Controls You Can Use on Web Forms   ASP.NET Data Source Controls   SqlDataSource Control

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You can connect to a Microsoft SQL Server™ database using the SqlDataSource control. To do so, you need a connection string and access rights to a SQL Server™ database. You can then use the SqlDataSource control to provide data to any data-bound control that supports the DataSourceID property, such as the GridView control.

1. Open the Web.config file in the root directory of your ASP.NET application. If you do not have a Web.config file, create one.

2. In the Configuration element, add a ConnectionStrings element, if one does not already exist.

3. Create an add element as a child of the ConnectionStrings element, defining the following attributes:
   • name   Set the value to the name that you want to use to reference the connection string, as in the following example:

     name="CustomerDataConnectionString"

   • connectionString   Assign a connection string with the location of your SQL Server, and authentication information, if applicable. Your connection string might look like the following:

     connectionString="Data Source=localhost;Integrated Security=SSPI;Initial Catalog=Northwind"

     NOTE: If you are connecting to SQL Server™ with Windows integrated authentication, you will need to ensure that the identity of your Web application has the appropriate access to the SQL Server™ database. For information on determining the identity of your Web application, see ASP.NET Impersonation.

   • providerName   Assign the value "System.Data.SqlClient", which specifies that ASP.NET should use the ADO.NET provider System.Data.SqlClient when making a connection with this connection string.

   The connection string configuration will be similar to the following:

   <connectionStrings>
     <add name="CustomerDataConnectionString"     connectionString="Data Source=localhost;Integrated Security=SSPI;Initial Catalog=Northwind"
       providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
   </connectionStrings>

4. Save the Web.config file and close it.

<asp:SqlDataSource   ID="SqlDataSource1"
  runat="server"   ConnectionString="<%$ ConnectionStrings:CustomerDataConnectionString %>"
  SelectCommand="SELECT CustomerID, CompanyName FROM Customers"   />