DataContext.CreateDatabase causes error "Illegal characters in path"

Question

I'm using the version of SQL Server that comes w/ VS2008, adding a database (.mdf) file to my App_Data folder.

That database w/ a single table - 'Customers'. There are only about 3 columns in said table:

ID - uniqueidentifier
FirstName - nvarchar(50)
LastName - nvarchar(50)

I used the LINQtoSQL designer to generate my DataContext class. I then removed the Customers table from the db.

I then called CreateDatabase from my DataContext class and every time, it errs with the following info:

 Illegal characters in path.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

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Exception Details: System.ArgumentException: Illegal characters in path.

Source Error:

Line 21:     {
Line 22:         DataClassesDataContext dc = new DataClassesDataContext();
Line 23:         dc.CreateDatabase();
Line 24:     }
Line 25: }


Source File: c:\inetpub\wwwroot\WebSite\Default.aspx.cs    Line: 23

Stack Trace:

[ArgumentException: Illegal characters in path.]
   System.IO.Path.CheckInvalidPathChars(String path) +2913282
   System.IO.Path.NormalizePathFast(String path, Boolean fullCheck) +106
   System.IO.Path.GetFullPathInternal(String path) +45
   System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(String path) +33
   System.Data.Linq.SqlClient.SqlProvider.System.Data.Linq.Provider.IProvider.CreateDatabase() +1115
   System.Data.Linq.DataContext.CreateDatabase() +82
   _Default.btn_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\WebSite\Default.aspx.cs:23
   System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e) +105
   System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument) +107
   System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button.System.Web.UI.IPostBackEventHandler.RaisePostBackEvent(String eventArgument) +7
   System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(IPostBackEventHandler sourceControl, String eventArgument) +11
   System.Web.UI.Page.RaisePostBackEvent(NameValueCollection postData) +33
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +1746

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I've tried this with 2 different databases and cannot figure out what "path" has illegal characters in it. Any idea why this is happening?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi,

 This may be a misleading exception; it can be it is related to security instead. Does the user that runs the web application has write access to the folder you are trying to create the database in?

 --larsw

Answer 2

For the sake of testing, I gave EVERYONE full access to the root of the site - same error.

Answer 3

I'm getting the same error in a console application running with administrator privileges.

 

Both when trying to create a local mdf file and when trying to create the database on the server (local).