When generating a new C++ project - specifically, I create a new "Empty Project", the directory the file is stored in seems to contain an .sdf file. This seems to be generated whenever I open the project in Visual Studio 2013, even after I delete it. I also seem unable to open it, though I sincerely doubt it could contain anything.
This project does use SFML 2.3, but won't be using databases in any real capacity, so I had not specified in any options that something like this should be done. I'm not quite sure as to why the system is doing this, then.
Basically, I just want to stop VS from making this file upon opening the project. I'm not sure if uninstalling SQL Server will do anything to solve this, or if there is something else I need to consider.
The sdf file is created and owned by Visual Studio, not your program. When you open a solution Visual Studio will check to see if this file exists. If it doesn't VS will create one and populate it with code browsing and other information about the projects it manages. If the file already exists VS will open it and update the database with any code changes that happened outside of VS.
Although this file is not required for Visual Studio to load a solution or project it is required for some very useful functionality to work correctly. There's no real benefit in preventing VS from creating or accessing this file and I recommend you abandon the idea of preventing VS from creating it.