Need a Connection String?

This handy little trick has helped me for years. I have used it so much and so often, that I forget that it really is almost a "hidden" part of Windows.

So, you need a connection string to a database, AND you would like to test that string before you plug it in to your application. Doing this is actually very easy. First right click on your desktop and create a new text file. Name the file what ever you want, but change the file extension to be ".UDL." This stands for Universal Data Link. Now double click on the file. This is what you will see:

The Provider tab will list all of the available providers installed on your computer. Choose the one you want. In this case we are going with the ODBC provider for SQL server.
The next tab is the Connection tab. This is what you see:

Here, you put in the server name, choose the type of authentication, and select the default catalog. The best part is that little button towards the bottom right "Test Connection." With the simple press of this button, a connection attempt is made using the settings and credentials you have provided. If the test succeeds, you are good to go, if not, well then you know you have a problem.

The advanced tab really isn't that interesting, you can set your impersonation level and other things if the provider supports that kind of thing, but really, it isn't vital to the success of your connection string. The really interesting tab is the All tab.

This tab has all of the settings you can tweak for your selected provider type. If you need to set an Application Type, you can do that here, time outs, Network Address, whatever you need to set here is the spot.
After you have everything set, and the test connection succeeds, click OK. That will save all of your settings. Then right click on the file and select "Rename." Change the file extension back to ".txt" Now double click on the text file. TA-Freaking-DA!!!

There is your tested, working connection string all ready for you to copy and paste in to your application.