MySQL Bugs: #47889: UDL file support for MySQL Connector for .NET

Bug #47889	UDL file support for MySQL Connector for .NET
Submitted:	7 Oct 2009 9:40	Modified:	15 Oct 2009 15:29
Reporter:	Daniel Leigh	Email Updates:
Status:	Not a Bug	Impact on me:	None
Category:	Connector / NET	Severity:	S4 (Feature request)
Version:	6.1.2	OS:	Windows
Assigned to:		CPU Architecture:	Any
Tags:	.net, OLE DB, provider, UDL

Description:
The MySQL Connector for .NET does not appear to support the specification of database connections via the Data Link Properties dialog box which is the standard Windows system interface for configuring connection strings to data sources. 

How to repeat:
1. Install the MySQL Connector .NET 6.1.2 on Microsoft Windows (I tried with XP SP2)

2. Create and open a UDL file (text file with a .udl extension)

3. On the Data Link Properties window click the Providers tab.

Providers from notable database vendors (e.g. IBM and Microsoft) are listed and it would be useful if MySQL also supported the UDL file method of specifying .NET database connections.

Hi Daniel and thanks for your report.

Judging from stuff found on internet, UDL provider is not a .NET but rather OLEDB one: http://bytes.com/topic/c-sharp/answers/226098-udl-file-sqlconnection
Meaning you might need MySQL c/ODBC for this.

Anyways, as I am not sure, I asked Reggie to clarify things.

UDL files are not used with .net connectors.  If I am wrong about this and you can show me that UDL files work with other providers then I will reconsider.

Example of Data Link Properties dialog

Attachment: Data Link Properties.bmp (image/bmp, text), 168.88 KiB.

Hi, it may well be the case that this feature request is not specific to .NET Connectors. It just so happens that the .NET tool I am working with happens to use UDL files as the primary means of specifying connections. 

My main point is that since other notable db vendors support UDL files as a matter of course (see attached screenshot) and it would useful if MySQL followed suit. Since UDL files are a Windows-specific technology, it would seem (to an outsider like me) like this would be a job for the "MySQL Connector for .NET".