Connection String Options

Connection string options can be defined directly in a connection string, or set in the Advanced Properties dialog box in Visual Studio (see "Defining Connection String Values in Server Explorer").

Constructing a Connection String

OracleConnectionStringBuilder Class lists the connection string options supported by the Oracle data provider, and describes each option. The options have the form:

option=value

Each connection string option value pair is separated by a semicolon. For example:

"Host=Accounting1;Port=1521;Service Name=ORCL;User ID=scott;Password=tiger"

See Using Connection Strings for guidelines for the syntax and use of connection string options.

Defining Connection String Values in Server Explorer

See Creating a New Connection in Server Explorer for more information about using Visual Studio to add and modify connections.

To add a connection:

1. Right-click the Data Connections node and select Add Connection.... The Add Connection window appears.

   

   Do one of the following steps:

   • If the Oracle data provider is not selected, click Change, and continue at Step 2.
   • If the Oracle data provider is selected, skip to Step 3.

2. Select the Oracle data provider. The Change Data Source window appears.

   

   Do the following steps:

   a. In the Data source list box, select Progress DataDirect.
   b. In the Data provider drop-down list, select Progress DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET Oracle Data Provider.
   c. If you want to use these selections for other connections, select the Always use this selection check box.
   d. If the Progress DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET Oracle data provider is not listed in the Data provider drop-down list, use the Visual Studio Integration Tool, located in the DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET program group. The product installation automatically integrates the data providers into Visual Studio. However, if you install the data providers before installing Visual Studio, or uninstall and reinstall Visual Studio, the DataDirect data providers will not appear in the Data provider drop-down list until you use the Visual Studio Integration Tool.
   e. Click OK. The Add Connection window appears.

3. Select the method the data provider will use to connect to the Oracle database.

   • To use a standard connection, select the Standard Connection option. Type the Host, Port, SID, and Service Name. See Oracle Data Provider Connection String Options for a description of these connection options.
   • To use a tnsname.ora file, select the TNSNames Connection option; then, select the server name from the drop-down list.

4. Choose the type of login authentication for the connection:

   • If you select Use Kerberos Authentication, you do not need to enter a User ID or Password.
   • If you select Use Oracle Authentication, enter the User ID and Password. These values are required for authentication.
   • If you select Use Client Authentication, you do not need to enter a User ID or Password.
   • If you select Use Kerberos & Oracle authentication, enter your Oracle user ID and Password. These values are required for authentication.

5. (Optional) If you want to save the password for the lifetime of the connection instance defined in Server Explorer, select the Save my password check box.

6. If you want to change other connection properties, continue to Step 7. Otherwise, click OK and skip to Step 8.

7. Click Advanced... to specify additional provider-specific property values. The Advanced Properties window appears.

   

   To change the values in the Advanced Properties window, type a value into the field or select a value from a drop-down list. The value is added to the connection string that appears in the field below the description of the property. If you accept the default values, the connection string field remains unchanged. The properties are grouped in the list box in categories. See Oracle Data Provider Connection String Options for a complete list of the properties and their descriptions.

8. Click Test Connection. At any point during the configuration process, you can click Test Connection to attempt to connect to the data source using the connection properties specified in the Add Connection dialog box.

   Note: If you are configuring alternate servers for use with the connection failover feature, be aware that the Test Connection button tests only the primary server, not the alternate servers.

   • If the data provider can connect, it releases the connection and displays a Test connection succeeded message. Click OK to close the message box and return to the Add Connection window.
   • If the data provider cannot connect because of an incorrect environment or incorrect connection value, it displays an appropriate error message. Click OK to close the message dialog box and return to the Add Connection window.
   • If the data provider requires more information, the connection dialog box is displayed. Enter the required information and click OK to close the connection dialog box and return to the Add Connection window.

9. Click OK or Cancel to close the Add Connection window. If you click OK, the values you have specified become the defaults when you connect to the data source. You can change these defaults by using this procedure to reconfigure your data source. You can override these defaults by connecting to the data source using a connection string with alternate values.

Default Values for Connection String Options

The connection string options are described in Oracle Data Provider Connection String Options. The following table lists the supported connection string options and their default values.

Default Values for Oracle Data Provider Connection String Options