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.NET Framework 2.0
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Microsoft Visual Studio 2005/.NET Framework 2.0

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.NET Framework Class Library
ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder Class

Note: This class is new in the .NET Framework version 2.0.

Retrieves, or generates code to retrieve, values from the <connectionStrings> section of the Web.config file.

Namespace: System.Web.Compilation
Assembly: System.Web (in system.web.dll)

Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Class ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder
    Inherits ExpressionBuilder
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim instance As ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder
C#
public class ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder : ExpressionBuilder
C++
public ref class ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder : public ExpressionBuilder
J#
public class ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder extends ExpressionBuilder
JScript
public class ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder extends ExpressionBuilder

The ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder class provides access to values in the <connectionStrings> section of the Web.config file. The <connectionStrings> section of the Web.config file contains connection string values in name/value pairs.

A connection string value is retrieved by assigning an expression of the form

<%$ ConnectionStrings: secureConnectionString %>

to a control property. The part of the expression before the colon (:) designates the type of expression to be retrieved, and the part after the colon signifies the name of the connection string. The preceding expression would retrieve the following value from the Web.config file.

<connectionStrings>

<add name="secureConnectionString" connectionString="Data

Source=localhost;Integrated Security=SSPI;Initial

Catalog=Northwind;" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

</connectionStrings>

When the page parser encounters an expression with the prefix ConnectionStrings, it creates an instance of the ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder class to handle the expression.

If the expression is encountered in a page that will be compiled, the ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder object generates code that retrieves the specified connection string from the Web.config file. If the expression is encountered in a page that will not be compiled, the ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder object returns the value from the Web.config file when the page is parsed.

The following code example demonstrates how to declaratively use a SqlDataSource control to retrieve data from a computer running Microsoft SQL Server and display it in a GridView control.

Visual Basic
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<HTML>
  <BODY>
    <FORM runat="server">

      <asp:SqlDataSource
          id="SqlDataSource1"
          runat="server"
          DataSourceMode="DataReader"
          ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:MyNorthwind%>"
          SelectCommand="SELECT FirstName, LastName, Title FROM Employees">
      </asp:SqlDataSource>

      <asp:GridView
          id="GridView1"
          runat="server"
          DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1">
      </asp:GridView>

    </FORM>
  </BODY>
</HTML>
C#
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<HTML>
  <BODY>
    <FORM runat="server">

      <asp:SqlDataSource
          id="SqlDataSource1"
          runat="server"
          DataSourceMode="DataReader"
          ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:MyNorthwind%>"
          SelectCommand="SELECT FirstName, LastName, Title FROM Employees">
      </asp:SqlDataSource>

      <asp:GridView
          id="GridView1"
          runat="server"
          DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1">
      </asp:GridView>

    </FORM>
  </BODY>
</HTML>
J#
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<HTML>
  <BODY>
    <FORM runat="server">

      <asp:SqlDataSource
          id="SqlDataSource1"
          runat="server"
          DataSourceMode="DataReader"
          ConnectionString="Data Source=localhost;Integrated Security=SSPI;Initial Catalog=Northwind;"
          SelectCommand="SELECT FirstName, LastName, Title FROM Employees">
      </asp:SqlDataSource>

      <asp:GridView
          id="GridView1"
          runat="server"
          DataSourceID="SqlDataSource1">
      </asp:GridView>

    </FORM>
  </BODY>
</HTML>

The code retrieves the following connection string from the Web.config file.

<configuration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0">

<connectionStrings>

<add name="MyNorthwind" connectionString="Data

Source=localhost;Integrated Security=SSPI;Initial

Catalog=Northwind;" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

</connectionStrings>

</configuration>

System.Object
   System.Web.Compilation.ExpressionBuilder
    System.Web.Compilation.ConnectionStringsExpressionBuilder
Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 2.0
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