Advice on naming (Account vs Connection)

[softwareguy74]

So I'm working on building an application that at it's core will provide connections to various server types (FTP, WWW, etc). The application will allow the user to store these connections for later use via a "Connection Manager." I'm struggling with what to actually name these "items" being saved. The verb is "Connect" and ultimately I am calling it a "Connection" when the user has actually established a live connection to the server, but when in this "Connection Manager" screen, should I call them "Accounts?" The reason I ask is that to me, an "Account" would be the non-instantiated word for "Connection", since it's not a "connection" until it has been actually established. But then again, if I call it "Account Manager" that seems to imply the management of the actual accounts on the servers, which it is not.

This question is geared towards not only what the end user will see, but what I should be calling the .NET objects I'm using to represent these in code. AccountObject or ConnectionObject??

I have seen different applications call these different things like "sessions", "accounts", "connections", etc...

Any and all advice is welcome.

[dilettante]

"Connection" seems like the most generic term to me, for lack of a blanket term covering protocol, host, and credentials.

[softwareguy74]

Good point. Although you might consider the basic credentials (username and password) as an "account", I must also store the protocol, host, and other various connection related properties. So I guess in this case, "connection" seems to better describe this.

[FunkyDexter]

ADO calls a connection to a DB a connection, whether it's open or not. I see your scenario as basically the same so I think Connection would be a valid term.

As a natural pedant I can see where you're coming from in that it's not actually a connection until it's connected in which case I guess ConnectionConfiguration would probably be the best term.