Establishes a connection to a database. Optionally, the CONNECT statement can also specify a name for the connection and a username and password for authentication.

Syntax

CONNECT TO connect_string[ AS connection_name][ USER username][ USING password] ;

Parameters

connect_string
{  DEFAULT |db_name|db_type:T:host_name:port_num:db_name }
Note: Arguments to CONNECT must be either string literals enclosed in quotation marks or character‑string host variables.
connect_string

Specifies to which database to connect. If the CONNECT statement specifies DEFAULT, SQL tries to connect to the environment-defined database, if any. The value of the DB_NAME environment variable specifies the default connect string.

The connect_string can be a simple database name or a complete connect_string. A complete connect string has the components shown in the following table:
Connect string Description
db_type Type of database. The only currently supported database type is progress
T T directs the SQL engine to use the TCP/IP protocol
host_name Name of the system where the database resides
port_num Port number to use for the connection
db_name Name of the database
connection_name

The name of the connection as either a character literal or host variable. If the CONNECT statement omits a connection name, the default is the name of the database. Connection names must be unique.

username

User name for authentication of the connection. SQL verifies the user name against a corresponding password before it connects to the database. The value of the DH_USER environment variable specifies the default user name. If DH_USER is not set, the value of the USER environment variable specifies the default user name.

password

Password for authentication of the connection. SQL verifies the password against a corresponding user name before it connects to the database.

The value of the DH_PASSWD environment variable determines the default password.

Notes

  • Arguments to CONNECT must be either string literals enclosed in quotation marks or character string host variables.
  • An application can connect to more than one database at a time, with a maximum of 10 connections. However, the application can actually gain access to only one database at a time. The database name specified in the CONNECT statement becomes the active one.
  • If an application executes a SQL statement before connecting to a database, an attempt is made to connect to the environment-defined database, if any. If the connection is successful, the SQL statement is executed on that database.

Example

The following example illustrates the CONNECT statement:

CONNECT TO "salesdb" AS "sales_conn";
CONNECT TO "progress:T:localhost:custdb" AS "cust_conn";
CONNECT TO DEFAULT;
  • The first statement shown connects to the salesdb database on the local system.
  • The second statement connects to the custdb database on the local system.
  • The last statement connects to the environment-defined database by default.