How to: Reuse a Connection Between an ADO.NET Command and a DataContext (LINQ to SQL)

Because LINQ to SQL is a part of the ADO.NET family of technologies and is based on services provided by ADO.NET, you can reuse a connection between an ADO.NET command and a DataContext.

Example

The following example shows how to reuse the same connection between an ADO.NET command and the DataContext.

Dim conString = "Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;AttachDbFilename=c:\northwind.mdf; Integrated Security=True;Connect Timeout=30;User Instance=True"
Dim northwindCon = New SqlConnection(conString)
northwindCon.Open()

Dim db = New Northwnd("...")
Dim northwindTransaction = northwindCon.BeginTransaction()

Try
    Dim cmd = New SqlCommand( _
            "UPDATE Products SET QuantityPerUnit = 'single item' " & _
            "WHERE ProductID = 3")
    cmd.Connection = northwindCon
    cmd.Transaction = northwindTransaction
    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery()

    db.Transaction = northwindTransaction

    Dim prod1 = (From prod In db.Products _
  Where prod.ProductID = 4).First
    Dim prod2 = (From prod In db.Products _
  Where prod.ProductID = 5).First
    prod1.UnitsInStock -= 3
    prod2.UnitsInStock -= 5

    db.SubmitChanges()

    northwindTransaction.Commit()

Catch e As Exception

    Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
    Console.WriteLine("Error submitting changes... " & _
"all changes rolled back.")
End Try

northwindCon.Close()

string connString = @"Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;AttachDbFilename=c:\northwind.mdf;
    Integrated Security=True; Connect Timeout=30; User Instance=True";
SqlConnection nwindConn = new SqlConnection(connString);
nwindConn.Open();

Northwnd interop_db = new Northwnd(nwindConn);

SqlTransaction nwindTxn = nwindConn.BeginTransaction();

try
{
    SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(
        "UPDATE Products SET QuantityPerUnit = 'single item' WHERE ProductID = 3");
    cmd.Connection = nwindConn;
    cmd.Transaction = nwindTxn;
    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();

    interop_db.Transaction = nwindTxn;

    Product prod1 = interop_db.Products
        .First(p => p.ProductID == 4);
    Product prod2 = interop_db.Products
        .First(p => p.ProductID == 5);
    prod1.UnitsInStock -= 3;
    prod2.UnitsInStock -= 5;

    interop_db.SubmitChanges();

    nwindTxn.Commit();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
    Console.WriteLine("Error submitting changes... all changes rolled back.");
}

nwindConn.Close();

See Also

Concepts

ADO.NET and LINQ to SQL

Other Resources

Background Information (LINQ to SQL)

Communicating with the Database (LINQ to SQL)