Showing posts with label available. Show all posts
Showing posts with label available. Show all posts

Friday, March 30, 2012

Migrating Excel Spreadsheets to MSSQL

Hi All.

Would you happen to know how one could convert some Excel spreadsheets to MSSQL? There is some commercially available software, but there must also be a way for me to manipulate the files.

Many thanks!
Nazli

ms-help://MS.VSCC.v80/MS.MSDN.v80/MS.SQL.v2005.en/extran9/html/667419f2-74fb-4b50-b963-9197d1368cda.htm

That's where I started.

Good luck

ginnyK

|||

What kind of conversions are you trying to do?

Reason I'm asking is because I pull information from Excel spreadsheets all the time into SQL using packages I've built.

Let me know what you're trying to convert.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Migrate from 2000 to 2005

Is there a tool available (or planned) to migrate SQL Server 2000 database to SQL Server 2005 ? I came across this (http://www.timespring.net/TS_TD_SQL05offer.htm?track=NL-464&ad=524331) but are there any other tools ?
Has Microsoft planned anything of its own for this ?http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=63FCE120-5E87-4AF1-B080-CA461AEAFAA2&displaylang=en

Looking for something like this ?? Moreover, SQL Server 2005 will contain a upgrade wizard AFAIK.|||Thanks for the response. Yes, I went through (and even tried) SQL Server Ugrade advisor. But not sure if Microsoft has plans to ship "Upgrade Wizard" kind of utility as shipped with SQL Server 2000. I couldn't find any reference to such utility being planned in their site.|||Quoting from the new version of the HOLY BOOK (BOL 2005)

Upgrading to SQL Server 2005 from a previous SQL Server version is supported by the SQL Server 2005 Setup program. You can also migrate databases from previous SQL Server versions to an instance of SQL Server 2005. Migration can be from one SQL Server instance to another on the same computer, or from a SQL Server instance on another server. Migration options include use of the Copy Database Wizard, Backup and restore functionality, use of the SQL Server 2005 Integration Services Import and Export Wizard, and bulk export/bulk import methods.|||More information on how to upgrade : http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx.

Web Version of the new BOL can be found here.

Monday, March 12, 2012

migrate a 600GB of DB from State to State.

Hi All,
What will be the best practise to move a 600 GB of a database from one state
to another, if data needs to be available all the time.
Thanks.
Message posted via webservertalk.com
http://www.webservertalk.com/Uwe/Forum...amming/200603/1Hi
http://vyaskn.tripod.com/moving_sql_server.htm
"Naana via webservertalk.com" <u14055@.uwe> wrote in message
news:5d5785f6d26f1@.uwe...
> Hi All,
> What will be the best practise to move a 600 GB of a database from one
> state
> to another, if data needs to be available all the time.
> Thanks.
> --
> Message posted via webservertalk.com
> http://www.webservertalk.com/Uwe/Forum...amming/200603/1|||Please elaborate on what you mean by "from state to state".
From ...
... state of Florida to the state of California ?
... Server01 to Server02 ?
... SQL Server to flat text ?
"Naana via webservertalk.com" <u14055@.uwe> wrote in message
news:5d5785f6d26f1@.uwe...
> Hi All,
> What will be the best practise to move a 600 GB of a database from one
> state
> to another, if data needs to be available all the time.
> Thanks.
> --
> Message posted via webservertalk.com
> http://www.webservertalk.com/Uwe/Forum...amming/200603/1

Migrate 2000 -> 2005

I've got the responsibility over a small SQL server with 8 Database and approx. 100GByte data online. Most database are used and need to be available 24*7*366. Also a number of local data transformation packages are defined and used on a regular basis. Furthermore a number of third party applications rely on this database.

My question if it is worth the effort to migrate this to 2005? I know there are all kinds of nice migration wizards but do they really work? What if one of the 3rd party apps don't like 2005?

Love to hear both good and bad experiences migrating -> 2005 .

1. SQL Server 2005 can be installed side by side with SQL Server 2000 successfully. So you can install SQL Server 2005 on the same machine where SQL Server 2000 is installed. But make sure you choose a different instance name for SQL Server 2005. Otherwise, setup will performs upgrading. After you install SQL Server 2005, you can transfer data from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005. At the same time, your SQL Server 2000 is not affected. After you think SQL Server 2005 runs well and stable, you can switch to SQL Server 2005. If required, you can uninstall SQL Server 2000.

2. You can upgrade SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005 directly. During setup, make sure you choose the same instance name of SQL Server 2000 for SQL Server 2005. Follow the UI, which is very simple.

3. Or you uninstall SQL Server 2000 and saved database, followed by installing SQL Server 2005 with attaching the saved database.

Among, these three approaches, the first one is prefered if your machine resource is not an issue, which is pretty safe. At the same time, you will not affect all application depending on SQL Server 2000.

Before you do any major operations, please back up your database first.

|||

Thanks Chen, did not know 2000 and 2005 can run side by side but this will greatly increase the possibility of a migration. I don't like the idea of an upgrade only to find out that one of the zillion applications doesn't like 2005 and not being able to rollback :-) Still one question: can I attach the 2000 database devices (mdf, ndf and ldf) to a 2005 directly? Or should we go through the full backup/restore route?

What will happen to the data translation packages? 2005 doesn't have data translation packages so we will not be able to modify them.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Microsoft Word Delivery Extension & Use of web client

1. Is there a Microsoft Word or RTF delivery extension available for SQL
Reporting Services?
If not, is there any technique of producing the same with XML and XSLT?
2. To solve the security extension problem on a standard edition:
I am thinking of using web client on a filter page on the web server to
connect to the reporting server so that I don't bypass the web server when a
URL access request comes thru.
I mean, the URL for the report viewer won't be reporting server, instead it
will be an aspx (filter) page within the web server. The filter on the web
server will intercept and in turn impersonate a user on the report server and
render a report in the report viewer.
My question: I have not used web clients from web server before. Will it
affect the performance of web server? Is the above theory make sense at all?
I haven't implemented it.
Thanks,
Sri.The XML/XSLT idea is probably your best bet. Years ago I created a custom
RTF generator (to create nice-looking documents from a CASE tool). It's
easy once you do two things:
(1) Hunt down the RTF specification (from Microsoft I think), and learn the
basic syntax.
(2) Create a Word document that looks like what you want and save it to RTF
as a baseline/reference.
Then, you'll be armed and dangerous -- especially if you know how to do
XSLT.
--
Cheers,
'(' Jeff A. Stucker
\
Business Intelligence
www.criadvantage.com
---
"Sri" <Sri@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8B848583-4F7E-490F-9E77-95CD40C30072@.microsoft.com...
> 1. Is there a Microsoft Word or RTF delivery extension available for SQL
> Reporting Services?
> If not, is there any technique of producing the same with XML and XSLT?
> 2. To solve the security extension problem on a standard edition:
> I am thinking of using web client on a filter page on the web server to
> connect to the reporting server so that I don't bypass the web server when
> a
> URL access request comes thru.
> I mean, the URL for the report viewer won't be reporting server, instead
> it
> will be an aspx (filter) page within the web server. The filter on the web
> server will intercept and in turn impersonate a user on the report server
> and
> render a report in the report viewer.
> My question: I have not used web clients from web server before. Will it
> affect the performance of web server? Is the above theory make sense at
> all?
> I haven't implemented it.
> Thanks,
> Sri.
>|||Thanks Jeff. I will investigate.
"Jeff A. Stucker" wrote:
> The XML/XSLT idea is probably your best bet. Years ago I created a custom
> RTF generator (to create nice-looking documents from a CASE tool). It's
> easy once you do two things:
> (1) Hunt down the RTF specification (from Microsoft I think), and learn the
> basic syntax.
> (2) Create a Word document that looks like what you want and save it to RTF
> as a baseline/reference.
> Then, you'll be armed and dangerous -- especially if you know how to do
> XSLT.
> --
> Cheers,
> '(' Jeff A. Stucker
> \
> Business Intelligence
> www.criadvantage.com
> ---
> "Sri" <Sri@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:8B848583-4F7E-490F-9E77-95CD40C30072@.microsoft.com...
> > 1. Is there a Microsoft Word or RTF delivery extension available for SQL
> > Reporting Services?
> >
> > If not, is there any technique of producing the same with XML and XSLT?
> >
> > 2. To solve the security extension problem on a standard edition:
> >
> > I am thinking of using web client on a filter page on the web server to
> > connect to the reporting server so that I don't bypass the web server when
> > a
> > URL access request comes thru.
> > I mean, the URL for the report viewer won't be reporting server, instead
> > it
> > will be an aspx (filter) page within the web server. The filter on the web
> > server will intercept and in turn impersonate a user on the report server
> > and
> > render a report in the report viewer.
> >
> > My question: I have not used web clients from web server before. Will it
> > affect the performance of web server? Is the above theory make sense at
> > all?
> > I haven't implemented it.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Sri.
> >
>
>|||Hi,
You can check http://officewriter.softartisans.com/officewriter-250.aspx
for the first question.
creating a 'filter' will not affect performance
--
Message posted via http://www.sqlmonster.com

Friday, February 24, 2012

Microsoft SQL-DMO [SQL-DMO]Out of memory error

Hi,
We have a stored procedure that we call very frequently
that polls servers to see if they are available. This is
used from various other stored procedures that may then
use an available SQL Server or try another one.
We have implemented the stored procedure such that it uses
the SP_OA routines to perform a SQL-DMO connect. This
works very well and allows us to catch the 'server
unavailable' error in stored procedure code and branch.
Unfortunataly, if the SQL Server that issues the connect
has not been restarted for a few says we get the following
message back from the connect method (from
sp_OAGetErrorInfo):
0x80045900 Microsoft SQL-DMO [SQL-DMO]Out of
memory.
I have included the code fragment below we are using. Has
anyone any thoughts, please, on where our memory leak is
happening. All our SQL Servers are SP2 currently.
Many thanks, Ken
---
CREATE PROCEDURE xxx @.ServerName VARCHAR(20),
@.LoginTimeout INT = 10
AS
SET NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE @.iRet int
DECLARE @.object int
DECLARE @.hr int
DECLARE @.src varchar(255), @.desc varchar(255)
-- @.iRet - return value of procedures
-- @.object - object reference
-- @.hr - handle
-- @.src - source of error message
-- @.desc - description of error message
-- Set up parameters/variables
SELECT @.iRet = 0, @.hr = 0, @.object = 0
-- create SQLDMO SQLServer object
EXEC @.hr = sp_OACreate 'SQLDMO.SQLServer', @.object OUT
IF @.hr <> 0
BEGIN
EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT,
@.desc OUT
SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr),
Source=@.src, Description=@.desc
RETURN (2)
END
-- Set the properties
-- Set the LoginTimeout property.
EXEC @.hr = sp_OASetProperty @.object, 'LoginTimeout',
@.LoginTimeout
IF @.hr <> 0
BEGIN
EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
OUT
SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
Description=@.desc
EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
RETURN (3)
END
-- Set the integrated login property.
EXEC @.hr = sp_OASetProperty @.object,'LoginSecure',1
IF @.hr <> 0
BEGIN
EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
OUT
SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
Description=@.desc
EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
RETURN (4)
END
-- attempt to connect to server
EXEC @.hr = sp_OAMethod @.object, 'Connect', NULL,
@.ServerName
IF @.hr <> 0
BEGIN
EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
OUT
SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
Description=@.desc
SELECT @.iRet = convert(varbinary(4),@.hr)
EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
RETURN (CASE @.iRet WHEN 0x80020009 THEN 2 ELSE 1
END) -- 2 = 'SQL Server does not exist or access denied',
1 = misc. error
END
-- Disconnect
EXEC @.hr = sp_OAMethod @.object, 'DisConnect'
IF @.hr <> 0
BEGIN
EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
OUT
SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr),
Source=@.src, Description=@.desc
EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
RETURN (5)
END
-- Destroy object
EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
IF @.hr <> 0
BEGIN
EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
OUT
SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
Description=@.desc
RETURN (6)
END
-- success
RETURN (0)
GOIt's difficult to trace memory leaks like this. I can't help with the DMO
specific troubleshooting, but... I would encourage to you to review the fix
list for SP3a. I remember reading about some memory leak issues, don't
remember what they were... but you don't want to waste time on a fix in the
latest SP.
Also... do you have an ability to either a) rollout SP3 (which you really
should anyway for security purposes) or b) at least roll it out in a QA
envrionment where you can test this memory leak against Sp3. That might save
you a lot of time...
--
Brian Moran
Principal Mentor
Solid Quality Learning
SQL Server MVP
http://www.solidqualitylearning.com
"Ken Eng" <keneng23@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:0d5001c36e33$069fcfb0$a301280a@.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
> We have a stored procedure that we call very frequently
> that polls servers to see if they are available. This is
> used from various other stored procedures that may then
> use an available SQL Server or try another one.
> We have implemented the stored procedure such that it uses
> the SP_OA routines to perform a SQL-DMO connect. This
> works very well and allows us to catch the 'server
> unavailable' error in stored procedure code and branch.
> Unfortunataly, if the SQL Server that issues the connect
> has not been restarted for a few says we get the following
> message back from the connect method (from
> sp_OAGetErrorInfo):
> 0x80045900 Microsoft SQL-DMO [SQL-DMO]Out of
> memory.
> I have included the code fragment below we are using. Has
> anyone any thoughts, please, on where our memory leak is
> happening. All our SQL Servers are SP2 currently.
>
> Many thanks, Ken
> ---
> CREATE PROCEDURE xxx @.ServerName VARCHAR(20),
> @.LoginTimeout INT = 10
> AS
> SET NOCOUNT ON
>
> DECLARE @.iRet int
> DECLARE @.object int
> DECLARE @.hr int
> DECLARE @.src varchar(255), @.desc varchar(255)
> -- @.iRet - return value of procedures
> -- @.object - object reference
> -- @.hr - handle
> -- @.src - source of error message
> -- @.desc - description of error message
> -- Set up parameters/variables
> SELECT @.iRet = 0, @.hr = 0, @.object = 0
> -- create SQLDMO SQLServer object
> EXEC @.hr = sp_OACreate 'SQLDMO.SQLServer', @.object OUT
> IF @.hr <> 0
> BEGIN
> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT,
> @.desc OUT
> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr),
> Source=@.src, Description=@.desc
> RETURN (2)
> END
> -- Set the properties
> -- Set the LoginTimeout property.
> EXEC @.hr = sp_OASetProperty @.object, 'LoginTimeout',
> @.LoginTimeout
> IF @.hr <> 0
> BEGIN
> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
> OUT
> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
> Description=@.desc
> EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
> RETURN (3)
> END
>
> -- Set the integrated login property.
> EXEC @.hr = sp_OASetProperty @.object,'LoginSecure',1
> IF @.hr <> 0
> BEGIN
> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
> OUT
> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
> Description=@.desc
> EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
> RETURN (4)
> END
> -- attempt to connect to server
> EXEC @.hr = sp_OAMethod @.object, 'Connect', NULL,
> @.ServerName
> IF @.hr <> 0
> BEGIN
> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
> OUT
> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
> Description=@.desc
> SELECT @.iRet = convert(varbinary(4),@.hr)
> EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
> RETURN (CASE @.iRet WHEN 0x80020009 THEN 2 ELSE 1
> END) -- 2 = 'SQL Server does not exist or access denied',
> 1 = misc. error
> END
> -- Disconnect
> EXEC @.hr = sp_OAMethod @.object, 'DisConnect'
> IF @.hr <> 0
> BEGIN
> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
> OUT
> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr),
> Source=@.src, Description=@.desc
> EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
> RETURN (5)
> END
> -- Destroy object
> EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
> IF @.hr <> 0
> BEGIN
> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
> OUT
> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
> Description=@.desc
> RETURN (6)
> END
> -- success
> RETURN (0)
> GO
>
>|||Thanks Brian,
I will move to SP3 to take this out of the equation.
Cheers
Ken
>--Original Message--
>It's difficult to trace memory leaks like this. I can't
help with the DMO
>specific troubleshooting, but... I would encourage to you
to review the fix
>list for SP3a. I remember reading about some memory leak
issues, don't
>remember what they were... but you don't want to waste
time on a fix in the
>latest SP.
>Also... do you have an ability to either a) rollout SP3
(which you really
>should anyway for security purposes) or b) at least roll
it out in a QA
>envrionment where you can test this memory leak against
Sp3. That might save
>you a lot of time...
>--
>Brian Moran
>Principal Mentor
>Solid Quality Learning
>SQL Server MVP
>http://www.solidqualitylearning.com
>
>"Ken Eng" <keneng23@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:0d5001c36e33$069fcfb0$a301280a@.phx.gbl...
>> Hi,
>> We have a stored procedure that we call very frequently
>> that polls servers to see if they are available. This is
>> used from various other stored procedures that may then
>> use an available SQL Server or try another one.
>> We have implemented the stored procedure such that it
uses
>> the SP_OA routines to perform a SQL-DMO connect. This
>> works very well and allows us to catch the 'server
>> unavailable' error in stored procedure code and branch.
>> Unfortunataly, if the SQL Server that issues the connect
>> has not been restarted for a few says we get the
following
>> message back from the connect method (from
>> sp_OAGetErrorInfo):
>> 0x80045900 Microsoft SQL-DMO [SQL-DMO]Out of
>> memory.
>> I have included the code fragment below we are using.
Has
>> anyone any thoughts, please, on where our memory leak is
>> happening. All our SQL Servers are SP2 currently.
>>
>> Many thanks, Ken
>> ---
>> CREATE PROCEDURE xxx @.ServerName VARCHAR(20),
>> @.LoginTimeout INT = 10
>> AS
>> SET NOCOUNT ON
>>
>> DECLARE @.iRet int
>> DECLARE @.object int
>> DECLARE @.hr int
>> DECLARE @.src varchar(255), @.desc varchar(255)
>> -- @.iRet - return value of procedures
>> -- @.object - object reference
>> -- @.hr - handle
>> -- @.src - source of error message
>> -- @.desc - description of error message
>> -- Set up parameters/variables
>> SELECT @.iRet = 0, @.hr = 0, @.object = 0
>> -- create SQLDMO SQLServer object
>> EXEC @.hr = sp_OACreate 'SQLDMO.SQLServer', @.object OUT
>> IF @.hr <> 0
>> BEGIN
>> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT,
>> @.desc OUT
>> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr),
>> Source=@.src, Description=@.desc
>> RETURN (2)
>> END
>> -- Set the properties
>> -- Set the LoginTimeout property.
>> EXEC @.hr = sp_OASetProperty @.object, 'LoginTimeout',
>> @.LoginTimeout
>> IF @.hr <> 0
>> BEGIN
>> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
>> OUT
>> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
>> Description=@.desc
>> EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
>> RETURN (3)
>> END
>>
>> -- Set the integrated login property.
>> EXEC @.hr = sp_OASetProperty @.object,'LoginSecure',1
>> IF @.hr <> 0
>> BEGIN
>> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
>> OUT
>> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
>> Description=@.desc
>> EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
>> RETURN (4)
>> END
>> -- attempt to connect to server
>> EXEC @.hr = sp_OAMethod @.object, 'Connect', NULL,
>> @.ServerName
>> IF @.hr <> 0
>> BEGIN
>> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
>> OUT
>> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
>> Description=@.desc
>> SELECT @.iRet = convert(varbinary(4),@.hr)
>> EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
>> RETURN (CASE @.iRet WHEN 0x80020009 THEN 2 ELSE 1
>> END) -- 2 = 'SQL Server does not exist or access
denied',
>> 1 = misc. error
>> END
>> -- Disconnect
>> EXEC @.hr = sp_OAMethod @.object, 'DisConnect'
>> IF @.hr <> 0
>> BEGIN
>> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
>> OUT
>> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr),
>> Source=@.src, Description=@.desc
>> EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
>> RETURN (5)
>> END
>> -- Destroy object
>> EXEC @.hr = sp_OADestroy @.object
>> IF @.hr <> 0
>> BEGIN
>> EXEC sp_OAGetErrorInfo @.object, @.src OUT, @.desc
>> OUT
>> SELECT hr=convert(varbinary(4),@.hr), Source=@.src,
>> Description=@.desc
>> RETURN (6)
>> END
>> -- success
>> RETURN (0)
>> GO
>>
>
>.
>

Monday, February 20, 2012

Microsoft sql server smo

Im trying to use

Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo

to load a dropdown of available sql server databases.

On my computer it works fine but when i try and run the application on my virtual it throws and unhandled exception that it couldn't load SMO assembly. I know this is because 2005 isn't installed on my virtual but i want to be able to catch this error and just ignore it and load a blank dropdown. I tried putting try catch blocks around the load but it still errors. I then tried instead of importing it i tried to reference smo by using the whole name inside of my try catch block.

Does anyone know how to catch this error

Try' Create a new connection to the selected server nameDim srvConnAs New Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Common.ServerConnection(txtServerName.Text)Dim srvSqlAs Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server' Log in using SQL authentication instead of Windows authentication srvConn.LoginSecure =False' Give the login username srvConn.Login = txtUserID.Text' Give the login password srvConn.Password = txtPassword.Text' Create a new SQL Server object using the connection we created srvSql =New Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server(srvConn)' Loop through the databases listFor Each dbServerAs Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.DatabaseIn srvSql.Databases' Add database to combobox txtDatabase.Items.Add(dbServer.Name)Next Catch exAs Exception MsgBox(ex.Message)End Try

I know this is because 2005 isn't installed on my virtual but i want to be able to catch this error and just ignore it and load a blank dropdown

smo object should work on a sql 2000 server, I have done it before. What is th exact error message your getting?

|||

What i have read tells me that smo is new in 2005 and does not work in 2000. But any case i want to ignore this error and just populate the dropdowns as blank if no sql server is installed at all.

The exact error message is:

Could not load file or assembly Microsoft.SqlServer.SMO
Version 9.0.242.0, Culture=neutral
PublicKey Token=89845dcd8080cc91 or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified