ODBC provides a method for specifying connection information via a connection string and the SQLDriverConnect API. This section provides examples of connection strings configured to use common features and functionality. You can modify and/or combine these examples to create a connection string for your environment.

In addition to the connection strings for DSN-less connections demonstrated in this section, the driver supports DSN and File DSN connection strings. See "Using a connection string" for syntax and detailed information for supported connection string types.

Note: The options and values described in this section apply to all configuration methods.
Note: For Microsoft Fabric, only the following authentication methods are supported: Entra ID authentication with user and password (AuthenticationMethod=13) and Entra ID authentication with service principal user (AuthenticationMethod=36). The examples given in this section to demonstrate how to configure the driver to use connection pooling, connection failover, DataDirect Bulk Load, TLS/SSL client and server authentication, and Always Encrypted use user ID and password for authentication. For Microsoft Fabric, use one of the supported authentication methods instead of user ID and password when configuring connection strings for these features.

User ID and password authentication

This string includes the options used to connect using the default authentication method, user ID and password authentication (Encrypt Password).

DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 SQL Server Wire Protocol;HostName=MyServer;
       PortNumber=1433;Database=MyDatabase;LogonID=jsmith;Password=secret;

Kerberos authentication

This string includes the options used to connect using Kerberos authentication.

DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 SQL Server Wire Protocol;AuthenticationMethod=4;
       HostName=MyServer;PortNumber=1433;Database=MyDatabase;
       GSSClient=native;LogonID=jsmith;

For more information on these options and values, see Kerberos authentication.

Microsoft Entra ID authentication

The driver supports the following methods of Entra ID authentication.
  • User and password authentication:
    DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 SQL Server Wire Protocol;AuthenticationMethod=13;
       Database=MyDB;HostName=myserver.database.windows.net;
       HostNameInCertificate=*.database.windows;PortNumber=1433;
       TrustStore=\<truststore_path>\ca-bundle.crt;
       ValidateServerCertificate=1;LogonID=test@domain.com;Password=secret;
  • Service principal user authentication:
    DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 SQL Server Wire Protocol;AuthenticationMethod=36;
       Database=MyDB;HostName=myserver.database.windows.net;
       HostNameInCertificate=*.database.windows;PortNumber=1433;
       TrustStore=\<truststore_path>\ca-bundle.crt;
       LogonID=1234ABCD-1234-ABCD-1234-abcd1234ABCD1234;
       Password=ABcdEFg/hiJkLmNOPqR01stUvWxyzYx2wvUTsrQpO=;
  • Managed identity authentication:
    DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 SQL Server Wire Protocol;AuthenticationMethod=37;
       Database=MyDB;HostName=myserver.database.windows.net;
       HostNameInCertificate=*.database.windows;PortNumber=1433;
       TrustStore=\<truststore_path>\ca-bundle.crt;
       LogonID=1234ABCD-1234-ABCD-1234-abcd1234ABCD1234;

For more information on these options and values, see Microsoft Entra ID authentication.

TLS/SSL client authentication

This string configures the driver to use the TLS/SSL client authentication method. In this configuration, since ValidateServerCertificate=1, the driver validates the certificate sent by the server and the host name specified by HostNameInCertificate.

DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 Progress SQL Server Wire Protocol;EncryptionMethod=1;
       HostName=MyServer;HostNameInCertificate=MySubjectAltName;
       Database=MyDatabase;PortNumber=1433;Keystore=KeyStoreName;
       ValidateServerCertificate=1;LogonID=jsmith;Password=secret;
For more information on these options and values, see TLS/SSL client authentication.

TLS/SSL server authentication

This string configures the driver to use the TLS/SSL server authentication method. In this configuration, since ValidateServerCertificate=1, the driver validates the certificate sent by the server and the host name specified by HostNameInCertificate.

DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 Progress SQL Server Wire Protocol;HostName=MyServer;
       PortNumber=1433;Database=MyDatabase;EncryptionMethod=1;
       HostNameInCertificate=MySubjectAltName;Truststore=TrustStoreName;
       TruststorePassword=TSXYZZY;ValidateServerCertificate=1;LogonID=jsmith;
       Password=secret;
For more information on these options and values, see TLS/SSL server authentication.

Always Encrypted

The driver currently supports the Windows Certificate Store, Azure Key Vault, and PKCS #12 File keystore providers with Always Encrypted.
  • Windows Certificate Store:
    DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 SQL Server Wire Protocol;ColumnEncryption=Enabled;
       Database=MyDB;HostName=MyServer;PortNumber=1433;
       LogonID=jsmith;Password=secret;
  • Azure Key Vault:
    DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 SQL Server Wire Protocol;ColumnEncryption=Enabled;
       AEKeystorePrincipalId=789a8b7c-6d5e-432f-1gh2-3ijk45678987;
       AEKeyStoreClientSecret=ABcdEFg/hiJkLmNOPqR01tuVwXwyzYw2xwVUtsRQ;
       Database=MyDB;HostName=MyServer;PortNumber=1433;
       LogonID=jsmith;Password=secret;
  • PKCS #12 File:
    DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 SQL Server Wire Protocol;ColumnEncryption=Enabled;
       AEKeyStoreLocation=C:\abc\keystore.pfx;
       AEKeyStoreSecret=ABcdEFg/hiJkLmNOPqR01tuVwXwyzYw2xwVUtsRQ;
       Database=MyDB;HostName=MyServer;PortNumber=1433;
       LogonID=jsmith;Password=secret;

For more information on these options and values, see Always Encrypted.

Connection failover

The following example shows how to configure the driver to use two alternate servers for connection failover in conjunction with the following optional features:
  • The driver attempts to retry connection up to four times if the initial attempt fails.
  • The driver waits five seconds between connection attempts.
  • The driver attempts primary and alternate servers in random order. 
DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 Progress SQL Server Wire Protocol;HostName=MyServer;
       PortNumber=1433;Database=MyDatabase;
       AlternateServers=(HostName=MyAltServer:PortNumber=1434:Database=MyAltDB,
       HostName=MyBackUpServer:PortNumber=1435:Database=MyBackUpDB);
       ConnectionRetryCount=4;ConnectionRetryDelay=5;LoadBalancing=1;
       LogonID=jsmith;Password=secret;
For more information on these options and values, see Using failover.

Connection pooling

The following example shows how to configure the driver to use connection pooling. In this example:
  • The driver does not reset the state of connections that are removed from the connection pool for reuse by the application.
  • The driver does not allow inactive connections to remain open in the connection pool.
  • The driver allows a maximum of 100 and a minimum of 0 connections in the pool.
DRIVER=DataDirect 8.0 SQL Server Wire Protocol;Pooling=1;
       ConnectionReset=0;LoadBalanceTimeout=0;MaxPoolSize=100;
       MinPoolSize=0;HostName=MyServer;PortNumber=1433;
       Database=MyDB;LogonID=John;Password=secret;
For more information on these options and values, see Using DataDirect Connection Pooling.