Using the Connection object (Access)

Applies to: Access 2013, Office 2013

A Connection object represents a unique session with a data source. In the case of a client/server database system, it can be equivalent to an actual network connection to the server. Depending on the functionality supported by the provider, some collections, methods, or properties of a Connection object might not be available.

Before opening a Connection object, you must define certain information about the data source and type of connection. The ConnectionString parameter of the Connection object Open method — or the ConnectionString property on the Connection object — usually contains most of this information. A connection string is a string of characters that defines a variable number of arguments. The arguments — some required by ADO, but others provider-specific — contain information that the Connection object must have to carry out its work. The arguments that make up the ConnectionString parameter are separated with semicolons (;).

Note

You can also specify an ODBC Data Source Name (DSN) or a Data Link (UDL) file in a connection string. For more information about DSNs, see Data Sources in Part 1 of the ODBC Programmer's Reference. For more information about UDLs, see Data Link API Overview in the OLE DB Programmer's Reference.

This section includes the following topics:

• Creating the connection string
• Controlling transactions