Each compatibility level has its own set of features and you must program against those features when developing an application that uses the database. The main reason for having compatibility levels is to allow for Backward Compatibility.
![how to change sql 2012 express to sql 2008 compatiblity how to change sql 2012 express to sql 2008 compatiblity](http://dbatricksworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/change_compatibility_3.png)
In the image above, I’m running a SQL Server 2008 database, which has compatibility level of 100, on a machine that is running an instance of SQL Server Express 2014 (see the Connection section on the bottom left, my instance name is SQLEXPRESS2014).Īnother way to look at the compatibility level of each database on your server is to query the compatibility_level column of the sys.databases table: USE YourDatabaseName įROM sys.databases WHERE name = 'YourDatabaseName' To see the compatibility level of each database, right click the database in SQL Server Management Studio and select Properties, then click the Options tab. It allows the behaviour of the database to be compatible with the specific version of SQL Server it is running on. A compatibility level is associated with each database.
![how to change sql 2012 express to sql 2008 compatiblity how to change sql 2012 express to sql 2008 compatiblity](https://askgarth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Does-SQL-Server-Database-Compatibility-Level-Matter-Query-2-Results-B.jpg)
To know if you really converted anything, you need to look at the compatibility level of the database itself.
How to change sql 2012 express to sql 2008 compatiblity upgrade#
Sure the database may run well on this new instance but did you really upgrade anything? The answer lies on whether the compatibility level changed during the restore process. If you previously had an older SQL Server 2008 database and restored it on this new SQL Server 2012 instance, does that mean you converted the database to an SQL Server 2012 database? The answer is No. But just because SQL Server 2012 is running on this server, it does not mean that all the databases inside that instance are all SQL Server 2012 databases.
![how to change sql 2012 express to sql 2008 compatiblity how to change sql 2012 express to sql 2008 compatiblity](https://i0.wp.com/techdirectarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Screenshot-2021-03-17-at-00.21.53-1.jpg)
This instance of SQL Server 2012 contains one or more databases that you need to maintain from time to time. Let’s say you have SQL Server 2012 installed on one of your new servers.