WHAT IT IS
This data connection dialog is modelled to look and work as closely as possible like the data connection dialog built-into Visual Studio 2005. It can use any data provider installed into .NET and registered in machine.config. You can limit the data source options to show only the data sources which are valid for your product. It is extensible to add your own data sources and providers. C# source code is provided which demonstrates adding a MySQL data source extension.
IMPORTANT ENHANCEMENTS OVER MICROSOFT'S DESIGN
It's implemented as a CommonDialog form so it can be added to your projects like any other Windows forms dialog.
If the selected data source and provider are not specified it will automatically detect the data source and data provider based upon the supplied connection string.
C# source code to demonstrate custom MySQL data source and data provider.
Targets .NET Framework 2.0 for compatibility with Visual Studio 2005 & 2008.
DLL is 395 KB (plus 26 KB for a very large integer math library that is also included).
It's freely redistributable!
WHAT IT IS NOT
This data connection dialog is not a DDEX extension and does not require Visual Studio's API's to be installed along with your application.
DOWNLOADS
Data Connection Dialog Help File
Price $50.00 USD