DBEngine.OpenConnection method (DAO)

Applies to: Access 2013, Office 2013

Syntax

expression .OpenConnection(Name, Options, ReadOnly, Connect)

expression A variable that represents a DBEngine object.

Parameters

Name	Required/optional	Data type	Description
Name	Required	String	A string expression. See the discussion under Remarks.
Options	Optional	Variant	sets various options for the connection, as specified in Remarks. Based on this value, the ODBC driver manager prompts the user for connection information such as data source name (DSN), user name, and password.
ReadOnly	Optional	Variant	True if the connection is to be opened for read-only access and False if the connection is to be opened for read/write access (default).
Connect	Optional	Variant	An ODBC connection string. See the Connect property for the specific elements and syntax of this string. A prepended "ODBC;" is required.

Return value

Connection

Remarks

Use the OpenConnection method to establish a connection to an ODBC data source from an ODBCDirect workspace. The OpenConnection method is similar but not equivalent to OpenDatabase. The main difference is that OpenConnection is available only in an ODBCDirect workspace.

If you specify a registered ODBC data source name (DSN) in the connect argument, then the name argument can be any valid string, and will also provide the Name property for the Connection object. If a valid DSN is not included in the connect argument, then name must refer to a valid ODBC DSN, which will also be the Name property. If neither name nor connect contains a valid DSN, the ODBC driver manager can be set (via the options argument) to prompt the user for the required connection information. The DSN supplied through the prompt then provides the Name property.

The options argument determines if and when to prompt the user to establish the connection, and whether or not to open the connection asynchronously. You can use one of the following constants.

Constant	Description
dbDriverNoPrompt	The ODBC Driver Manager uses the connection string provided in dbname and connect. If you don't provide sufficient information, a run-time error occurs.
dbDriverPrompt	The ODBC Driver Manager displays the ODBC Data Sources dialog box, which displays any relevant information supplied in dbname or connect. The connection string is made up of the DSN that the user selects via the dialog boxes, or, if the user doesn't specify a DSN, the default DSN is used.
dbDriverComplete	Default. If the connect argument includes all the necessary information to complete a connection, the ODBC Driver Manager uses the string in connect. Otherwise it behaves as it does when you specify dbDriverPrompt.
dbDriverCompleteRequired	This option behaves like dbDriverComplete except the ODBC driver disables the prompts for any information not required to complete the connection.
dbRunAsync	Execute the method asynchronously. This constant may be used with any of the other options constants.

OpenConnection returns a Connection object which contains information about the connection. The Connection object is similar to a Database object. The principal difference is that a Database object usually represents a database, although it can be used to represent a connection to an ODBC data source from a Microsoft Access workspace.