C# - Get file path from connection string

Question

Is there an existing method in C# to extract the file path from a string that represents a ConnectionString to a SqlCE .sdf file? I want t

Answer 1

You could just create the connection and get the data source from it as a property:

string data;
using (var conn = new SqlConnection(connectionString)) {
    data = conn.DataSource;
}

Answer 2

You can use SqlCeConnectionStringBuilder class to parse existing Sql Compact connection string.

Answer 3

A bit late perhaps, but I came across this question wile struggling with the same problem. You can find the location of the |DataDirectory| folder with AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetData("DataDirectory"). So your connectionstring can be translated like this:

strConn .Replace("|DataDirectory|", AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetData("DataDirectory").ToString())

Answer 4

For LocalDB and SqlConnection (not CE):

public static string GetFilePathFromConnectionString(string connectionString)
{
    var attachDbFileName = new SqlConnectionStringBuilder(connectionString).AttachDBFilename;
    return attachDbFileName.Replace("|DataDirectory|", AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetData("DataDirectory").ToString());
}