DataLink – PB Docs 2019

Description

Specifies that you want to create a file or use an existing file
containing your connection information to connect to your data
source.

Applies to

ADO.NET

OLE DB

SNC SQL Native Client for Microsoft SQL Server

MSOLEDBSQL Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server

Syntax

Default value

None

Usage

The Data Link option allows you to access Microsoft’s Data Link
API. The Data Link API allows you to define a file or use an existing
file that contains your connection information. A Data Link file is
identified with the suffix .udl.

To launch the API, double-click on Manage Data Links under OLE DB
Utilities in the Installed Database Interfaces list or select the File
Name check box on the Connection page in the Database Profile Setup
dialog box and click the button next to the File Name box.

For more information on using the Data Link API, see Microsoft’s
Universal Data Access website.

Using a Data Link file versus setting other database
parameters

If you use a Data Link file to connect to your data source with
the ADO.NET or OLE DB interface, all other settings you make in the
Database Profile Setup dialog box are ignored.

If you use a Data Link file to connect to your data source with
the SNC interface, the setting in the ProviderString database parameter
still takes effect. The SNC interface gets a connection string from the
data link file, and then copies the contents of the ProviderString
parameter into the connection string so that it contains the connection
parameters from both the data link file and the ProviderString
parameter. You might want to take advantage of this feature if you do
not want to save the user name and password in the UDL file. You can
specify them in the ProviderString parameter instead.

Examples

To use the file oledb.udl to connect to an OLE DB data
provider: