The Visual Studio 2008 CTP lets developers use Visual Studio 2008 together with SQL Server 2008 February CTP

When you try to open a database connection to the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 February Community Technology Preview (CTP) by using the Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 design tools, you receive the following error message:

To resolve this problem, install the Visual Studio 2008 CTP. This CTP lets developers use Visual Studio 2008 together with the SQL Server 2008 February CTP.

How to obtain the Visual Studio 2008 CTP

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
Download the VS90-KB945855.exe package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/7/0/670ce765-4c9b-4620-902f-b9fc9a7c3c2d/vs90-kb945855.exe)

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Features

After you install the Visual Studio 2008 CTP, you can use the following Visual Studio features together with the SQL Server 2008 February CTP:

• Server Explorer
  
  Note You can use Server Explorer to connect to the SQL Server 2008 February CTP. You can view and edit some database objects in Visual Studio 2008. For example, you can view and edit stored procedures and table data in Visual Studio 2008.
• SQL Server common language runtime (CLR) projects
  
  Note You can create and then deploy the SQL Server CLR projects to the SQL Server 2008 February CTP.
• Transact-SQL debugging
• SQL Server CLR debugging
• DataSet Designer
• Data Sources
• Data binding
  
  Note You can use the data binding features in client projects and in Web projects.

After you install the Visual Studio 2008 for SQL Server 2008 CTP, you cannot do the following:

• You cannot create or edit the table schemas in the Visual Studio Table Designer or in SQL Server Management Studio database diagrams.
  
  To create and to edit the table schemas in the SQL Server 2008 February CTP, use the Table Designer in SQL Server Management Studio in the SQL Server 2008 February CTP. To obtain SQL Server Management Studio, follow these steps:
  1. Download and then install the SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition February CTP.
  2. During the installation, install the SQL Server Management Tools from the feature tree.
  3. After the installation is complete, start SQL Server Management Studio.
  4. Connect to the instance of SQL Server to which the database is attached.
• You cannot use the LINQ to SQL Designer with SQL Server 2008.

System requirements

• Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Windows Vista, or Windows XP Service Pack 2
• Access to a running instance of the SQL Server 2008 February CTP
• The English version of Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition or the English version of Visual Studio 2008 Team System Edition

Known issues

• After you enable SQL Server CLR debugging in the SQL Server CLR project and on the server, you cannot step into the breakpoint in the project code. You also cannot click the breakpoint in the project code. To work around this problem, make sure that the Assemblies node is expanded in Server Explorer.

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this CTP.

File information

The English version of this CTP has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: