To create a connection to an OData data source, the ADO.NET Provider can be used through the C1ODataConnection class. This class requires a connection string to be provided as an argument, which can be created in either of the following ways:

• Generated using the C1ODataConnectionStringBuilder class by specifying individual statements.
• Constructed manually by writing the connection string directly.

Connection string generation

The code example below shows how a connection string can be configured by the C1OdataConnectionStringBuilder class and consumed by the C1ODataConnection class to create a connection to the OData server. Through that connection, the data source can be queried, updated, etc.

// URL of the service at odata.org
const string NorthwindSampleUrl = "https://services.odata.org/V4/Northwind/Northwind.svc";

// Configure the connection string
var builder = new C1ODataConnectionStringBuilder();
builder.Url = NorthwindSampleUrl;
builder.UsePool = true;

// Setup the connection
var con = new C1ODataConnection(builder.ConnectionString);

Connection string literal

Alternatively, the connection string can be written directly as a string literal, like in the code example below (a similar approach can be implemented in other DataConnectors for ADO.NET provider).

// Whole connection string
var connectionString = "Url=https://services.odata.org/V4/Northwind/Northwind.svc; Use Pool=true";

// Setup the connection
var con = new C1ODataConnection(connectionString);

OData versions

By default, the provider assumes that the latest version of OData (version 4) is being used. If a different version of OData is used, the "odata version" property needs to be set to the specific OData version in the connection string. For example, if OData version 2 is being used, "odata version=2" needs to be specified in the connection string.

var connectionString = "https://services.odata.org/V2/(S(f5su0fte55y534onqz3zvfgf))/OData/OData.svc/; odata version = 2";