Visual Basic .NET - ADO.NET - Data Provides

In VB.NET, ADO.NET provides a set of data providers that allow you to connect to and interact with various databases. Here are some commonly used ADO.NET data providers in VB.NET:

SQL Server Data Provider (System.Data.SqlClient):

  • Used to connect to Microsoft SQL Server databases.
  • Namespace: System.Data.SqlClient
  • Connection class: SqlConnection
  • Command class: SqlCommand
Example connection string: "Data Source=serverName;Initial Catalog=databaseName;User ID=username;Password=password"

OLE DB Data Provider (System.Data.OleDb):

  • Used to connect to databases through OLE DB technology, which is a data access interface provided by Microsoft.
  • Namespace: System.Data.OleDb
  • Connection class: OleDbConnection
  • Command class: OleDbCommand
Example connection string: "Provider=providerName;Data Source=dataSource;User ID=username;Password=password"

ODBC Data Provider (System.Data.Odbc):

  • Used to connect to databases through ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) technology, which provides a standard API for accessing databases.
  • Namespace: System.Data.Odbc
  • Connection class: OdbcConnection
  • Command class: OdbcCommand
Example connection string: "Driver={driverName};Server=serverName;Database=databaseName;Uid=username;Pwd=password"

Oracle Data Provider for .NET (System.Data.OracleClient):

  • Used to connect to Oracle databases.
  • Namespace: System.Data.OracleClient (Note: This namespace is deprecated in newer versions of .NET, and it is recommended to use the Oracle Data Provider for .NET provided by Oracle Corporation instead.)
  • Connection class: OracleConnection
  • Command class: OracleCommand
Example connection string: "Data Source=serverName;User ID=username;Password=password"

MySQL Data Provider (MySql.Data.MySqlClient):

  • Used to connect to MySQL databases.
  • Namespace: MySql.Data.MySqlClient
  • Connection class: MySqlConnection
  • Command class: MySqlCommand
Example connection string: "Server=serverName;Database=databaseName;Uid=username;Pwd=password"

These are just a few examples of ADO.NET data providers available in VB.NET. Each data provider has its own set of classes and namespaces to establish database connections, execute queries, and retrieve data. The choice of data provider depends on the type of database you are connecting to.