Keyword not supported in Connection String: 'database'

Question

Very new to C# and VS2012.

I'm trying to connect to a local database connection.

Here is the code

        string selectSql = "select * from Tasks";
        string connectionString = "Data Source=adamssqlserver;database=master;Integrated Security=true;";

        using (var cn = new SqlCeConnection(connectionString))
        using (var cmd = new SqlCeCommand(selectSql, cn))
        {
            cn.Open();

            using (var reader = cmd.ExecuteReader())
            {

                //do something

            }
        }

Here is the error

Keyword not supported: 'database'.

If I put in Initial Catalog first

"Data Source=adamssqlserver;Initial Catalog=etc;"

Then the error gives the same message but for "Initial Catalog".

Here is my data connection

Solution

You are using SqlCeConnection not a SqlConnection

This class (SqlCeConnection) is for Sql Compact Edition where the syntax rules of the connection string are different. For example:

Data Source=MyData.sdf;Persist Security Info=False;

Instead your connection string is for a Sql Server or Sql Server Express. So, if your target database is a SqlServer db as your tag indicates then you need to use

using (var cn = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
using (var cmd = new SqlCommand(selectSql, cn))
{
   ....
}