How do I connect to SQL Server using C#?

SqlConnection in C#

  • In VB.NET I can use: Protected Conn As New SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("Active").ConnectionString) However, when I do the following in C#: protected SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("conn")); I get the error: The name 'ConfigurationManager' does not exist in the current context Then if I change it to: protected SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("conn")); I get the error: Non-invocable member 'System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings' cannot be used like a method. Why is this and how can I connect to my SQL Server database using C#?

  • Answer:

    Try like this: protected SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection( ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["conn"].ConnectionString ); Notice the [] instead of () which is what is used to access an element of an array in C#. Also notice the usage of the .ConnectionString property call as the SqlConnection constructor expects a string.

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Change the last pair of parentheses to square brackets. In C#, parentheses are used in method calls, whether square brackets are used to access members inside a collection (or so). In addition, use the using clause to ensure that the connection is always closed and disposed when you go out of scope: using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["conn"])) { ... } Read about it here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/yh598w02(v=vs.80).aspx

Ofer Zelig

In C#, you read collections using square bracket syntax: e.g. string[] strings = new[] { "first", "second", "third" }; string secondString = strings[1]; So you access the Configuration collection like this: ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["conn"];

Neil

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