Dim objConn As New SqlConnection("Data Source=.\SQLExpress;Integrated Security=True;User Instance=True;AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|Database.mdf;")
                objConn.Open()

                Dim objCmd As New SqlCommand("SelectMax", objConn)
                Dim reader As SqlDataReader = objCmd.ExecuteReader()

                Dim MaxVal As Integer

                Try
                    While reader.Read()
                        MaxVal = reader(0)
                    End While
                Finally
                    reader.Close()
                End Try

                ' chiudo la connessione (non mi serve più)
                objConn.Close()