Data Source Wizard

• Sep 24, 2025
• 2 minutes to read

The Data Source Wizard allows you to configure a data source and retrieve its data.

The first page allows you to create or select an existing data connection.

If you chose a new connection, the next page allows you to select the data connection type.

You can select a provider and click the “star” icon to pin frequently used database providers as favorites. Favorite providers appear at the top of the list for quick access:

Use the search panel to filter the connection type list:

This wizard is similar to the Data Source Wizard available in the Visual Studio Report Designer, but the WinForms version does not include the following pages:

• Save the Connection String page for the Database, JSON, MongoDB, and XPO data sources.
• Pages that prompt you to install a NuGet package for the JSON or MongoDB data source.

Supported Data Source Types

The wizard supports the following data source types:

• SQL Databases

• Entity Framework

• Object

• Excel File

• JSON

• Data Federation

• Custom Connection String

• MongoDB

• XPO

To customize the list of displayed data connection types, use the DataSourceWizardSettings.AvailableDataSourceTypes property. You can also limit the number of SQL data providers displayed on the Select a Data Connection Type page. Use the SqlWizardSettings.AvailableDataProviders property.