The AccessDataSource class is a data source control that works with Microsoft Access databases. Like its base class, SqlDataSource, the AccessDataSource control uses SQL queries to perform data retrieval.
One of the unique characteristics of the AccessDataSource control is that you do not set the ConnectionString property. All you need to do is set the location of the Access .mdb file, using the DataFile property, and the AccessDataSource takes care of the underlying connection to the database. You should place Access databases in the App_Data directory of the Web site and reference them by a relative path (for example, ~/App_Data/Northwind.mdb). This location offers additional security for data files, because they are not served if they are requested directly by the client Web browser.
The AccessDataSource class does not support connecting to Access databases that are protected by a user name or password, because you cannot set the ConnectionString property. If your Access database is protected by a user name or password, use the SqlDataSource control to connect to it so that you can specify a complete connection string.
You bind data-bound controls to an AccessDataSource using the DataSourceID property of the data-bound control. For more information on binding a data-bound control to data source controls.
