Saving a geodatabase connection creates a persistent connection in the Database Connections folder of the Catalog tree. One reason you might do this is to be able to quickly connect to a version of a geodatabase other than the default.

The steps below are for saving a connection to a specific version of an ArcSDE geodatabase for SQL Server Express.

1. To change to a different version of the geodatabase, right-click the geodatabase and click Change Version.
2. Choose the version to which you want to save a connection and click OK.
3. Right-click the same geodatabase and click Save Connection.
A connection to that version of your geodatabase will now appear in the Database Connections folder.

Tips If your new connection does not appear in the Database Connections folder, go to View on the menu bar and click Refresh. You can modify your saved database connection properties by right-clicking the database connection under the Database Connections folder and clicking Connection Properties.