Question

I have to connect a Word Document to a SQL Server with VBA in order to read and write records. Now, I’M really confused as of the many different ways to connect to a database. There’s ADO, ODBC and so on. I’ve seen very different ways of connecting a SQL Server database.
A co-worker wants me to use ODBC.

So: What is the best way to connect to a SQL Server database using ODBC in Office VBA?

An example for a SELECT and INSERT statement would also be appreciated.

Edit: Isn’t there something like “System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection” and “System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand” in VB .Net/C#?

Answer 1

This example uses ODBC:

'Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects x.x library
Dim cn As New ADODB.connection
Dim rs As New ADODB.recordset

    cn.Open "DRIVER={SQL Server};SERVER=srv;" & _
       "trusted_connection=yes;DATABASE=test"

    rs.Open "SELECT * FROM table_1", cn

This example uses OleDb

'Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects x.x library
Dim cn As New ADODB.connection
Dim rs As New ADODB.recordset

    cn.Open "Provider=sqloledb;Data Source=srv;" & _
      "Initial Catalog=Test;Integrated Security=SSPI;"

    rs.Open "SELECT * FROM table_1", cn

See also: http://www.connectionstrings.com/sql-server-2008