MariaDB Connector for C# The MariaDB Connector enables you to connect to MariaDB, a very powerful relational database engine, whether it's the free and open-source Community Server or Enterprise Platform. In this article you will learn how to quickly and efficiently integrate MariaDB data in C#. We will use high-performance MariaDB Connector to easily connect to MariaDB and then access the data inside C#. Let's follow the steps below to see how we can accomplish that! Download Documentation MariaDB Connector for C# is based on ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver which is part of ODBC PowerPack. It is a collection of high-performance ODBC drivers that enable you to integrate data in SQL Server, SSIS, a programming language, or any other ODBC-compatible application. ODBC PowerPack supports various file formats, sources and destinations, including REST/SOAP API, SFTP/FTP, storage services, and plain files, to mention a few.

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Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you meet the following prerequisite:

• Java 8 Runtime Environment (JRE) installed. It is recommended to use these distributions:

  • Amazon Corretto 8
  • Oracle JRE 8

Download MariaDB JDBC driver

To connect to MariaDB in C#, you will have to download JDBC driver for it, which we will use in later steps. Let's perform these little steps right away:

1. Visit MariaDB website.
2. Follow the instructions there, download the JDBC driver, and save it locally, e.g. to D:\Drivers\JDBC\mariadb-java-client.jar.
   It is recommended to use JDBC driver compiled for Java 8, if possible.
3. Done! That was easy, wasn't it? Let's proceed to the next step.

Create ODBC Data Source (DSN) based on ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver

Step-by-step instructions

To get data from MariaDB using C# we first need to create a DSN (Data Source) which will access data from MariaDB. We will later be able to read data using C#. Perform these steps:

1. Download and install ODBC PowerPack.

2. Open ODBC Data Sources (x64):

   

3. Create a User data source (User DSN) based on ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver

   ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver

   
   • Create and use User DSN if the client application is run under a User Account. This is an ideal option in design-time, when developing a solution, e.g. in Visual Studio 2019. Use it for both type of applications - 64-bit and 32-bit.
   • Create and use System DSN if the client application is launched under a System Account, e.g. as a Windows Service. Usually, this is an ideal option to use in a production environment. Use ODBC Data Source Administrator (32-bit), instead of 64-bit version, if Windows Service is a 32-bit application.

4. Now, we need to configure the JDBC connection in the new ODBC data source. Simply enter the Connection string, credentials, configure other settings, and then click Test Connection button to test the connection:

   MariadbDSN

   jdbc:mariadb://mariadb-instance-host-name:3306/MyDatabase

   D:\Drivers\JDBC\mariadb-java-client.jar

   root

   ****************

   []

   

   Use these values when setting parameters:

   • Connection string: jdbc:mariadb://mariadb-instance-host-name:3306/MyDatabase
   • JDBC driver file(s): D:\Drivers\JDBC\mariadb-java-client.jar
   • User name: root
   • User password: ****************
   • Connection parameters: []

5. You should see a message saying that connection test is successful:

   

   Otherwise, if you are getting an error, check out our Community for troubleshooting tips.

6. We are at the point where we can preview a SQL query. For more SQL query examples visit JDBC Bridge documentation:

   MariadbDSN

   SELECT * FROM orders

   

   SELECT * FROM orders

   You can also click on the <Select Table> dropdown and select a table from the list.

   The ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver acts as a transparent intermediary, passing SQL queries directly to the Trino JDBC driver, which then handles the query execution. This means the Bridge Driver simply relays the SQL query without altering it.

   Some JDBC drivers don't support INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE statements, so you may get an error saying "action is not supported" or a similar one. Please, be aware, this is not the limitation of ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver, but is a limitation of the specific JDBC driver you are using.

7. Click OK to finish creating the data source.

Video Tutorial

Read data in C#

Using ODBC DSN

1. Create a new Console project and use this code to read the data:
   

   "MariadbDSN";

   

2. Press F5 to run the code and read the data:
   

3. Here is the code in text format:

   using System;
   using System.Data.Odbc;
   
   namespace ConsoleApp {
       class Program {
           static void Main() {
               var dsn = "MariadbDSN";
               using (var conn = new OdbcConnection(String.Format("DSN={0}", dsn)))
               {
                   conn.Open();
                   var cmd = new OdbcCommand("SELECT * FROM Products", conn);
                   
                   //Increase the timeout duration from the default 30 seconds, which may be insufficient in certain scenarios
                   cmd.CommandTimeout=600; // 600-Seconds
                   
                   var rdr = cmd.ExecuteReader();
                   while (rdr.Read())
                   {
                       for (int i = 0; i < rdr.FieldCount; i++)
                       {
                               Console.Write("{0}\t", rdr[i]);
                       }
                       Console.WriteLine();
                   }
               }
               Console.ReadKey();
           }
       }
   }
   

Using a full ODBC connection string

If you want to avoid being dependent on a DSN and creating multiple DSNs for each platform (x86, x64), then you can use a fully qualified connection string. Simply go to your DSN and copy the Connection String:

1. Open ODBC data source configuration and click Copy settings:
   

   ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver - MariaDB

   The MariaDB Connector enables you to connect to MariaDB, a very powerful relational database engine, whether it's the free and open-source Community Server or Enterprise Platform.

   MariadbDSN

   
2. The window opens, telling us the connection string was successfully copied to the clipboard:

3. Then in your C# code, pass the connection string as an argument when calling the OdbcConnection object's constructor, for example:

   var connectionString = @"DRIVER={ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver};JdbcConnectionString='jdbc:mariadb://mariadb-instance-host-name:3306/MyDatabase';ClassName='';DriverPath='D:\Drivers\JDBC\mariadb-java-client.jar';UserName='root';UserPassword='****************';ConnParams='[]'";
   
   using (var conn = new OdbcConnection(connectionString))
   {
       // your code goes here
   }

Limitations of using a full connection string

Despite using a full ODBC connection string may be very convenient it comes with a limitation: it's length is limited to 1024 symbols (or sometimes more). It usually happens when API provider generates a very long Refresh Token when OAuth is at play. If you are using such a long ODBC connection string, you may get this error:

"Connection string exceeds maximum allowed length of 1024"

But there is a solution to this by storing the full connection string in a file. Follow the steps below to achieve this:

1. Open your ODBC data source.
2. Click Copy settings button to copy a full connection string (see the previous section on how to accomplish that).
3. Then create a new file, let's say, in C:\temp\odbc-connection-string.txt.
4. Continue by pasting the copied connection string into a newly created file and save it.
5. Finally, the last step! Just construct a shorter ODBC connection string using this format:

   DRIVER={ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver};SettingsFile=C:\temp\odbc-connection-string.txt

6. Our troubles are over! Now you should be able to use this connection string in C# with no problems.

Conclusion

In this article we showed you how to connect to MariaDB in C# and integrate data without any coding, saving you time and effort. It's worth noting that ZappySys JDBC Bridge Driver allows you to connect not only to MariaDB, but to any Java application that supports JDBC (just use a different JDBC driver and configure it appropriately).

We encourage you to download MariaDB Connector for C# and see how easy it is to use it for yourself or your team.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact ZappySys support team. You can also open a live chat immediately by clicking on the chat icon below.

Download MariaDB Connector for C# Documentation

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