HOW TO: Quote a Member of the Connection String in ADO.NET by Using Visual C# .NET (316367)

SUMMARY

Use this step-by-step guide to format a string if there is a quotation mark in a member of the connection string.

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Description of the Technique

The sample explains how to format a password that includes a quotation mark. Without the proper formatting, the compiler will display a build error, similar to the following: If you use a single quotation mark in a password, you do not have to include the escape character for the single quotation mark. However, you need to include the escape character for the double quotation mark:

password=a'b       // Not properly formatted.
password=\"a'b\"   // Properly formatted.
				

If you use a double quotation mark in your password, you have to use the escape character. However, you need to include single quotation marks around the password value:

password=a"b       // Not properly formatted.
password='a\"b'    // Properly formatted.
				

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Requirements

The following list outlines the recommended hardware, software, network infrastructure, and service packs that you need:

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server, or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server.
• Microsoft Visual Studio .NET.
• Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 or later.

This article assumes that you are familiar with the following topics:

• Visual Studio .NET.
• ADO .NET fundamentals and syntax.

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Create the Project and Add the Code

1. Start Visual Studio .NET.
2. In Visual C# .NET, create a new Windows application.
3. Make sure that your project contains a reference to the System.Data namespace; add a reference if it does not.
4. Add a Button control to Form1.
   Change the Name property of the button to btnTest and the Text property to Test.
5. Add the following Using statements to the General Declarations section of Form1 so that you do not need to qualify declarations for the namespaces later in your code:

   using System;
   using System.Data;
   using System.Data.SqlClient;
   					

6. Type or paste the following code in the btnTest Click event:

   	DataSet ds = new DataSet();
   	SqlConnection cn = new SqlConnection("server=myServer;user id=myUID;password=a"b;database=northwind");
   	SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter("select * from customers",cn);
   	da.Fill(ds, "customers");
   					

7. Modify the connection string for your environment. Notice the password has a quotation mark in it.
8. Save your project. On the Debug menu, click Start to run your project. Notice the build errors if any appear.
9. Change the connection string to the following:

   ("server=myServer;user id=myUID;password='a\"b';database=northwind")
   					

10. Save the project and then run it.

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