Sure as shown on page 565, you can use the dbProviderFactories.GetFactory
method to return a list of (visible) servers based on a specific provider.
These same classes can be used to start, stop or pause the server service as
well (in addition to others).
hth
--
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"Earl" <br******@newsgroups.nospamwrote in message
news:%2****************@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
Is there any sort of check that can be done to see if a particular
instance of SQL Server is present? I already call a method to check for
connection -- if no connection, I have the user re-enter server settings
(server name and database name). But the connection check is made by
calling for a scalar value in the database. What I'd rather do is graduate
the error messages:
1. No server installed
2. Specified database name not installed
3. Specfied table or sproc not available
Any thoughts?