Visual Basic database support under .NET Core 5

Question

I have a couple of Visual Basic apps, each of which connects to a local Microsoft Access database. I have upgraded my apps from using the .NET Framework to now use .NET Core 5. For some reason, I can no longer add a new data source via the wizard, nor by manually coding. I can still do it when creating VB WinForms app under the Framework, but not under .NET 5. This should be incredibly simply to do. Does VB under .NET 5 no longer support connecting to a database? I cannot find anything on a Google search which mentions anything about connecting to a local database under .NET 5, and the methods of doing it under .NET Framework don't seem to work.

Answer 1

Hi BrandonStewart-4522,
Follow the steps below, you will find that "this window is not supported for the selected project." in Winforms(VB) .NET5.
1.Open the Data Sources window, on the View menu, select Other Windows > Data Sources.
It means that the wizard is not supported yet. So you need to connect to the database manually.
I made a test and can access the local Microsoft Access database successfully.
First add data connection in Server Explorer which on View menu.

Then use the following code example to load records from Access Database to Datagridview.

Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load  
    Dim con As New OleDb.OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=C:\Users\danielzh\Desktop\test.accdb")  
    Try  
        con.Open()  

        If con.State = ConnectionState.Open Then  
            MsgBox("Connected")  
        Else  
            MsgBox("Not Connected!")  

        End If  
    Catch ex As Exception  
        MsgBox(ex.Message)  
    Finally  
        con.Close()  
    End Try  
    Try  
        Dim sql As String  
        Dim cmd As New OleDb.OleDbCommand  
        Dim dt As New DataTable  
        Dim da As New OleDb.OleDbDataAdapter  
        con.Open()  
        sql = "Select * from Table1"  
        cmd.Connection = con  
        cmd.CommandText = sql  
        da.SelectCommand = cmd  

        da.Fill(dt)  

        DataGridView1.DataSource = dt  
    Catch ex As Exception  
        MsgBox(ex.Message)  
    Finally  
        con.Close()  
    End Try  
End Sub  

Best Regards,
Daniel Zhang

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