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Asked: 2026-05-11T07:36:18+00:00

Using C#, I need to build a connection string from a few AppSettings. If

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Using C#, I need to build a connection string from a few AppSettings. If I do this:

Connection = string.Format('Data Source={0};Initial Catalog={1);User Id={2};Password={3};',   ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get('CartServer'),   ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get('CartDatabase'),   ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get('CartUserName'),   ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get('CartPassword'));

I get an invalid format string exception. I narrowed it down to the ‘Password=’ part of the format string (ie, ‘Passwork=’ works). There’s an easy enough work-around:

Connection = string.Format('Data Source={0};Initial Catalog={1);User Id={2};{3}={4};',   ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get('CartServer'),   ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get('CartDatabase'),   ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get('CartUserName'),   'Password',ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get('CartPassword')); // Lame!!!

But what’s the real story with the ‘Password’? I checked MSDN and a few other sites but came up empty. Oh, if it matters, this is a WCF service.

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1 Answer

  1. Your problem is the {1) in the format string; it should be {1} (you have closed the brace with a parenthesis)

    This is causing your FormatException because your format string is now invalid. Why your second entry works is beyond me though.

    Edit: I agree with the other Richard that you should consider using a connection string builder object.

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