Programmers often need to create databases programmatically. This article describes how to use ADO.NET and Visual Basic .NET to programmatically create a Microsoft SQL Server database.

Steps to create the sample

1. Create a new Visual Basic .NET Windows Application project. Form1 is added to the project by default.
2. Place a Command button on Form1, and change its Name property to btnCreateDatabase and its Text property to Create Database.
3. Copy and paste the following line of code into Form1's "general declaration" section:

   Imports System.Data.SqlClient
   					

4. Copy and paste the following code after the region "Windows Form Designer generated code":

   Private Sub btnCreateDatabase_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
   ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCreateDatabase.Click
       Dim str As String
   
       Dim myConn As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection("Server=(local)\netsdk;" & _
                                                       "uid=sa;pwd=;database=master")
   
       str = "CREATE DATABASE MyDatabase ON PRIMARY " & _
             "(NAME = MyDatabase_Data, " & _
             " FILENAME = 'D:\MyFolder\MyDatabaseData.mdf', " & _
             " SIZE = 2MB, " & _
             " MAXSIZE = 10MB, " & _
             " FILEGROWTH = 10%) " & _
             " LOG ON " & _
             "(NAME = MyDatabase_Log, " & _
             " FILENAME = 'D:\MyFolder\MyDatabaseLog.ldf', " & _
             " SIZE = 1MB, " & _
             " MAXSIZE = 5MB, " & _
             " FILEGROWTH = 10%) "
   
       Dim myCommand As SqlCommand = New SqlCommand(str, myConn)
   
       Try
           myConn.Open()
           myCommand.ExecuteNonQuery()
           MessageBox.Show("Database is created successfully", _
                           "MyProgram", MessageBoxButtons.OK, _
                            MessageBoxIcon.Information)
          Catch ex As Exception
              MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString())
          Finally
              If (myConn.State = ConnectionState.Open) Then
                  myConn.Close()
              End If
          End Try
   
   End Sub
   					

5. Change the connection string to point to your SQL Server, and make sure that the Database argument is set to Master or blank.
6. Press F5 or CTRL+F5 to run the project, and then click Create Database.

Additional notes

• This code creates a custom database with specific properties.
• The folder that will hold the created .mdf and .ldf files must already exist before you run the code or an exception will be generated.
• If you want to create a database that is similar to SQL Server's Model database and in the default location, then change the str variable in the code:

  str = "CREATE DATABASE MyDatabase"
  					

For additional information on the CREATE DATABASE Transact-SQL command, see the SQL Server Books Online or MSDN Online Library: For more information on ADO.NET objects and syntax, see the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK Documentation or MSDN Online: For more general information about ADO.NET or Visual Basic .NET, refer to the following MSDN newsgroups: