Here's what our database looks like in Access. The entire solution can be downloaded, but first, I'll go through each line of code and explain how it works.
The application starts with an Imports statement for the OleDb namespace.
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'Imports OleDb namespace
Imports System.Data.OleDb
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Then, before any subroutine code, a series of DIM statements are added to make the scope of the variables global over the subroutines. This has nothing to do with ADO.NET but it makes the program work.
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Dim I As Integer = 0
Dim dteAboutVBDate(10000) As Date
Dim strAboutVBDesc(10000) As String
Dim blnAboutVB6(10000) As Boolean
Dim blnAboutVBNet(10000) As Boolean
Dim urlAboutVBURL(10000) As String
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The program reads the database and initializes a ListBox in the Form Load subroutine.
The first statement in that subroutine is the declaration of the Connection String. This is a set of parameters that allows ADO.NET to match the unique characteristics of your database.
For the Access database in this example, the Connection String is pretty simple. (Note that {path} must be replaced by the actual path on your computer.)
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Dim strAboutVBConn As String = _
"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" _
& "User ID=Admin;" _
& "Data Source={path}\"AboutVB.mdb"
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