<connectString> (Data Source Connection String)

This element specifies the connection string used to reconnect to an external data source. The string within this element's @val attribute shall contain the connection string that the hosting application shall pass to a external data source access application to enable the WordprocessingML document to be reconnected to the specified external data source.

Note:

If this string is omitted, then no legacy connection string shall be associated with this mail merge.

This connection string should be ignored under the following conditions:

  • The <udl> element (§2.14.34) is present within the mail merge data

  • The <dataType> element (§2.14.10) is set to native

  • The current application is able to use the information contained in the <odso> element (§2.14.25) to access the data source

[: In this case, using the connection string in the <udl> element will provide an equal or greater amount of connection information for the mail merge data source for clients which support it. ]

<w:connectString w:val="Provider=Example;Password=Test;User ID=readonly;…" />

The <connectString> element specifies that the string Provider=Example;Password=Test;User ID=readonly;… shall be used to enable the given WordprocessingML document to be reconnected to the specified external data source. ]

Parent Elements

<mailMerge> (§2.14.20)

Attributes

Description

<val> (String Value)

Specifies that its contents will contain a string.

The contents of this string are interpreted based on the context of the parent XML element.

<w:pPr>
  <w:pStyle w:val="heading1" /> 
</w:pPr>

The value of the @val attribute is the ID of the associated paragraph style's styleId.

However, consider the following fragment:

<w:sdtPr>
  <w:alias w:val="SDT Title Example" />
  ...
</w:sdtPr>

In this case, the decimal number in the @val attribute is the caption of the parent structured document tag. In each case, the value is interpreted in the context of the parent element. ]

The possible values for this attribute are defined by the ST_String simple type (§2.18.89).

The following XML Schema fragment defines the contents of this element:

<complexType name="CT_String">
	<attribute name="val" type="ST_String" use="required"/>
</complexType>