A connection string is a string that contains information used for establishing a connection. A complete connection string contains all the information needed to establish a connection. The connection string is a series of keyword/value pairs separated by semicolons. (For the complete syntax of a connection string, see the SQLDriverConnect function description.) The connection string is used by:
SQLDriverConnect, which completes it by interaction with the user.
SQLBrowseConnect, which completes it iteratively with the data source.
SQLConnect does not use a connection string; using SQLConnect is analogous to connecting using a connection string with exactly three keyword/value pairs (for data source name, and optionally user ID and password).