What's the simplest way to check if database exists in MSSQL using VB.NET?

Question

I'm trying to check if a database exists in the Microsoft SQL Server, what's the simplest way to do that? I just want it to return a true or false value then I would create a database if it doesn't exist. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Answer 1

Connect to a system-db (master, msdb, tempdb or model) - because you can be sure that they exist! Then you can select the list of database like this:

select * from sys.databases 

or if you want to know if a specific db exists:

select * from sys.databases where name = 'NameOfYourDb'

If you connect without a database name in your connection string (belongs to which provider you are using) you should automatically be connect to your default database (which is "master" by default)