Connect to a Database

• Jan 05, 2026
• 2 minutes to read

Prerequisites

Prerequisites

1. Register a data connection string provider.

   The Web Dashboard control does not expose connection strings from the configuration file (appsettings.json or Web.config) when used in Designer mode. You need to use a data connection string provider to avoid data leaks and pass connection parameters safely. You can use a predefined data connection string provider or implement a custom provider.

   For additional information, refer to the following help topics:

   • Data Connection Security (ASP.NET Core)
   • Data Connection Security (ASP.NET MVC)
   • Data Connection Security (ASP.NET Web Forms)

2. Install a database provider if necessary.

For information on supported databases and required providers, refer to the following help topic: Supported Data Providers.

Select a Data Connection

The Choose a data connection page appears if you select Database on the start page. Select an existing connection from the list.

For information on how to register data connections in your application, refer to the following help topics:

• ASP.NET Core
• ASP.NET MVC
• ASP.NET Web Forms

Choose Queries

The next page allows you to create/edit a query or select a stored procedure. The image below displays a generated query in the SQL string editor.

Click Run Query Builder… to launch the Query Builder and choose the tables/columns visually.

Configure Query Parameters

If the SQL query contains query parameters, click Next to configure them.

You can use the following approaches to specify a parameter value:

• Assign a static value

  Select a query parameter’s type from the Type drop-down list and specify a value based on the selected type.

• Provide a dynamic parameter value

  Set the Type option to Expression and specify the Result Type. Click the Value option’s ellipsis button and construct an expression in the invoked Expression Editor.

Click Finish to create a new data source.

API

The database wizard pages are identified by the following API:

Page Name	Page ID	Class
Choose Connection (Database)	SqlDataSourceWizardPageId.ChooseConnectionPage	ChooseSqlConnectionPage
Choose Queries	SqlDataSourceWizardPageId.ConfigureQueryPage	ConfigureQueryPage
Configure Query Parameters	SqlDataSourceWizardPageId.ConfigureParametersPage	ConfigureQueryParametersPage
Choose Queries (a multi-query version)	SqlDataSourceWizardPageId.MultiQueryConfigurePage	MultiQueryConfigurePage
Configure Query Parameters (a multi-query version)	SqlDataSourceWizardPageId.MultiQueryConfigureParametersPage	MultiQueryConfigureParametersPage