Sometimes, just sometimes, I plunge right into using a tool without reading too much documentation. This has some advantages and some drawbacks. Trying to decipher error messages without the right background knowledge can be a hard nut to crack. Just now I found myself in one of these rare occasions, where I had to make the best of seemingly cryptic error messages.
The task at hand was to deploy a new database on a newly installed server using the vsdbcmd tool. The server came with just the rudimentary OS and software installed, hence I was bound for trouble.
My first bump on the head was when I first tried to run this command:
I received this error message (rather a critical dialog indicating application crash):
This issue was solved by installing the .Net Framework 4.0
I then ran the same command line, and received another error:
BadImageFormatException is in my book a rather misleading error message, when you look at the actual problem at hand. There needs to be Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 w SP 2 installed, both in 32 bit and 64 bit. Download details: Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 Service Pack 2 for Windows Desktop
All this in a week, where Paul Randal (twitter | blog) has written a nice little piece on where to get your information. A classic on R.T.F.M and I’m glad I didn’t bother anyone but Google, as Google once again served the answer: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd193258.aspx
