I should probably mention that this client has the most ridiculous lockdown policy so it could easily be GPO, permissions, firewall ... but my server admins are completely unhelpful until...

Update - restarted the SQL server on the mirror & the issue resolved itself.  Meta data was amended & I was able to drop the databases.  Not ideal & unsure...

Thanks Anthony,

I hadn't at all considered the licence issue.  I suspect we have unlimited virtualisation rights but I'll check.

That issue aside, the reports won't create too much overhead - they...

Perfect, thank you Grant.  I appreciate the response!

Ah I can get it working if I convert geometryField.ToString() - if there's a better way I'd be grateful for ideas, otherwise, thanks reading.

Thanks Gents, you've been super helpful.

🙂

Not in the scenario we were discussing but yes, perhaps it was a miscommunication of some sort.  Thanks for helping me clear it up!

Eurgh. Thank you. I’ve had a Microsoft guy on site telling me that it’s possible. I said not. But he’s Microsoft so I doubted myself even though the docs and...

thanks all.

Thank you both.  Appreciate you taking the time.  I'll have a good look at all 3.  It's a decent £ / time investment so I need to be sure.

Thanks Scott.  That was the crux of the question.  It seems inelegant repeating the same code block so I just wanted to be sure I hadn't missed a trick.

Thanks Lowell....

Fair points once again Lowell.  I hadn't considered using the whole thing as a lesson in installation automation.  I'll proceed with the eval route.  You've saved me a few pennies. ...

Erland / Eric,

Thank you!

You've raised some good and eloquent points I hadn't thought of.  I feel much more confident going back to my client with a plan now.

It can be...

Thanks all.  Appreciate the responses.  The issue I have is with visibility of the file to more people than I would like.  I hear you saying it can be useful...

Thanks Steve.  It is possible.  I was remoted in and comms were being directed through a 3rd party so I didn't have eyes on the h/w or the ear of...