Sample Northwind SQLite Database (nwind.db)

• Oct 24, 2024
• 2 minutes to read

The how-to guides and code examples in our documentation use the Northwind SQLite Database. It is the recommended database for sample applications.

This topic explains how to obtain this database and create a connection to it to follow our tutorials.

Northwind SQLite Database for .NET

1. Install the following NuGet package to use the SQLite database:

   Microsoft.Data.SQLite

2. The database ships with the DevExpress installation package. The default path is the following:

   C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\DevExpress Demos 24.1\Components\Data\nwind.db

   Create the Data folder in your project and copy the nwind.db file to that folder.

3. Right-click nwind.db, open its properties, and set Copy to Output Directory to Copy if newer.

4. Create or open the App.config file and add the following connection string to it:

   App.config

   <configuration>
       <connectionStrings>
           <add name="nwind" connectionString="XpoProvider=SQLite;Data Source=.\Data\nwind.db"/>
       </connectionStrings>
   </configuration>
   

For .NET projects, you can also obtain a data connection string from appsettings.json. For this, make sure you have Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration and Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Json installed.

Northwind SQLite Database for .NET Framework

1. Install the following NuGet package to use the SQLite database:

   System.Data.SQLite

2. The database ships with the DevExpress installation package. The default path is the following:

   C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\DevExpress Demos 24.1\Components\Data\nwind.db

   Create the Data folder in your project and copy the nwind.db file to that folder.

3. Right-click nwind.db, open its properties, and set Copy to Output Directory to Copy if newer.

4. Create or open the App.config file and add the following connection string to it:

   App.config

   <configuration>
       <connectionStrings>
           <add name="nwind" connectionString="XpoProvider=SQLite;Data Source=.\Data\nwind.db" />
       </connectionStrings>
   </configuration>
   

Legacy Northwind Access 97 Database

The Northwind Access 97 database is the legacy database used earlier in the Reporting examples. You are encouraged to use the Northwind SQLite database instead.

If your project in Visual Studio 2022 has to connect to Microsoft Access databases, note that Visual Studio 2022 is a 64-bit process, and Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Jet and the Jet ODBC driver are only available in 32-bit versions. It is recommended that you use the 64-bit Microsoft Access Database Engine (Access Connectivity Engine, ACE), or use an earlier version of Visual Studio (VS 2019) that supports 32-bit database providers. For more information, review the following article: Connect to data in an Access database.

What’s Next

Connection String Examples

More information on connection strings.

Bind Reports to Data

This section explains how to bind DevExpress reports to data sources, including SQL databases, JSON data sources, Excel files, and custom objects.