Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Development:
Programming Interfaces

Database connections

An OpenEdge application can access one or more OpenEdge or non-OpenEdge databases simultaneously. The databases can be located on different operating systems using different networking protocols. To access non-OpenEdge databases, you must use the appropriate DataServer, such as ORACLE, or C-ISAM. You must connect to a database before you can access it. There are four ways to connect to a database:

As an argument when starting OpenEdge.
With the CONNECT statement (in the Progress Procedure Editor or in a Progress procedure).
With the OpenEdge Data Dictionary.
Using the auto-connect feature.

Note that a multi-user application can simultaneously connect to a database for only as many times as specified in the Number of Users (–n) startup parameter. For information on exceeding this user count, see the "Connection failures and disruptions" section. For more information on database connection management, see OpenEdge Deployment: Startup Command and Parameter Reference and OpenEdge Deployment: Managing 4GL Applications .