SqlConnectionStringBuilder Class

Overview

The SqlConnectionStringBuilder class provides a simple way to create and manage the contents of connection strings used by SqlConnection. It offers strongly typed properties for each option that can appear in a connection string.

Constructors

Signature	Description
`SqlConnectionStringBuilder()`	Initializes a new instance of the `SqlConnectionStringBuilder` class.
`SqlConnectionStringBuilder(string connectionString)`	Initializes a new instance and populates the builder with the supplied connection string.

Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
`DataSource`	string	""	Specifies the name or network address of the instance of SQL Server to connect to.
`InitialCatalog`	string	""	The name of the database.
`IntegratedSecurity`	bool	false	Indicates whether Windows Authentication is used.
`UserID`	string	""	The SQL Server login ID.
`Password`	string	""	The password for the SQL Server login ID.
`Encrypt`	bool	false	Specifies whether SQL Server uses SSL encryption for all data sent between the client and server.
`TrustServerCertificate`	bool	false	When `Encrypt` is true, indicates whether the channel should be encrypted without validating the server certificate.
`MultipleActiveResultSets`	bool	false	Enables or disables MARS (Multiple Active Result Sets).
`ConnectTimeout`	int	15	Number of seconds to wait while trying to establish a connection before terminating the attempt and generating an error.

Methods

Method	Signature	Description
`Clear`	`void Clear()`	Removes all key/value pairs from the collection.
`Remove`	`bool Remove(string keyword)`	Removes the specified keyword from the collection.
`ContainsKey`	`bool ContainsKey(string keyword)`	Returns a value indicating whether the collection contains the specified keyword.
`ToString`	`string ToString()`	Returns the connection string built from the current settings.

Examples

Basic usage

using System.Data.SqlClient;

var builder = new SqlConnectionStringBuilder
{
    DataSource = @"SERVER\INSTANCE",
    InitialCatalog = "AdventureWorks",
    IntegratedSecurity = true,
    MultipleActiveResultSets = true,
    Encrypt = true,
    TrustServerCertificate = false
};

string connString = builder.ToString();
// connString now contains a fully‑qualified connection string.

Parsing an existing connection string

string existing = "Data Source=.;Initial Catalog=Northwind;User ID=sa;Password=secret;Encrypt=True";
var builder = new SqlConnectionStringBuilder(existing);

Console.WriteLine($"DataSource: {builder.DataSource}");
Console.WriteLine($"Encrypt: {builder.Encrypt}");
builder.IntegratedSecurity = false; // override security mode
Console.WriteLine(builder.ToString());

Remarks

When constructing a connection string, avoid including sensitive information such as passwords in source control. Use secure storage mechanisms like Azure Key Vault or Windows Credential Manager.

For more advanced scenarios, see SqlConnection and SqlConnectionStringBuilder Extensions.