OleDbConnectionStringBuilder Class (System.Data.OleDb)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

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.NET Framework Class Library

OleDbConnectionStringBuilder Class

Provides a simple way to create and manage the contents of connection strings used by the OleDbConnection class.

Namespace: System.Data.OleDb
Assembly: System.Data (in System.Data.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public NotInheritable Class OleDbConnectionStringBuilder _
    Inherits DbConnectionStringBuilder

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As OleDbConnectionStringBuilder

public sealed class OleDbConnectionStringBuilder : DbConnectionStringBuilder

Visual C++

public ref class OleDbConnectionStringBuilder sealed : public DbConnectionStringBuilder

JScript

public final class OleDbConnectionStringBuilder extends DbConnectionStringBuilder

Remarks

The connection string builder lets developers programmatically create syntactically correct connection strings, and parse and rebuild existing connection strings, using properties and methods of the class. The connection string builder provides strongly typed properties corresponding to the known key/value pairs allowed by OLE DB connections, and developers can add arbitrary key/value pairs for any other connection string values. The OleDbConnectionStringBuilder class implements the ICustomTypeDescriptor interface. This means that the class works with Visual Studio .NET designers at design time. When developers use the designer to build strongly typed DataSets and strongly typed connections within Visual Studio .NET, the strongly typed connection string builder class will display the properties associated with its type and will also have converters that can map common values for known keys.

Developers needing to create connection strings as part of applications can use the OleDbConnectionStringBuilder class to build and modify connection strings. The class also makes it easy to manage connection strings stored in an application configuration file. The OleDbConnectionStringBuilder performs checks only for the limited set of known key/value pairs. Therefore, this class can be used to create invalid connection strings. The following table lists the known keys and their corresponding properties within the OleDbConnectionStringBuilder class, and their default values. Besides these specific values, developers can add any key/value pairs to the collection that is contained within the OleDbConnectionStringBuilder instance:

Key	Property	Default value
File Name	FileName	""
Provider	Provider	""
Data Source	DataSource	""
Persist Security Info	PersistSecurityInfo	False
OLE DB Services	OleDbServices	-13

The Item property handles attempts to insert malicious entries. For example, the following code, using the default Item property (the indexer, in C#) correctly escapes the nested key/value pair:

Visual Basic

Dim builder As _
    New System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnectionStringBuilder
builder("Provider") = "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0"
builder("Data Source") = "C:\Sample.mdb"
builder("User Id") = "Admin;NewValue=Bad"

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnectionStringBuilder builder = 
    new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnectionStringBuilder();
builder["Provider"] = "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0";
builder["Data Source"] = "C:\\Sample.mdb";
builder["User Id"] = "Admin;NewValue=Bad";

The result is the following connection string that handles the invalid value in a safe manner:

Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=C:\Sample.mdb;User ID="Admin;NewValue=Bad"

Examples

The following console application builds connection strings for several OLE DB databases. First, the example creates a connection string for a Microsoft Access database, and then creates a connection string for an IBM DB2 database. The example also parses an existing connection string, and demonstrates various ways of manipulating the connection string's contents.

Note:
This example includes a password to demonstrate how OleDbConnectionStringBuilder works with connection strings. In your applications, we recommend that you use Windows Authentication. If you must use a password, do not include a hard-coded password in your application.

Visual Basic

Imports System.Data.OleDb    
Imports System.Collections

Module Module1
  Sub Main()
    Dim builder As New OleDbConnectionStringBuilder()
    builder.ConnectionString = "Data Source=C:\Sample.mdb"

    ' Call the Add method to explicitly add key/value
    ' pairs to the internal collection.
    builder.Add("Provider", "Microsoft.Jet.Oledb.4.0")
    builder.Add("Jet OLEDB:Database Password", "MyPassword!")
    builder.Add("Jet OLEDB:System Database", "C:\Workgroup.mdb")

    ' Set up row-level locking.
    builder.Add("Jet OLEDB:Database Locking Mode", 1)

    Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString)
    Console.WriteLine()

    ' Clear current values and reset known keys to their
    ' default values.
    builder.Clear()

    ' Pass the OleDbConnectionStringBuilder an existing 
    ' connection string, and you can retrieve and
    ' modify any of the elements.
    builder.ConnectionString = _
        "Provider=DB2OLEDB;Network Transport Library=TCPIP;" & _
        "Network Address=192.168.0.12;Initial Catalog=DbAdventures;" & _
        "Package Collection=SamplePackage;Default Schema=SampleSchema;"

    Console.WriteLine("Network Address = " & builder("Network Address").ToString())
    Console.WriteLine()

    ' Modify existing items.
    builder("Package Collection") = "NewPackage"
    builder("Default Schema") = "NewSchema"

    ' Call the Remove method to remove items from 
    ' the collection of key/value pairs.
    builder.Remove("User ID")

    ' Note that calling Remove on a nonexistent item does not
    ' throw an exception.
    builder.Remove("BadItem")
    Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString)
    Console.WriteLine()

    ' The Item property is the default for the class, 
    ' and setting the Item property adds the value, if 
    ' necessary.
    builder("User ID") = "SampleUser"
    builder("Password") = "SamplePassword"
    Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString)

    Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to finish.")
    Console.ReadLine()
  End Sub
End Module

using System.Data.OleDb;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        OleDbConnectionStringBuilder builder = new OleDbConnectionStringBuilder();
        builder.ConnectionString = @"Data Source=C:\Sample.mdb";

        // Call the Add method to explicitly add key/value
        // pairs to the internal collection.
        builder.Add("Provider", "Microsoft.Jet.Oledb.4.0");
        builder.Add("Jet OLEDB:Database Password", "MyPassword!");
        builder.Add("Jet OLEDB:System Database", @"C:\Workgroup.mdb");

        // Set up row-level locking.
        builder.Add("Jet OLEDB:Database Locking Mode", 1);

        Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString);
        Console.WriteLine();

        // Clear current values and reset known keys to their
        // default values.
        builder.Clear();

        // Pass the OleDbConnectionStringBuilder an existing 
        // connection string, and you can retrieve and
        // modify any of the elements.
        builder.ConnectionString =
            "Provider=DB2OLEDB;Network Transport Library=TCPIP;" +
            "Network Address=192.168.0.12;Initial Catalog=DbAdventures;" +
            "Package Collection=SamplePackage;Default Schema=SampleSchema;";

        Console.WriteLine("Network Address = " + builder["Network Address"].ToString());
        Console.WriteLine();

        // Modify existing items.
        builder["Package Collection"] = "NewPackage";
        builder["Default Schema"] = "NewSchema";

        // Call the Remove method to remove items from 
        // the collection of key/value pairs.
        builder.Remove("User ID");

        // Note that calling Remove on a nonexistent item does not
        // throw an exception.
        builder.Remove("BadItem");
        Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString);
        Console.WriteLine();

        // Setting the indexer adds the value, if 
        // necessary.
        builder["User ID"] = "SampleUser";
        builder["Password"] = "SamplePassword";
        Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString);

        Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to finish.");
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
System.Data.Common..::.DbConnectionStringBuilder
System.Data.OleDb..::.OleDbConnectionStringBuilder

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

Reference

OleDbConnectionStringBuilder Members

System.Data.OleDb Namespace

Other Resources

Connection String Builders (ADO.NET)

Connection Strings (ADO.NET)