23/02/13 SqlConnectionStringBuilder Class (System.Data.

SqlClient)

SqlConnectionStringBuilder Class
.NET Framework 4.5 This topic has not yet been rated

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

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
System.Data.Common.DbConnectionStringBuilder
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionStringBuilder

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

Syntax

C#

public sealed class SqlConnectionStringBuilder : DbConnectionStringBuilder

The SqlConnectionStringBuilder type exposes the following members.

Constructors

Name Description

SqlConnectionStringBuilder() Initializes a new instance of the SqlConnectionStringBuilder

class.

SqlConnectionStringBuilder(String) Initializes a new instance of the SqlConnectionStringBuilder

class. The provided connection string provides the data for
the instance's internal connection information.

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Properties

Name Description

ApplicationIntent Declares the application workload type when connecting to a

database in an SQL Server Availability Group. You can set the value
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database in an SQL Server Availability Group. You can set the value
of this property with ApplicationIntent. For more information about
SqlClient support for Always On Availability Groups, see SqlClient
Support for High Availability, Disaster Recovery.

ApplicationName Gets or sets the name of the application associated with the
connection string.

AsynchronousProcessing Gets or sets a Boolean value that indicates whether asynchronous

processing is allowed by the connection created by using this
connection string.

AttachDBFilename Gets or sets a string that contains the name of the primary data file.
This includes the full path name of an attachable database.

BrowsableConnectionString Gets or sets a value that indicates whether the ConnectionString

property is visible in Visual Studio designers. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ConnectionReset Obsolete. Obsolete. Gets or sets a Boolean value that indicates

whether the connection is reset when drawn from the connection
pool.

ConnectionString Gets or sets the connection string associated with the

DbConnectionStringBuilder. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ConnectTimeout Gets or sets the length of time (in seconds) to wait for a connection
to the server before terminating the attempt and generating an error.

ContextConnection Gets or sets a value that indicates whether a client/server or in-

process connection to SQL Server should be made.

Count Gets the current number of keys that are contained within the
ConnectionString property. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

CurrentLanguage Gets or sets the SQL Server Language record name.

DataSource Gets or sets the name or network address of the instance of SQL
Server to connect to.

Encrypt Gets or sets a Boolean value that indicates whether SQL Server uses
SSL encryption for all data sent between the client and server if the
server has a certificate installed.

Enlist Gets or sets a Boolean value that indicates whether the SQL Server
connection pooler automatically enlists the connection in the
creation thread's current transaction context.

FailoverPartner Gets or sets the name or address of the partner server to connect to if
the primary server is down.

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InitialCatalog Gets or sets the name of the database associated with the
connection.

IntegratedSecurity Gets or sets a Boolean value that indicates whether User ID and
Password are specified in the connection (when false) or whether
the current Windows account credentials are used for authentication
(when true).

IsFixedSize Gets a value that indicates whether the SqlConnectionStringBuilder

has a fixed size. (Overrides DbConnectionStringBuilder.IsFixedSize.)

IsReadOnly Gets a value that indicates whether the DbConnectionStringBuilder is

read-only. (Inherited from DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

Item Gets or sets the value associated with the specified key. In C#, this
property is the indexer. (Overrides DbConnectionStringBuilder.Item.)

Keys Gets an ICollection that contains the keys in the

SqlConnectionStringBuilder. (Overrides
DbConnectionStringBuilder.Keys.)

LoadBalanceTimeout Gets or sets the minimum time, in seconds, for the connection to
live in the connection pool before being destroyed.

MaxPoolSize Gets or sets the maximum number of connections allowed in the

connection pool for this specific connection string.

MinPoolSize Gets or sets the minimum number of connections allowed in the

connection pool for this specific connection string.

MultipleActiveResultSets When true, an application can maintain multiple active result sets
(MARS). When false, an application must process or cancel all result
sets from one batch before it can execute any other batch on that
connection.For more information, see Multiple Active Result Sets
(MARS).

MultiSubnetFailover If your application is connecting to an AlwaysOn availability group

(AG) on different subnets, setting MultiSubnetFailover=true provides
faster detection of and connection to the (currently) active server.
For more information about SqlClient support for Always On
Availability Groups, see SqlClient Support for High Availability,
Disaster Recovery.

NetworkLibrary Gets or sets a string that contains the name of the network library
used to establish a connection to the SQL Server.

PacketSize Gets or sets the size in bytes of the network packets used to
communicate with an instance of SQL Server.

Password Gets or sets the password for the SQL Server account.

PersistSecurityInfo Gets or sets a Boolean value that indicates if security-sensitive

information, such as the password, is not returned as part of the
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information, such as the password, is not returned as part of the
connection if the connection is open or has ever been in an open
state.

Pooling Gets or sets a Boolean value that indicates whether the connection
will be pooled or explicitly opened every time that the connection is
requested.

Replication Gets or sets a Boolean value that indicates whether replication is

supported using the connection.

TransactionBinding Gets or sets a string value that indicates how the connection
maintains its association with an enlisted System.Transactions
transaction.

TrustServerCertificate Gets or sets a value that indicates whether the channel will be
encrypted while bypassing walking the certificate chain to validate
trust.

TypeSystemVersion Gets or sets a string value that indicates the type system the
application expects.

UserID Gets or sets the user ID to be used when connecting to SQL Server.

UserInstance Gets or sets a value that indicates whether to redirect the connection
from the default SQL Server Express instance to a runtime-initiated
instance running under the account of the caller.

Values Gets an ICollection that contains the values in the

SqlConnectionStringBuilder. (Overrides
DbConnectionStringBuilder.Values.)

WorkstationID Gets or sets the name of the workstation connecting to SQL Server.

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Methods

Name Description

Add Adds an entry with the specified key and value into the
DbConnectionStringBuilder. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

Clear Clears the contents of the SqlConnectionStringBuilder instance.

(Overrides DbConnectionStringBuilder.Clear().)

ClearPropertyDescriptors Clears the collection of PropertyDescriptor objects on the associated

DbConnectionStringBuilder. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ContainsKey Determines whether the SqlConnectionStringBuilder contains a specific 4/10

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ContainsKey Determines whether the SqlConnectionStringBuilder contains a specific
key. (Overrides DbConnectionStringBuilder.ContainsKey(String).)

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. (Inherited from DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

GetHashCode Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)

GetType Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)

Remove Removes the entry with the specified key from the
SqlConnectionStringBuilder instance. (Overrides
DbConnectionStringBuilder.Remove(String).)

ShouldSerialize Indicates whether the specified key exists in this

SqlConnectionStringBuilder instance. (Overrides
DbConnectionStringBuilder.ShouldSerialize(String).)

ToString Returns the connection string associated with this

DbConnectionStringBuilder. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

TryGetValue Retrieves a value corresponding to the supplied key from this

SqlConnectionStringBuilder. (Overrides
DbConnectionStringBuilder.TryGetValue(String, Object).)

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Explicit Interface Implementations

Name Description

ICollection.CopyTo Copies the elements of the ICollection to an

Array, starting at a particular Array index.
(Inherited from DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICollection.IsSynchronized Gets a value indicating whether access to the

ICollection is synchronized (thread safe).
(Inherited from DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICollection.SyncRoot Gets an object that can be used to synchronize

access to the ICollection. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetAttributes Returns a collection of custom attributes for

this instance of a component. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

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ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetClassName Returns the class name of this instance of a

component. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetComponentName Returns the name of this instance of a

component. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetConverter Returns a type converter for this instance of a

component. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetDefaultEvent Returns the default event for this instance of a

component. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetDefaultProperty Returns the default property for this instance

of a component. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetEditor Returns an editor of the specified type for this

instance of a component. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetEvents() Returns the events for this instance of a

component. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetEvents(Attribute[]) Returns the events for this instance of a

component using the specified attribute array
as a filter. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetProperties() Returns the properties for this instance of a

component. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetProperties(Attribute[]) Returns the properties for this instance of a

component using the attribute array as a filter.
(Inherited from DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

ICustomTypeDescriptor.GetPropertyOwner Returns an object that contains the property

described by the specified property descriptor.
(Inherited from DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

IDictionary.Add Adds an element with the provided key and

value to the IDictionary object. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

IDictionary.Contains Determines whether the IDictionary object

contains an element with the specified key.
(Inherited from DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

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IDictionary.GetEnumerator Returns an IDictionaryEnumerator object for

the IDictionary object. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

IDictionary.Item Gets or sets the element with the specified key.

(Inherited from DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

IDictionary.Remove Removes the element with the specified key

from the IDictionary object. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

IEnumerable.GetEnumerator Returns an enumerator that iterates through a

collection. (Inherited from
DbConnectionStringBuilder.)

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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 SQL Server. Developers
needing to create connection strings as part of applications can use the SqlConnectionStringBuilder class to build and
modify connection strings. The class also makes it easy to manage connection strings stored in an application
configuration file.

The SqlConnectionStringBuilder performs checks for valid key/value pairs. Therefore, you cannot use this class to create
invalid connection strings; trying to add invalid pairs will throw an exception. The class maintains a fixed collection of
synonyms and can translate from a synonym to the corresponding well-known key name.

For example, when you use the Item property to retrieve a value, you can specify a string that contains any synonym for
the key you need. For example, you can specify "Network Address", "addr", or any other acceptable synonym for this key
within a connection string when you use any member that requires a string that contains the key name, such as the
Item property or the Remove method. See the ConnectionString property for a full list of acceptable synonyms.

The Item property handles tries 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.SqlClient.SqlConnectionStringBuilder

builder("Data Source") = "(local)"
builder("Integrated Security") = True
builder("Initial Catalog") = "AdventureWorks;NewValue=Bad"
Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString)

[C#]

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System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionStringBuilder builder =
new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnectionStringBuilder();
builder["Data Source"] = "(local)";
builder["integrated Security"] = true;
builder["Initial Catalog"] = "AdventureWorks;NewValue=Bad";
Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString);

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

Source=(local);Initial Catalog="AdventureWorks;NewValue=Bad";
Integrated Security=True

Examples

The following console application builds connection strings for a SQL Server database. The code uses a
SqlConnectionStringBuilder class to create the connection string, and then passes the ConnectionString property of the
SqlConnectionStringBuilder instance to the constructor of the connection class. 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 SqlConnectionStringBuilder 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.

C#

using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;

class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// Create a new SqlConnectionStringBuilder and
// initialize it with a few name/value pairs.
SqlConnectionStringBuilder builder =
new SqlConnectionStringBuilder(GetConnectionString());

// The input connection string used the

// Server key, but the new connection string uses
// the well-known Data Source key instead.
Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString);

// Pass the SqlConnectionStringBuilder an existing

// connection string, and you can retrieve and
// modify any of the elements.
builder.ConnectionString = "server=(local);user id=ab;" +
"password= a!Pass113;initial catalog=AdventureWorks";
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"password= a!Pass113;initial catalog=AdventureWorks";

// Now that the connection string has been parsed,

// you can work with individual items.
Console.WriteLine(builder.Password);
builder.Password = "new@1Password";
builder.AsynchronousProcessing = true;

// You can refer to connection keys using strings,

// as well. When you use this technique (the default
// Item property in Visual Basic, or the indexer in C#),
// you can specify any synonym for the connection string key
// name.
builder["Server"] = ".";
builder["Connect Timeout"] = 1000;
builder["Trusted_Connection"] = true;
Console.WriteLine(builder.ConnectionString);

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

Console.ReadLine();
}

private static string GetConnectionString()

{
// To avoid storing the connection string in your code,
// you can retrieve it from a configuration file.
return "Server=(local);Integrated Security=SSPI;" +
"Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks";
}
}

Version Information

.NET Framework
Supported in: 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0
.NET Framework Client Profile
Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1

Platforms

Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core Role not
supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core Role supported with SP1 or later; Itanium not supported)

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

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.
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guaranteed to be thread safe.

See Also

Reference
System.Data.SqlClient Namespace
Other Resources
Connection Strings (ADO.NET)
ADO.NET Managed Providers and DataSet Developer Center

© 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.

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 Using SqlConnectionStringBuilder class in C#
Posted by Waqas Anwar on 16 May 2008 in ADO.NET

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Microsoft introduced a new class in ADO.NET 2.0 version which can be used to build database connection strings
specific to the provider you are using in ADO.NET. Different database providers expose different properties for the
connection strings. For example, SQL Server connection string properties are different than MySql or OleDb
connection strings. Although, it is possible to concatenate strings to build a complete connection string but by using
.NET connection string builder class you don't need to memorize the properties appropriate to specific provider.

In the following tutorial, I will show you how you can use SqlConnectionStringBuilder class available
inSystem.Data.SqlClient namespace to build a simple connection string.

SqlConnectionStringBuilder builder = new

SqlConnectionStringBuilder();

builder.DataSource = TextBox1.Text;
builder.InitialCatalog = TextBox2.Text;
builder.UserID = TextBox3.Text;
builder.Password = TextBox4.Text;

TextBox5.Text = builder.ConnectionString;

Other than above mentioned four basic properties SqlConnectionStringBuilder also provides following common
properties which can be used to build connection string with more options.
AsynchronousProcessing
AttachDBFilename
IntegratedSecurity
MaxPoolSize
MinPoolSize
MultipleActiveResultSets
PacketSize
Pooling
UserInstance
WorkstationID