MS SQL Server Concepts and Programming Question: Download MS SQL Server PDF

Answer #1You know that SQL Server could be configured to accept connections with different TCP/IP port numbers. See other tutorial collections on how to view and configure SQL Server TCP/IP protocol.

If you installed SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with default settings, it should be running with instance name of "SQLEXPRESS" and port number of "1269" You can use the mssql_connect() function to connect to the server in 3 ways:

$con = mssql_connect('LOCALHOST','login','pass');
$con = mssql_connect('LOCALHOSTSQLEXPRESS','login','pass');
$con = mssql_connect('LOCALHOST,1269','login','pass');

Other ways of entering the server name and port number will not work. The PHP manual has this statement: "servername - The MS SQL server. It can also include a port number. e.g. hostname:port." The example is really for non-Windows systems. Try the following testing PHP script to find out:

Answer #2<?php
print("Calling 'LOCALHOST' ");
mssql_connect('LOCALHOST','sa','GlobalGuideLine');

print("Calling 'LOCALHOSTSQLEXPRESS' ");
mssql_connect('LOCALHOSTSQLEXPRESS','sa','GlobalGuideLine');

print("Calling 'LOCALHOST,1269' ");
mssql_connect('LOCALHOST,1269','sa','GlobalGuideLine');

print("Calling 'LOCALHOST,SQLEXPRESS' ");
mssql_connect('LOCALHOST,SQLEXPRESS','sa','GlobalGuideLine');

print("Calling 'LOCALHOST:SQLEXPRESS' ");
mssql_connect('LOCALHOST:SQLEXPRESS','sa','GlobalGuideLine');

print("Calling 'LOCALHOST:1269' ");
mssql_connect('LOCALHOST:1269','sa','GlobalGuideLine');
?>

You will get:

Calling 'LOCALHOST'

Calling 'LOCALHOSTSQLEXPRESS'

Calling 'LOCALHOST,1269'

Calling 'LOCALHOST,SQLEXPRESS'
Warning: mssql_connect(): Unable to connect to server:
LOCALHOST,SQLEXPRESS

Calling 'LOCALHOST:SQLEXPRESS'
Warning: mssql_connect(): Unable to connect to server: