The ADO Connection String feature allows you to easily create connection strings for OLE DB connections using any OLE DB Provider installed on your machine.
MZ-Tools offers the following ways to show the ADO Connection String window:
- The Tools | MZ-Tools | Other Utilities | ADO Connection String... menu.
- The Other Utilities | ADO Connection String... menu on the MZ-Tools toolbar.
When you invoke this feature the Data Link Properties dialog is shown:
This window shows all the OLE DB providers available on your machine. Once you select one of them (for example, the Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Oracle), you can click the Next>> button or the Connection tab to show the page with specific information about the connection:
The content of this tab depends on the OLE DB Provider. In this case, for the Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Oracle, you need to type only the server name. For other providers you will need to enter different information (such as the server name and database name for the Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server, or the .mdb file for the Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB Provider). If you enter logon information, you can test the connection with the Test Connection button.
In the All tab you can see all the keywords and values for the connection string. In this tab you can enter additional information such as the system database or password for the Microsoft Jet OLE DB Provider connection.
When you accept the dialog, you get a message informing that the connection string has been copied to the clipboard. You can then paste it into your source code or configuration file.