Q286189: HOWTO: Invoke OLE DB Data Link Properties Dialog Box in VB Code
Article: Q286189
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): 2.0,2.01,2.1,2.1 SP1,2.1 SP2,2.5,2.6,5.0,6.0,6.0 SP3,6.0 SP4
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbOLEDB kbVBp kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbGrpDSVBDB kbDSupport kbADOsearch kbATM kbmdac270 kbad
Last Modified: 23-AUG-2001
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0, 6.0 SP3, 6.0 SP4
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0
- Microsoft OLE DB, versions 2.0, 2.1, 2.5, 2.6
- ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), versions 2.0, 2.01, 2.1, 2.1 SP1, 2.1 SP2, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7
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SUMMARY
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The OLE DB Data link properties dialog box is commonly used to define or edit
ActiveX Data Object (ADO) connection string attributes for ADO Data controls,
Visual Basic 6.0 DataEnvironment connection objects, and Universal Data Link
(UDL) files. This article documents a code sample that demonstrates how to
programmatically invoke and use this dialog box in a Visual Basic application to
construct the connection string for an ADO Connection object at run time by
using a graphical user interface (GUI) driver interface. This is a useful
feature to implement in applications and tools that might require users to
specify an ADO connection string at run time.
MORE INFORMATION
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The OLE DB Service Component 1.0 Type Library (oledb32.dll) that is installed by
Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) implements an object named DataLinks
whose PromptEdit and PromptNew methods can invoke and use the OLE DB Data Link
properties dialog box to define or edit ADO connection strings.
The following steps set up a Visual Basic sample that demonstrates how to use the
DataLinks object of the OLE DB Service Component 1.0 Type Library to edit the
connection string properties of an ADO connection object:
1. Open a new Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
2. On the Project menu, set references to the Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects 2.x
Library and the OLE DB Service Component 1.0 Type Library.
3. Drag-and-drop a CommandButton on Form1 and make the caption Define
Connection.
4. Copy and paste the following code into Form1's code module:
Dim cn As ADODB.Connection
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim MSDASCObj As MSDASC.DataLinks
Set MSDASCObj = New MSDASC.DataLinks
Set cn = New ADODB.Connection
MSDASCObj.PromptEdit cn
cn.Open
MsgBox "Connection opened successfully"
cn.Close
End Sub
5. Save the project and run it.
6. Click Define Connection, and note that the code in the Click event procedure
of the CommandButton creates an instance of the MSDASC.DataLinks object and
executes its PromptEdit method to display the OLE DB Data Link Properties
dialog box. This dialog box is displayed as a modal window. As a result,
subsequent code that follows the call to the PromptEdit method is not
executed until the Data link properties dialog box is dismissed.
7. Select a suitable OLEDB provider in the Providers tab, and then specify the
other connection attributes to establish a connection to one of your
databases (Access, SQL Server, Oracle, and so forth).
8. Click Test Connection in the Data link properties dialog box to test the
connection. Note that you receive a Test Connection succeeded message box if
the connection is successful. Dismiss the dialog box by clicking OK.
The remaining code in the Click event procedure of the CommandButton is now
executed. The ConnectionString property of the ADO Connection object that was
passed as a parameter to the PromptEdit method is initialized based on the
settings that you selected in the Data link properties dialog box.
The statements that follow the call to the PromptEdit method of the
MSDASC.DataLinks object open and close an ADO Connection by using the ADO
Connection object that is initialized by the call to the PromptEdit method. This
verifies that the ADO Connection object's ConnectionString property was set
correctly according to the options that are selected in the Data Link properties
dialog box. If you click Cancel in the Data Link properties dialog box, the
cn.Open statement in the Visual Basic code generates a run-time error to
indicate that it could not establish a connection by using the uninitialized
ConnectionString.
NOTE: You can check the connection's ConnectionString to see if it is empty ("")
and catch the Cancel before the connection.open statement.
Additional query words: PromptEdit MSDASC Data Link
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Keywords : kbOLEDB kbVBp kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbGrpDSVBDB kbDSupport kbADOsearch kbATM kbmdac270 kbado270
Technology : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbADOsearch kbADO210 kbADO201 kbADO200 kbADO210sp1 kbADO210sp2 kbADO250 kbADO260 kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB500Search kbVB600Search kbVB500 kbVB600 kbOLEDBSearch kbOLEDB200 kbOLEDB210 kbOLEDB250 kbOLEDB260 kbVB600SP3 kbVB600SP4 kbADO270
Version : :2.0,2.01,2.1,2.1 SP1,2.1 SP2,2.5,2.6,5.0,6.0,6.0 SP3,6.0 SP4
Issue type : kbhowto
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