Windows Phone Thoughts: MSDN Magazine Article on SQL Server CE Development

The latest issue of MSDN Magazine contains an article called "Developing Apps with the .NET Compact Framework, SQL Server CE, and Replication". Fundamentally, the .NET Compact Framework and SQL Server CE is very straightforward to work with. However, when moving into the domains of Merge Replication a developer has to deal with a number potential head ache provokers: IIS Security, Authentication, SQL Server Authentication, Publications, Subscribers and so on. The article does a good job in providing an overview description on how to get going as well as providing a nice set of sample code!

"The SQL Server CE database on the Pocket PC device will contain a replicated version of the Northwind database from a back-end SQL Server database. Since the database exists in two places, I will use the merge replication feature of SQL Server in order to maintain the data integrity of both databases. I'll begin by explaining how to set up the prerequisites for the merge replication scenario including many of the ways that it can be customized. After discussing how to configure the environment, I'll demonstrate how the application functions and takes advantage of both SQL Server CE and the disconnected nature of ADO.NET. As in any application, exception handling is critical. However, when developing for mobile devices, the need for solid exception handling is amplified tremendously. Finally, I'll wrap up by explaining how to trap different errors that can occur between the handheld and the back-end database and how to report them."