How to: Access and Initialize Server Explorer/Database Explorer

Use Server Explorer/Database Explorer to create and manipulate database connections, and to connect to servers and explore their contents.

To access Server Explorer

  • On the View menu, choose Server Explorer or Database Explorer.

    - or -

  • If the Server Explorer or Database Explorer tab is displayed on the left edge of the screen, select that tab.

By default, Server Explorer/Database Explorer displays data connections and links to servers that you have previously used. For more information, see Accessing Server Resources with Server Explorer, and Connecting to Data with Server Explorer/Database Explorer.

Note

The Servers node is not available in the Standard Edition of Visual Basic and Visual C#. For more information, see Visual Basic Editions. The Servers node is also not available in Visual Basic Express and Visual C# Express Edition.

Dragging and Dropping Data

You can drag items from Server Explorer/Database Explorer onto Visual Studio designers. This creates new resources that are preconfigured to retrieve information from the selected resource. For more information, see How to: Add Items from Server Explorer.

Expanding and Retracting the Server Explorer Window

When you first access Server Explorer/Database Explorer, the window appears on the left edge of the development environment. Clicking the tack icon retracts the window into a tab on the left margin. Select the tab to expand the window. After you select the tab to view the window, it automatically retracts again as you select items on the design surface. If you hide the window, then the tab no longer appears, but you can reopen Server Explorer/Database Explorer from the Project menu. For more information, see Window Management and Window Types.

Shortcut Keys Useful with Server Explorer

For information on shortcut keys, see Shortcut Keys Useful with Server Explorer/Database Explorer and Shortcut Keys.

See Also

Reference

Server Explorer/Database Explorer

Shortcut Keys Useful with Server Explorer/Database Explorer

Other Resources

Accessing Server Resources with Server Explorer

Connecting to Data with Server Explorer/Database Explorer