Reuse DB connection

[alwinSCH]

Hey, Me : Newbie in VS.NET2005 Question : I have an application in which i define a connectionstring, sqlconnection etc. then i can use this connection on this form! But on another form in the same project i need exactly the same DB (Connectionstring,...) and I don't want to type this twice! So if my DB changes of server or gets a new name when the appplication goes live, i only have to change this at one place! I know you can do something like this in ASP.NET special section in WEB.CONFIG, But where do you do this for a normal Application! Thnx A.

[ToddHileHoffer]

APP.CONFIG how vital enterprise application are for proactive organizations leveraging collective synergy to think outside the box and formulate their key objectives into a win-win game plan with a quality-driven approach that focuses on empowering key players to drive-up their core competencies and increase expectations with an all-around initiative to drive up the bottom-line. But of course, that's all a "high level" overview of things --thedailywtf 3/21/06

[alwinSCH]

And Where do i find this, how do i use it in my code?

[Dave Kreskowiak]

Go to the Project menu, then click Add New Item. In the window that comes up, find and double-click Application Configuration File. A new file called app.config will be added to your project. Double-click this file to open it in an editor window. You'll see a bunch of XML stuff. Under the <configuration> tag, add something that looks like this:

<configuration>
<configSections>
</configSections>
<appSettings>
<add key="myConnectionString" value="your connection string goes here!" />
</appSettings>
.
.
.

Now, to get this connection string from anywhere inside your app, just use:

Imports System.Configuration
.
.
.
Dim connString As String = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings("myConnectionString")

Dave Kreskowiak Microsoft MVP - Visual Basic