OdbcConnection

This C# connection type is used with MySQL. It often leads to syntax errors. The connection string does not allow quotes around the values.

With some care this SQL database object in C# programs is effective. We explore the OdbcConnection objects in the C# language and .NET.

Connection string

If you are using a third-party web host, you will often have a sample connection string. This is useful, but you need to be careful.

DRIVER={MySQL ODBC 3.51 Driver}; SERVER=p50mysq5555.secureserver.net; PORT=3306;
DATABASE=OkieData; USER=SamAllen; PASSWORD=CutiePie; OPTION=0;

Web.config

It is ideal to put your connection string in Web.config in your ASP.NET project. You will have to find the appropriate blocks in the XML config file.

<!-- This XML should be put in Web.config -->

<connectionstrings>
    <add name="WhateverName" connectionString="Exact string shown above"/>
</connectionstrings>

Using

At the top are your using-statements. Add these two using-statements at the top. The first adds the database stuff, and the second allows you to access your connection string.

using System.Data.Odbc;
using System.Web.Configuration;

New

We can create an OdbcConnection by combining it with the using-statement. The next code block gets our special connection string from the Web.config file.

// Try to connect to the database based on our stored connection string.
string conString = WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings[ "WhateverName"].ConnectionString;
using (OdbcConnection c = new OdbcConnection(conString))
{
    c.Open();
    // We are now connected.
    // Now we can use OdbcCommand objects to accomplish things.
}

MySQL

Here we declare a new OdbcCommand object, add a parameter to the command object, and then read in data from the database. Note the question mark in the command text.

using (OdbcCommand c = new OdbcCommand("SELECT ColumnWord FROM OkieTable WHERE MagicKey = ?", con))
{
    c.Parameters.AddWithValue("@var", paramWord);
    using (OdbcDataReader reader = c.ExecuteReader())
    {
        while (reader.Read())
        {
            string word = reader.GetString(0);
            // Word is from the database. Do something with it.
        }
    }
}

Here we fixed bugs with OdbcConnection. This can be applied to any ADO.NET provider, from SqlConnection objects to SqlCeConnections and SQLiteConnections.