Once you have created a connection string it can be used to open a connection to the MySQL server.

The following code is used to create a MySqlConnection object, assign the connection string, and open the connection.

Connector/Net can also connect using the native Windows authentication plugin. See Section 6.5, “Using the Windows Native Authentication Plugin” for details.

You can further extend the authentication mechanism by writing your own authentication plugin. See Section 6.6, “Writing a Custom Authentication Plugin” for details.

Visual Basic Example

Dim conn As New MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection
Dim myConnectionString as String

myConnectionString = "server=127.0.0.1;" _
            & "uid=root;" _
            & "pwd=12345;" _
            & "database=test;"

Try
  conn.ConnectionString = myConnectionString
  conn.Open()

Catch ex As MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException
  MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)
End Try

C# Example

MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection conn;
string myConnectionString;

myConnectionString = "server=127.0.0.1;uid=root;" +
    "pwd=12345;database=test;";

try
{
    conn = new MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection();
    conn.ConnectionString = myConnectionString;
    conn.Open();
}
catch (MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException ex)
{
    MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}

You can also pass the connection string to the constructor of the MySqlConnection class:

Visual Basic Example

Dim myConnectionString as String

myConnectionString = "server=127.0.0.1;" _
              & "uid=root;" _
              & "pwd=12345;" _
              & "database=test;"

Try
    Dim conn As New MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection(myConnectionString)
    conn.Open()
Catch ex As MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException
   MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)
End Try

C# Example

MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection conn;
string myConnectionString;

myConnectionString = "server=127.0.0.1;uid=root;" +
    "pwd=12345;database=test;";

try
{
    conn = new MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection(myConnectionString);
    conn.Open();
}
catch (MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException ex)
{
    MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}

Once the connection is open it can be used by the other Connector/Net classes to communicate with the MySQL server.