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Connecting to an ODBC Data Source Using ADO.NET

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The .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC provides connectivity to data sources exposed using ODBC using the OdbcConnection object.

For the .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC, the connection string format is designed to match the ODBC connection string format as closely as possible. You may also supply an ODBC data source name (DSN). For more detail on the OdbcConnection , see the OdbcConnection Class.

Note   The .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC is not included in the .NET Framework version 1.0. If you require the .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC and are using the .NET Framework version 1.0, you can download the .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC at https://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads. The namespace for the downloaded .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC is Microsoft.Data.Odbc.

The following code example demonstrates how to create and open a connection to an ODBC data source.

Dim nwindConn As OdbcConnection = New OdbcConnection("Driver={SQL Server};Server=localhost;" & _
                                                     "Trusted_Connection=yes;Database=northwind")
nwindConn.Open()
[C#]
OdbcConnection nwindConn = new OdbcConnection("Driver={SQL Server};Server=localhost;" +
                                              "Trusted_Connection=yes;Database=northwind");
nwindConn.Open();

Closing the Connection

It is recommended that you always close the Connection when you are finished using it, in order for the connection to be returned to the pool. This can be done using either the Close or Dispose methods of the Connection object. Connections that are not explicitly closed might not be added or returned to the pool. For example, a connection that has gone out of scope but that has not been explicitly closed will only be returned to the connection pool if the maximum pool size has been reached and the connection is still valid.

Note   Do not call Close or Dispose on a Connection, a DataReader, or any other managed object in the Finalize method of your class. In a finalizer, only release unmanaged resources that your class owns directly. If your class does not own any unmanaged resources, do not include a Finalize method in your class definition. For more information, see Programming for Garbage Collection.

See Also

Using .NET Framework Data Providers to Access Data | OdbcConnection Class | System.Data.Odbc Namespace