Connecting to Data Sources

An ADO Connection object represents a unique session with a data source, including a DBMS, a file store, or a comma-delimited text file. In the case of a client/server database system, the ADO connection can be an actual network connection to the server.

The Connection object supports various properties and methods for specifying connection configurations, opening and closing connections, creating and executing commands against the data source, and providing information about the design of the underlying data source in the form of schema rowsets, etc. Depending on the functionality supported by the provider, some collections, methods, or properties of a Connection object might not be available.

You can connect to a data source either by using a Connection object or by using a Recordset object.

This section contains the following topics.

• Using a Connection Object

• Using a Recordset Object

• Creating a Connection String

• Specifying Connection Properties

• Controlling Transactions