How to connect to SqlExpress for Entity Framework using Visual Studio 2010 Express?

Question

I'm trying to use the Visual Studio 2010 Express editions to set up an ASP.NET MVC 2 Web Application using SqlExpress + Entity Framework as the data access. I have both the "C# Edition" and "Web Developer Edition" installed.

If I try to add a data source using the "C# edition", I'm missing the "Microsoft SQL Server" data source type.

Visual Studio 2010 Express Screenshot http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4163528/images/StackOverflow/2010Express.png

but Visual Studio 2008 Professional has it.

Visual Studio 2008 Professional Screenshot http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4163528/images/StackOverflow/2008Professional.png

as noted by another StackOverflow question, the "Web Developer Edition" has this. However, the Web Developer Edition doesn't support the Entity Framework items: EntityFramework http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4163528/images/StackOverflow/2010EF.png.

I'd want to stick with only the Express Editions. Is my use case one that Microsoft forgot about? What can I do here to use SqlExpress + MVC 2 + Entity Framework?

Thanks!

-Mike

Answer 1

You should be able to select SQL Server Database File, then change the connection string to connect to SqlExpress.