[RESOLVED] Connection string in web.config problem.

I am new to asp .net 2.0, and equally as new to web stuff in general. I am having a hard time understanding the whole web.config file stuff. I had an administrator page that worked fine in the root directory. However, I wanted to make a sub folder and use a web.config file to manage the role access. I did that, but now when I try to access the page it says it cannot connect to the SQL Server database. I am using the login control that comes with Visual Web Developer Express.

I have been reading about the web.config files, and learned that the config file in the directory takes priority over the one in the parent directory. If this is true, how can I get the web.config file to read the connection string in the parent directory?

I have tried the code below, but get:

An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)

This is a hosted SQL Server 2005 database, so I know it excepts remote connections. I can connect with files on my main directory.

VB Code:

<configuration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0">
  <appSettings>
        <connectionStrings>
          <dataConfiguration defaultDatabase="PEPSqlServer"/>
        </connectionStrings>
  </appSettings>
  <system.web>
    <authentication mode="Forms" />
        <authorization>
            <allow roles="Director" />
            <deny users="*" />
            <deny users="?" />
        </authorization>
  </system.web>
</configuration>

Am I close?

I'm not familiar with what your trying to do with the dataConfiguration node, but I always set my connection string like this

VB Code:

<appSettings>
    <add key="ConnectionString"
      value="server=localhost;database=Northwind;uid=sa;password=secret;" />
  </appSettings>

The reason it works in the main web.config and not the child web.config is because you're probably missing more parameters in the child web.config.

In .NET 2.0, to specify a connection string,

Code:

---

<connectionStrings>
        <add name="MyConnectionString"
            connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|\YourDB.mdf;Integrated Security=True;User Instance=True"
            providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
    </connectionStrings>

---

This is a copied example but the connection string would look either like this or something like drpcken has.

Thank you both for your help. I am not sure what that dataconfiguration node is supposed to do. I have been trying to figure out how to get this to work, and I saw that in another project somewhere else, and thought I would try it.

I have spent some more time reading, and cleaning up the web.config file. The one in my main directory. This is what I have:

VB Code:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- 
    Note: As an alternative to hand editing this file you can use the 
    web admin tool to configure settings for your application. Use
    the Website->Asp.Net Configuration option in Visual Studio.
    A full list of settings and comments can be found in 
    machine.config.comments usually located in 
    \Windows\Microsoft.Net\Framework\v2.x\Config 
-->
<configuration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0">
  <appSettings>
    <connectionStrings>
      <add name="PEPSqlServer" connectionString="SERVER=sqlserver5.XXX.com;UID=XXXXXX;PWD=XXXXXX;Trusted_Connection=false;database=XXXXX" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
    </connectionStrings>
    <add key="GoogleMerchantID" value="XXXXXXXX" />
    <add key="GoogleMerchantKey" value="a1-XXXXXXXX" />
    <add key="GoogleEnvironment" value="Sandbox" />
  </appSettings>
  
  <system.web>
    <membership defaultProvider="PEPProvider">
      <providers>
        <add name="PEPProvider"
             connectionstringname="PEPSqlServer"
             type="System.Web.Security.SqlMembershipProvider, System.Web, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
             minRequiredPasswordLength="8"
             minRequiredNonalphanumericCharacters="0"
             applicationName="PEPWEB1"
             enablePasswordRetrieval="false"
             enablePasswordReset="true"
             requiresQuestionAndAnswer="true"
             passwordFormat="Hashed"
             passwordStrengthRegularExpression="" />
      </providers>
    </membership>
    <roleManager enabled="true"
                 defaultProvider="PEPRoleProvider">
      <providers>
        <add name="PEPRoleProvider" 
             connectionStringName="PEPSqlServer" 
             applicationName="PEPWEB1" 
             type="System.Web.Security.SqlRoleProvider" />
      </providers>
    </roleManager>
 
    <!-- 
            Set compilation debug="true" to insert debugging 
            symbols into the compiled page. Because this 
            affects performance, set this value to true only 
            during development.
 
            Visual Basic options:
            Set strict="true" to disallow all data type conversions 
            where data loss can occur. 
            Set explicit="true" to force declaration of all variables.
        -->
    <pages>
      <namespaces>
        <clear/>
        <add namespace="System"/>
        <add namespace="System.Collections"/>
        <add namespace="System.Collections.Specialized"/>
        <add namespace="System.Configuration"/>
        <add namespace="System.Text"/>
        <add namespace="System.Text.RegularExpressions"/>
        <add namespace="System.Web"/>
        <add namespace="System.Web.Caching"/>
        <add namespace="System.Web.SessionState"/>
        <add namespace="System.Web.Security"/>
        <add namespace="System.Web.Profile"/>
        <add namespace="System.Web.UI"/>
        <add namespace="System.Web.UI.WebControls"/>
        <add namespace="System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts"/>
        <add namespace="System.Web.UI.HtmlControls"/>
      </namespaces>
    </pages>
    <!--
            The <authentication> section enables configuration 
            of the security authentication mode used by 
            ASP.NET to identify an incoming user. 
        -->
    <authentication mode="Forms">
      <forms name=".PEPWEB1" />
    </authentication>
    <authorization>
      <allow users="?"/>
    </authorization>
        <customErrors mode="Off"/>
    </system.web>
</configuration>

But I get this error:

The connection name 'PEPSqlServer' was not found in the applications configuration or the connection string is empty.

on this line:

Line 42: type="System.Web.Security.SqlRoleProvider" />


I don't understand why it seems to recognize the connection string for the Membership Provider, but not the role provider.

Again, thank you for helping me with this.

*bump

Try

connectionstringname -> connectionStringName

Thank you for pointing that out. However, it didn't solve the problem. Same problem, same line. I am at a loss. Thank you for your help. Any more ideas?

Ok, I changed PEPSqlServer with LocalSqlServer and the page now loads. Does this mean that I am now allowed to name my own connections strings?

I spoke too soon. The page displays, but I can't log in. It says it can't connect to the SQL Server.

I got it figured out. I had the connection string inside the <appSettings> area. I removed them. Made everything uniform, and it works.

Thank you for your help.