Configuring Connection Strings and Names in Workflow Designer

Essentials Workflow Designer has activities that enable you to access databases from workflows. To use these activities in workflows, you must configure access to your database. Configuring workflow connection information can be done inline or by specifying a connection string. Using a connection string allows workflow authors to move connection information out of the workflow file and reference a server-side configuration file.


Solution:

What is a Connection String?

 
A connection string is a string that specifies information about a data source and the means of connecting to it.
 

How do I configure a named connection?

Configuring it through IIS Manager:

• Go into IIS Manager and drill down in your connections panel until you see an option for REST (and RestManager for data link connections). Highlight REST and double click "Connection Settings". Click "Add…" in the Actions panel on the right and configure your connection string in the pop-up.

• This is the recommended way to add your connection string. When added through IIS Manager an automatic entry will be added to the correct web.config file using the correct XML syntax.

Adding an entry to the web.config xml:

• You can create a manual entry into the web.config file by modifying the existing connectionStrings root element. The default location for the web.config can be found here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Latitude Geographics\Geocortex Essentials\Default\REST Elements\REST. You can also right-click REST from IIS Manager and click on explore to open the web.config location.
• If performing manual edits to the web.config file, we recommend using a text editor with syntax highlighting to reduce the risk of errors.

<connectionStrings>
        <add connectionString="Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Trusted_Connection=True;" name="TestConnection" />
    </connectionStrings>

Add an entry through 'app.config':

• App.config is a generic .NET term for the config file that references the executable. This can be used for testing in the designer only and it will not work in the Viewer. 

What do I need to enter into the XML or Connection String option? What's the format?

You can find the formats at connectionstrings.com. An example of one of the formats for SQL Server: 
Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;Trusted_Connection=True;
 

Additional things to note:

• You can enter a connection string further up in the site hierarchy but we recommend against this due to potential conflicts. 
• There is a default connection string at REST in IIS if you would like to view an already configured entry.
• If you are looking for a more detailed explanation of connection strings we recommend visiting the connectionstrings.com explanation page and this guide