deploying small sites that use a small .sdf file for the database, and the updates are easy to deploy - just copy the file. SQL Server Express will not work. For desktop / WPF / winforms applications, I assume this is even more confusing since the built-in SQL Server CE database is great for small desktop applications.

Answer 1

You can use Database First with Toolbox in VS 2013, don't know what you are missing? Just right-click the database file and select "Create Entity Data Model" in the current project. See my blog here for screenshots: http://erikej.blogspot.dk/2013/10/sql-server-compact-toolbox-36visual.html PS: I'm a Toolbox developer, let me know what else you need.

Answer 2

If you are using Entity Framework 6, install the NuGet package.
"EntityFramework.SqlServerCompact".

After installing this standard application, MVC5 created the .sdf database file in the App_Data folder and pasted my login information into the new ASPNET Identity tables.