Setting Up and Using the AdventureWorks Database in SQL Server 2012

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Introduction

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The AdventureWorks database is a popular free, open-source relational sample database provided by Microsoft for use with various editions of SQL Server, including SQL Server 2012. This article will walk you through the process of installing and setting up the AdventureWorks database on your local machine.

Prerequisites

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Before we dive into the installation steps, make sure that you have the following software components installed:

* A supported edition of Microsoft Visual Studio or a standalone copy of SQL Server Express 2012.

* The AdventureWorks sample database project downloaded from 'AdventureWorks'(http://www.adventureworks.net/).

* A working instance of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) version 11.0 or later.

Installing the AdventureWorks Database

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1. Download and extract the AdventureWorks Sample Database project for your desired edition of SQL Server (e.g., 'AdventureWorks2012'(http://www.adventureworks.net/)) from the official Microsoft website.

2. Open Visual Studio Express with either a new or an existing instance of SQL Server Express 2012.

* If you haven't already, launch Visual Studio and choose 'File' -> 'New Project...' to open the New Project dialog box.

* Underneath the 'Installed' category on the left-hand side, expand the 'AdventureWorksLT2012' or 'Adventureworks2012' project depending upon your desired edition.

3. Right-clicking either of these projects and selecting 'Deploy To SQL Server...' will open up a new dialog box asking for connection details to your local instance of SQL Server Express.

4. Fill in the required information, including server name (usually '(local)' or the actual IP address if running on another machine), authentication mode ('Windows Authentication' is recommended unless you have specific reasons not to use 'SQL Server Authentication'), and a valid login credentials.

* Make sure that your SQL Server instance has been started before proceeding with this step.

5. Clicking Next will then prompt for the database name, compatibility level (keep at its default setting of 80), and whether or not you want to add any foreign keys onto these newly created tables within AdventureWorksDB.

'AdventureWorksLT' is used throughout because it has fewer rows than its full counterpart making queries run faster when practicing T-SQL skills without having a large dataset bogging down performance tests etcetera...

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In conclusion, setting up and using the AdventureWorks database in SQL Server 2012 can be a straightforward process if you follow these steps carefully. Remember to adjust any connection strings or paths as necessary based on your specific environment setup.

By following this guide, you'll have a fully functional sample database ready for testing and experimenting with various T-SQL queries without affecting production data.

Adventureworks database 2012