How to connect to a MS Access file (mdb) using C#?

Question

I\'m trying to connect to a mdb file and I understand that I would need Microsoft.OLEDB.JET.4.0 data provider. Unfortunately, I do not have it installed on the

Answer 1

The simplest way to connect is through an OdbcConnection using code like this

using System.Data.Odbc;

using(OdbcConnection myConnection = new OdbcConnection())
{
    myConnection.ConnectionString = myConnectionString;
    myConnection.Open();

    //execute queries, etc

}

where myConnectionString is something like this

myConnectionString = @"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};" + 
"Dbq=C:\mydatabase.mdb;Uid=Admin;Pwd=;

See ConnectionStrings

In alternative you could create a DSN and then use that DSN in your connection string

• Open the Control Panel - Administrative Tools - ODBC Data Source Manager
• Go to the System DSN Page and ADD a new DSN
• Choose the Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb) and press END
• Set the Name of the DSN (choose MyDSN for this example)
• Select the Database to be used
• Try the Compact or Recover commands to see if the connection works

now your connectionString could be written in this way

myConnectionString = "DSN=myDSN;"