DbConnectionStringBuilder Class
Provides a base class for strongly typed connection string builders.
System.Data.Common::DbConnectionStringBuilder
System.Data.EntityClient::EntityConnectionStringBuilder
System.Data.Odbc::OdbcConnectionStringBuilder
System.Data.OleDb::OleDbConnectionStringBuilder
System.Data.OracleClient::OracleConnectionStringBuilder
System.Data.SqlClient::SqlConnectionStringBuilder
Assembly: System.Data (in System.Data.dll)
The DbConnectionStringBuilder type exposes the following members.
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | DbConnectionStringBuilder() | Initializes a new instance of the DbConnectionStringBuilder class. |
![]() | DbConnectionStringBuilder(Boolean) | Initializes a new instance of the DbConnectionStringBuilder class, optionally using ODBC rules for quoting values. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | BrowsableConnectionString | Gets or sets a value that indicates whether the ConnectionString property is visible in Visual Studio designers. |
![]() | ConnectionString | Gets or sets the connection string associated with the DbConnectionStringBuilder. |
![]() | Count | Gets the current number of keys that are contained within the ConnectionString property. |
![]() | IsFixedSize | Gets a value that indicates whether the DbConnectionStringBuilder has a fixed size. |
![]() | IsReadOnly | Gets a value that indicates whether the DbConnectionStringBuilder is read-only. |
![]() | Item | Gets or sets the value associated with the specified key. |
![]() | Keys | Gets an ICollection that contains the keys in the DbConnectionStringBuilder. |
![]() | Values | Gets an ICollection that contains the values in the DbConnectionStringBuilder. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | Add | Adds an entry with the specified key and value into the DbConnectionStringBuilder. |
![]() ![]() | AppendKeyValuePair(StringBuilder, String, String) | Provides an efficient and safe way to append a key and value to an existing StringBuilder object. |
![]() ![]() | AppendKeyValuePair(StringBuilder, String, String, Boolean) | Provides an efficient and safe way to append a key and value to an existing StringBuilder object. |
![]() | Clear | Clears the contents of the DbConnectionStringBuilder instance. |
![]() | ClearPropertyDescriptors | Clears the collection of PropertyDescriptor objects on the associated DbConnectionStringBuilder. |
![]() | ContainsKey | Determines whether the DbConnectionStringBuilder contains a specific key. |
![]() | Equals(Object) | Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | EquivalentTo | Compares the connection information in this DbConnectionStringBuilder object with the connection information in the supplied object. |
![]() | Finalize | Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | GetHashCode | Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | GetProperties | Fills a supplied Hashtable with information about all the properties of this DbConnectionStringBuilder. |
![]() | GetType | Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | MemberwiseClone | Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | Remove | Removes the entry with the specified key from the DbConnectionStringBuilder instance. |
![]() | ShouldSerialize | Indicates whether the specified key exists in this DbConnectionStringBuilder instance. |
![]() | ToString | Returns the connection string associated with this DbConnectionStringBuilder. (Overrides Object::ToString().) |
![]() | TryGetValue | Retrieves a value corresponding to the supplied key from this DbConnectionStringBuilder. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | AsParallel | Enables parallelization of a query. (Defined by ParallelEnumerable.) |
![]() | AsQueryable | Converts an IEnumerable to an IQueryable. (Defined by Queryable.) |
![]() | Cast<TResult> | Casts the elements of an IEnumerable to the specified type. (Defined by Enumerable.) |
![]() | OfType<TResult> | Filters the elements of an IEnumerable based on a specified type. (Defined by Enumerable.) |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() | ICollection::CopyTo | Copies the elements of the ICollection to an Array, starting at a particular Array index. |
![]() ![]() | ICollection::IsSynchronized | Gets a value indicating whether access to the ICollection is synchronized (thread safe). |
![]() ![]() | ICollection::SyncRoot | Gets an object that can be used to synchronize access to the ICollection. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetAttributes | Returns a collection of custom attributes for this instance of a component. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetClassName | Returns the class name of this instance of a component. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetComponentName | Returns the name of this instance of a component. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetConverter | Returns a type converter for this instance of a component. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetDefaultEvent | Returns the default event for this instance of a component. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetDefaultProperty | Returns the default property for this instance of a component. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetEditor | Returns an editor of the specified type for this instance of a component. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetEvents() | Returns the events for this instance of a component. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetEvents(array<Attribute>) | Returns the events for this instance of a component using the specified attribute array as a filter. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetProperties() | Returns the properties for this instance of a component. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetProperties(array<Attribute>) | Returns the properties for this instance of a component using the attribute array as a filter. |
![]() ![]() | ICustomTypeDescriptor::GetPropertyOwner | Returns an object that contains the property described by the specified property descriptor. |
![]() ![]() | IDictionary::Add | Adds an element with the provided key and value to the IDictionary object. |
![]() ![]() | IDictionary::Contains | Determines whether the IDictionary object contains an element with the specified key. |
![]() ![]() | IDictionary::GetEnumerator | Returns an IDictionaryEnumerator object for the IDictionary object. |
![]() ![]() | IDictionary::Item | Gets or sets the element with the specified key. |
![]() ![]() | IDictionary::Remove | Removes the element with the specified key from the IDictionary object. |
![]() ![]() | IEnumerable::GetEnumerator | Returns an enumerator that iterates through a collection. |
The DbConnectionStringBuilder class provides the base class from which the strongly typed connection string builders (SqlConnectionStringBuilder, OleDbConnectionStringBuilder, and so on) derive. The connection string builders let developers programmatically create syntactically correct connection strings, and parse and rebuild existing connection strings.
The DbConnectionStringBuilder has been defined in a database-agnostic manner. Because of the addition of the System.Data.Common namespace, developers require a base class against which they can program in order to build connection strings that can work against an arbitrary database. Therefore, the DbConnectionStringBuilder class lets users assign arbitrary key/value pairs and pass the resulting connection string to a strongly typed provider. All the data providers that are included as part of the .NET Framework provide a strongly typed class that inherits from DbConnectionStringBuilder: SqlConnectionStringBuilder, OracleConnectionStringBuilder, OdbcConnectionStringBuilder, and OleDbConnectionStringBuilder.
The developer can build, assign, and edit connection strings for any arbitrary provider. For providers that support specific key/value pairs, the connection string builder provides strongly typed properties corresponding to the known pairs. In order to support providers that require the ability to support unknown values, developers can also supply arbitrary key/value pairs.
The DbConnectionStringBuilder class implements the ICustomTypeDescriptor interface. This means that the class works with Visual Studio designers at design time. When developers use the designer to build strongly typed DataSets and strongly typed connections within Visual Studio, 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 DbConnectionStringBuilder class or one of its strongly typed derivatives to build and modify connection strings. The DbConnectionStringBuilder class also makes it easy to manage connection strings stored in an application configuration file.
Developers can create connection strings using either a strongly typed connection string builder class, or they can use the DbConnectionStringBuilder class. The DbConnectionStringBuilder performs no checks for valid key/value pairs. Therefore, it is possible using this class to create invalid connection strings. The SqlConnectionStringBuilder supports only key/value pairs that are supported by SQL Server; trying to add invalid pairs will throw an exception.
Both the Add method and Item property handle tries to insert malicious entries. For example, the following code correctly escapes the nested key/value pair:
[Visual Basic]
Dim builder As New System.Data.Common.DbConnectionStringBuilder
builder("Data Source") = "(local)"
builder("integrated sSecurity") = True
builder("Initial Catalog") = "AdventureWorks;NewValue=Bad"
[C#]
System.Data.Common.DbConnectionStringBuilder builder = new System.Data.Common.DbConnectionStringBuilder(); builder["Data Source"] = "(local)"; builder["integrated Security"] = true; builder["Initial Catalog"] = "AdventureWorks;NewValue=Bad";
The result is the following connection string that handles the invalid value in a safe manner:
data source=(local);integrated security=True; initial catalog="AdventureWorks;NewValue=Bad"
The following console application builds two connection strings, one for a Microsoft Jet database, and one for a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database. In each case, the code uses a generic DbConnectionStringBuilder class to create the connection string, and then passes the ConnectionString property of the DbConnectionStringBuilder instance to the constructor of the strongly type connection class. This is not required; the code could also have created individual strongly typed connection string builder instances. The example also parses an existing connection string, and demonstrates various ways of manipulating the connection string's contents.
Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

