Updated: 1/9/2007

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Contents

1.0 Introduction

Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Express Edition Toolkit Service Pack 2 (SP2) provides tools and resources to manage Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Express Edition and Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Express Edition with Advanced Services. It also enables creating reports by using SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS).

SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2 can be used to install or upgrade the following components:

  • Connectivity Components

    Installs components for communication between clients and server. These include network libraries for OLEDB and ODBC.

  • Business Intelligence Development Studio 

    Installs tools that are used in a development environment. These include Business Intelligence Development Studio, Report Designer, and software development kits.

  • Software Development Kit

    Installs software development kits for programmers.

  • Management Studio Express

    Installs tools to access, configure, manage, administer, and develop components of SQL Server Express.

    Note:
    SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2 contains all updates that are included in SQL Server 2005 SP2. SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2 is the first service pack for SQL Server Express Toolkit.

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1.1 .NET Framework 2.0

You must install the .NET Framework 2.0 before you install SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2.

SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2 depends specifically on the .NET Framework 2.0 version. If you have a different version, your SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2 installation might function unpredictably. You can download the .NET Framework 2.0 from this Microsoft Web site.

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1.2 Installation Requirements

Hardware and software requirements for installing SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2 are summarized in the Installation Requirements for SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Toolkit document.

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2.0 Downloading and Installing SQL Server Express Toolkit

SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2 is available for download at the MSDN page, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP2.

Note:
Be sure to follow the instructions that are provided at the download site to download and install the product.

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3.0 Additional Information

This section describes additional considerations for using SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2. This section is intended primarily for users who are new to SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2.

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3.1 Business Intelligence Development Studio and Reporting Services

SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2 Setup installs Business Intelligence Development Studio. This is required to create and modify reports that can be hosted on Reporting Services. To install Reporting Services, run Microsoft SQL Server Express with Advanced Services (SQL Server Express) Setup. The Setup program will guide you through the Reporting Services installation.

Note:
SQL Server Express SP2 is available for download at the MSDN page, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP2.

When Reporting Services is installed, you can view reports by using your report server. However, to create reports, you must use Business Intelligence Development Studio.

Business Intelligence Development Studio is the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 environment with enhancements that are specific to SQL Server 2005 business intelligence solutions. The following project templates are available in Business Intelligence Development Studio. You can use either of these templates to create reports that run on a Reporting Services report server.

  • Report Server Project

  • Report Server Project Wizard

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3.2 How to Use SQL Server Management Studio Express

SQL Server Management Studio Express (SSMSE) is installed by running SQL Server Express Toolkit and provides a graphical management tool for instances of SQL Server Express. SSMSE can also manage relational engine instances that are created by any edition of SQL Server 2005. SSMSE cannot manage SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (SSAS), SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (SSIS), SQL Server 2005 Notification Services, SQL Server, or SQL Server Agent.

SSMSE is also available as a free download at the MSDN page, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP2.

To connect SSMSE to a SQL Server Express Database Engine instance

  1. In the Connect to Server dialog box, specify one of the following:

    • .\sqlexpress

    • (local)\sqlexpress

    • server name\sqlexpress

  2. Click Enter.

    Note:
    The default installation of SQL Server Express uses the instance name sqlexpress. When using SSMSE to connect to SQL Server Express, you must provide an instance name. You can use the default name or, if you have a different instance name, use computer name\instance name.

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3.3 Help Experience in Business Intelligence Development Studio

By default, SQL Server 2005 Books Online is not installed with Business Intelligence Development Studio. Therefore, if you press F1, the MSDN online Help opens. By pressing F1, you can access F1 Help topics. However, you do not see a table of contents or have access to the rest of the SQL Server 2005 documentation. To access the SQL Server 2005 documentation, install SQL Server 2005 Books Online from this Microsoft Web site. After you install Books Online, in the Contents pane of the Books Online, you can use the SQL Server Express filter to hide the content that does not apply to SQL Server Express edition.

Note:
When you press F1, the topics that open might refer to user interface elements or features that are not supported by SQL Server Express. This is because the documentation was written for the full version of SQL Server 2005.

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3.4 Getting SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2 Assistance

There are three principal sources of information about SQL Server Express.

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3.5 Providing Feedback on SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2

To provide suggestions and bug reports about SQL Server Express Toolkit, do one or more of the following:

  • Send suggestions and bug reports about the features and user interface of SQL Server Express Toolkit SP2 using the MSDN Product Feedback Center.

  • Send error reports and feature usage data automatically to Microsoft for analysis. For more information, see "Error and Usage Report Settings (SQL Server Express)" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

  • Send suggestions and report inaccuracies about the documentation by using the feedback link in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

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4.0 Books Online

Starting with the April 2006 update of SQL Server 2005 Books Online, a separate Books Online for SQL Server Express is unavailable. SQL Server 2005 Books Online is the primary documentation for SQL Server Express. The February 2007 update of Books Online reflects all product upgrades that are included in this service pack, and also includes other improvements to the documentation. We recommend that you install this update to keep the information in the local copy of the documentation current with SQL Server Express SP2. The February 2007 update is available at this Microsoft Web site. After you install Books Online, you can use the SQL Server Express filter in the Contents pane to hide the content that does not apply to your edition of SQL Server Express. For more information about SQL Server Express documentation, see "Using SQL Server Express Books Online" in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

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