title: ASP.NET MVC Database ConnectionString Explanation
body: <p>In one of my ASP.NET MVC projects, the connectionString is given as follows in the <code>web.config</code> file.</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;connectionStrings&gt;
      &lt;add name="db_connection" 
      connectionString="Data Source=ASTRONOMY
      Initial Catalog=GALLERIA;
      user=sa_galleria;
      password=Tyrr#!!55u;
      providerName="" /&gt;
  &lt;/connectionStrings&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This connection string is supposed to work on Microsoft SQL Server (Full Editions).</p>
  
  <p>I found that this connection setting is a little different than what the MSDN article <a href="http://[1]%20https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj653752(v=vs.110).aspx" rel="nofollow">here</a> explains. Especially, the following differences exist:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Is the connectionStrings configuration case-insensitive?</li>
  <li>What does <code>ASTRONOMY</code> refer to here? (as <code>Data Source</code>)</li>
  <li>Can <code>User Id</code> be shortened as <code>user</code>?</li>
  <li>What value is set for <code>providerName</code> if it's omitted or has an empty value?</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Thank you for your clarification.</p>