When I set up a data source in an application, I get a message asking if I want to add this file to the project. How does this affect the project when it is ready for distribution?

As an example, I have the Access database set on a partition on my hard drive with the file designation S:. The connection string for activities other then the DataGridView is pointing to the S drive

When my program is distributed will it look for the database in S, which the user probably won't have or should I use the connection string created when I set up the data source.

Nothing I have read from either Microsoft or my own research really helps. As you can guess from this report I'm pretty much of an amateur at programming, your books have helped a lot and are my usual "go to" source when I have a question.

Milt

Hi Milt,

We dont add it to the project at my company. We always work with the files or database on a jsut like a user would in most cases. I would say that as long as you use a connection string property in a config file you are fine. At distribution you have to update the config file to match the settings of the user during the installation process or after. Our typically project is a custom solution that we do a lot of manual installation during testing and release so you would find any issue related to those things during test. Be sure to test in an environment like your users will have. I am not 100% sure that really answers your question so let me know if you need some more info or not. Bryan