ADO.NET SqlCommand and transaction does not update actual db table - ado.net

Question

I've been trying to update and insert data into an existing database table. I am getting no errors, but the actual table data is not being updated.
This is my code for updating one of the rows:
using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(connection))
{
con.Open();
SqlTransaction t = con.BeginTransaction();
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand();
cmd.Connection = con;
cmd.Transaction = t;
cmd.CommandText = "Update tblName set PersonName = 'Wes' where PersonID = 2";
int i = cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
t.Commit();
Console.WriteLine("change: "+i);
}
The output is
change: 1.
The change is happening when it runs but the actual table data is still the same. Any ideas?

Answer 1

The whole User Instance and AttachDbFileName= approach is flawed - at best! Visual Studio will be copying around the .mdf file (from App_Data into the output directory .\bin\debug) and most likely, your INSERT works just fine against the .mdf in .\bin\debug - but you're just looking at the wrong .mdf file (in App_Data) in the end!
If you want to stick with this approach, then try putting a breakpoint on the myConnection.Close() call - and then inspect the .mdf file with SQL Server Mgmt Studio Express - I'm almost certain your data is there.
The real solution in my opinion would be to
install SQL Server Express (and you've already done that anyway)
install SQL Server Management Studio Express
create your database in SSMS Express, give it a logical name (e.g. Testing)
connect to it using its logical database name (given when you create it on the server) - and don't mess around with physical database files and user instances. In that case, your connection string would be something like:
Data Source=.\\SQLEXPRESS;Database=Testing;Integrated Security=True
and everything else is exactly the same as before...