VCL Backend: Supported Database Systems

Jan 23, 2026
8 minutes to read

The VCL backend and data connection components support multiple relational database management systems (RDBMS). To connect your applications that are powered by ExpressReports or ExpressDashboards to a specified database, use the corresponding database provider assembly^[1] with a TdxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection component.^[2]

This topic lists all supported database engines (including database provider assemblies), corresponding XPO data storage adapters, and connection string examples. The topic subsections listed below are dedicated to individual database management systems and provide references to step-by-step instructions for how to use these databases as data sources in your app.

In this topic…

Microsoft SQL Server & Azure SQL
- Microsoft SQL Server Connection String Example
- Microsoft Azure Connection String Example
SQLite
- SQLite Connection String Example
In-Memory Database
PostgreSQL
- PostgreSQL Connection String Example
MySQL
- MySQL Connection String Example
Oracle
- Oracle Connection String Example
Firebird
- Firebird Connection String Example

Microsoft SQL Server & Azure SQL

Microsoft SQL Server and Azure SQL Database are proprietary relational database management systems developed by Microsoft.

Tip

VCL Backend implementation has built-in support for Microsoft SQL, Azure SQL, and SQLite database engines.

You can use the TdxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection component to connect TdxDashboardControl and TdxReport components to these databases without additional dependencies and extra configuration.

Version	Database Provider Assemblies	NuGet Packages
Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2025, SQL Azure™	Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.dll 5.*	`Microsoft.Data.SqlClient`

Connection String Examples

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1.ConnectionString :=
   'XpoProvider=MSSqlServer;' +  // Specifies the database engine type
   'Data Source=(local);' +  // Specifies the database host
   'User ID=username;' +  // Specifies a valid user name
   'Password=password;' +  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
   'Initial Catalog=database;' +  // Specifies the initial catalog for the target database
   'Persist Security Info=true';  // Enables the "Persist Security Info" flag

// Microsoft SQL Server
  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1->ConnectionString =
    L"XpoProvider=MSSqlServer;"  // Specifies the database engine type
    L"Data Source=(local);"  // Specifies the database host
    L"User ID=username;"  // Specifies a valid user name
    L"Password=password;"  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    L"Initial Catalog=database;"  // Specifies the initial catalog for the target database
    L"Persist Security Info=true;"  // Enables the "Persist Security Info" flag

Microsoft Azure

Delphi
C++

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1.ConnectionString :=
    'XpoProvider=MSSqlServer;' +  // Specifies the database engine type
    'Data Source=tcp:YourServerName.database.windows.net;' +  // Specifies the database host
    'User Id=azureuser;' +  // Specifies a valid user name
    'Password=password;' +  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    'Initial Catalog=DXApplication384';  // Specifies the initial catalog for the target database

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1->ConnectionString =
    L"XpoProvider=MSSqlServer;"  // Specifies the database engine type
    L"Data Source=tcp:YourServerName.database.windows.net;" // Specifies the database host
    L"User Id=azureuser;" // Specifies a valid user name
    L"Password=password;"  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    L"Initial Catalog=DXApplication384";  // Specifies the initial catalog for the target database

SQLite

SQLite is an open-source relational database engine.

Tip

VCL Backend implementation has built-in support for Microsoft SQL, Azure SQL, and SQLite database engines.

You can use the TdxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection component to connect TdxDashboardControl and TdxReport components to these databases without additional dependencies and extra configuration.

Version	Database Provider Assemblies	NuGet Packages
SQLite 3	Microsoft.Data.SQLite.dll 8.*	`Microsoft.Data.SQLite`

Connection String Example

Delphi
C++

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1.ConnectionString :=
    'XpoProvider=SQLite;' +  // Specifies the database engine type
    'Data Source=C:\Test\MyDatabase.sqlite';  // Specifies the path to a local database file

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1->ConnectionString =
    L"XpoProvider=SQLite;"  // Specifies the database engine type
    L"Data Source=C:\\Test\\MyDatabase.sqlite";  // Specifies the path to a local database file

Tip

Refer to the following topic for step-by-step instructions on how to use SQLite databases in your applications powered by ExpressReports and ExpressDashboards: How to Use SQLite.

In-Memory

To bind TdxDashboardControl and TdxReport components to data stored in memory (in JSON format), use the TdxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection component.

You can use the TdxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection.ConnectionString property to:

Directly specify data as a JSON string.
Specify a Web Service Endpoint URL or a path to the source JSON file.

Connection String Examples

JSON String Data

The following JSON data string example defines a simple table containing two columns (id and caption) and two rows:

Delphi
C++

  dxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection1.ConnectionString :=
    'Json=''[{"id": 1, "caption": "test1"},{"id": 2, "caption": "test2"}]''';

  dxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection1->ConnectionString =
    "Json=\"\"[{\"id\": 1, \"caption\": \"test1\"},{\"id\": 2, \"caption\": \"test2\"}]\"";

Tip

Alternatively, you can call the TdxBackendCustomInMemoryJSONConnection.SetJSONValue procedure and pass a JSON data string as a parameter. Refer to the procedure description for detailed information and a code example.

Web Service Endpoint Connection String

Delphi
C++

  dxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection1.ConnectionString :=
    'Uri=https://northwind.netcore.io/customers.json;' + // Specifies the path to a source JSON file
    'Username=user;' +  // Specifies a valid user name
    'Password=pwd;' + // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    'MyAuthHeader1=secretToken1;MyAuthHeader2=secretToken2;' +  // Specifies authentication tokens
    'query:id=123456;query:name=MyName;'  // Specifies the required query ID and name

  dxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection1->ConnectionString =
    "Uri=https://northwind.netcore.io/customers.json;"  // Specifies the path to a source JSON file
    "Username=user;"  // Specifies a valid user name
    "Password=pwd;"  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    "MyAuthHeader1=secretToken1;MyAuthHeader2=secretToken2;"  // Specifies authentication tokens
    "query:id=123456;query:name=MyName;"  // Specifies the required query ID and name

Tip

Refer to the following topic for step-by-step instructions on using in-memory JSON data in your ExpressReports and ExpressDashboards-powered applications: How to Use Memory-Based Data Sources.

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is an open-source relational database management system.

Versions	Database Provider Assembly	NuGet Package
PostgreSQL 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18	Npgsql.dll 9.*	`Npgsql`

Connection String Example

Delphi
C++

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1.ConnectionString :=
    'XpoProvider=Postgres;' +  // Specifies the database engine type
    'Server=127.0.0.1;' +  // Specifies the database host IP address
    'User ID=myuser;' +  // Specifies a valid user name
    'Password=123;' +  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    'Database=postgres;' +  // Specifies the target database name
    'Encoding=UNICODE';  // Sets UTF-8 as the required encoding

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1->ConnectionString =
    L"XpoProvider=Postgres;"  // Specifies the database engine type
    L"Server=127.0.0.1;"  // Specifies the database host IP address
    L"User ID=myuser;"  // Specifies a valid user name
    L"Password=123;"  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    L"Database=postgres;"  // Specifies the target database name
    L"Encoding=UNICODE";  // Sets UTF-8 as the required encoding

Tip

Refer to the following topic for step-by-step instructions on using PostgreSQL databases in your ExpressReports and ExpressDashboards-powered applications: How to Use PostgreSQL.

MySQL

MySQL is an open-source relational database management system.

Version	Database Provider Assemblies	NuGet Packages
MySQL 5.0, 5.1, 5.7, 8.0.31, 9.1.0	MySql.Data.dll 9.* MySql.Connector.dll 2.*	`MySqlConnector` `MySql.Data`

Connection String Example

Delphi
C++

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1.ConnectionString :=
    'XpoProvider=MySql;' +  // Specifies the database engine type
    'Server=127.0.0.1;' +  // Specifies the database server host IP address
    'User ID=MyUserName;' + // Specifies a valid user name
    'Password=MyPassword;' +  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    'Database=MyDatabase;' +  // Specifies the target database name
    'Persist Security Info=true;Charset=utf8'; // Specifies additional attributes

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1->ConnectionString =
    L"XpoProvider=MySql;"  // Specifies the database engine type
    L"Server=127.0.0.1;" // Specifies the database server host IP address
    L"User ID=MyUserName;"  // Specifies a valid user name
    L"Password=MyPassword;"  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    L"Database=MyDatabase;"  // Specifies the target database name
    L"Persist Security Info=true;Charset=utf8";  // Specifies additional attributes

Oracle

Oracle Database is a proprietary multi-model database management system developed by the Oracle Corporation.

Versions	Database Provider Assembly	NuGet Package
Oracle 9i, 10g, 11g, 12c, 18c, 21c, 23ai	Oracle.ManagedDataAccessCore.dll 23.*	`Oracle.ManagedDataAccess.Core`

Connection String Example

Delphi
C++

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1.ConnectionString :=
    'XpoProvider=Oracle;' +  // Specifies the database engine type
    'Data Source=TORCL;' +  // Specifies the target database
    'User ID=MyUserName;' +  // Specifies a valid user name
    'Password=MyPassword';  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1->ConnectionString =
    L"XpoProvider=Oracle;"  // Specifies the database engine type
    L"Data Source=TORCL;"  // Specifies the target database
    L"User ID=MyUserName;"  // Specifies a valid user name
    L"Password=MyPassword;"  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name

Firebird

Firebird is an open-source SQL relational database management system.

Versions	Database Provider Assembly	NuGet Package
Firebird 1.5, 2.5.7, 3.0.13, 4.0.6, 5.0.3	FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.dll 10.*	`FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient`

Connection String Example

Delphi
C++

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1.ConnectionString := 
    'XpoProvider=Firebird;' + // Specifies the database engine type
    'DataSource=localhost;' +  // Specifies the database host address (example: IP 127.0.0.1)
    'User=SYSDBA;' + // Specifies a valid user name
    'Password=password;' + // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    'Database=C:\Program Files\Firebird\Firebird_5_0\examples\empbuild\EMPLOYEE.FDB;' +
    'ServerType=0;Charset=NONE'; // Specifies additional attributes

  dxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection1->ConnectionString =
    L"XpoProvider=Firebird;" // Specifies the database engine type
    L"Datasource=localhost;"  // Specifies the database host address (example: IP 127.0.0.1)
    L"User=SYSDBA;"  // Specifies a valid user name
    L"Password=password;"  // Specifies the corresponding password for the user name
    L"Database=C:\\Program Files\\Firebird\\Firebird_5_0\\examples\\empbuild\\EMPLOYEE.FDB;"
    L"ServerType=0;Charset=NONE"; // Specifies additional attributes

Tip

Refer to the following topic for step-by-step instructions on how to use Firebird databases in your applications powered by ExpressReports and ExpressDashboards: How to Use Firebird.

Microsoft SQL, Microsoft Azure, and SQLite require no database provider assembly (VCL backend implementation has built-in support for these database management systems).
If you need to store data in memory, use the TdxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection component instead.

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Microsoft SQL Server & Azure SQL

Connection String Examples

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft Azure

SQLite

Connection String Example

In-Memory

Connection String Examples

JSON String Data

Web Service Endpoint Connection String

PostgreSQL

Connection String Example

MySQL

Connection String Example

Oracle

Connection String Example

Firebird

Connection String Example