News

Updated Docs for SQL Compact Edition

• By Stuart J. Johnston
• January 02, 2007

After shipping the first release candidate, or RC1, of SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition in mid-November, Microsoft quietly began shipping RC1 of the product's documentation, which has been updated to reflect the database's recent renaming, in late December.

Dubbed the SQLce Books Online RC1, the downloadable package contains setup and upgrade instructions, information about new features and backward compatibility, as well as tutorials and documentation for the graphical tools and application programming interfaces.

Previous to releasing the RC of SQLce, Microsoft had renamed the database from SQL Server Mobile Edition to SQL Server 2005 Everywhere Edition. However, confusion the interim name caused due to its similarity to Sybase's SQL Anywhere -- the dominant product in the mobile marketplace -- prompted the company to rename the database to SQLce in late October. (See "Microsoft Renames (Again) -- Delays -- SQL Everywhere," Oct. 31, 2006.)

The late-cycle name change prompted Microsoft to delay the final release to Web (RTW) of SQLce, largely because of the need to expunge the "Everywhere Edition" moniker from the documentation, according to the SQL Server Everywhere Edition team blog (which ironically still bears the interim name).

The release candidate puts SQLce on track to ship in mid-January, according to the team blog.

The documentation RC1 is available for download here.