Select File»New Data Link , click <Ctrl+N>, or click the New Data Link button in the Database Explorer pane to launch the New Data Link dialog box, in which you can configure new database connections.

The New Data Link dialog box contains the following options:

• Connection Name —Specifies a name for the new database connection. You must enter a value in this option. Multiple open connections cannot share a connection name. If another connection with the same name already exists, the dialog box displays an error next to the text box when you click OK .
• Connection String —Specifies the connection string to use to connect to the database. Multiple open connections cannot share the same connection string. If another connection with the same connection string exists, the dialog box displays an error next to the text box when you click OK .

Click OK to create a new database connection with the specified parameters and add the connection to the Connection List. The Database Viewer populates the Database Object View with the objects present in the database when the connection is created.

See Also

Configuring Connection Strings