I agree with Bonnie. Create two data access components and use whichever is appropriate for the datasource that you're accessing.

-Mike

>Mike,
>
>Is there a way to do what I am trying to do in my original example? I want to be able to use either the OleDb or Oracle provider.
>
>

>Dim strProvider As String = "OracleClient"
>
>If strProvider = "OracleClient"
>	Dim ConPubs As New OracleConnection(odh)
>Else
>	Dim ConPubs As New OleDbConnection(odh)
>End If
>
>ConPubs.Open()
>

>
>Thanks
>
>Rex
>
>
>>Declare the variable outside the If
>>
>>OracleConnection myConnection;
>>OracleCommand myCommand;
>>if () {
>>}
>>
>>The compiler is probably throwing the error because it can't guarantee that the object is created. It's also possible that the variable no longer exists since it was declared within the scope of the IF. I'm not completely sure if VB.Net behaves this way or not.
>>
>>-Mike