Original URL: https://siderite.dev/blog/quick-sql-hint-use-application-name-in-connection-/

When we connect to SQL we usually copy/paste some connection string and change the values we need and rarely consider what we could change in it. That is mostly because of the arcane looking syntax and the rarely read documentation for it. You want to connect to a database, give it the server, instance and credentials and be done with it. However, there are some parameters that, when set, can save us a lot of grief later on.

Application Name is something that identifies the code executing SQL commands to SQL Server, which can then be seen in profilers and DMVs or used in SQL queries. It has a maximum length of 128 characters. Let's consider the often met situation when your application is large enough to be segregated into different domains, each having their own data access layer, business rules and user interface. In this case, each domain can have its own connection string and it makes sense to specify a different Application Name for each. Later on, one can use SQL Profiler, for example, and filter on the specific area of interest.

The application name can also be seen in some queries to SQL Server's Dynamic Management Views (quite normal, considering DMVs are used by SQL Profiler) like sys.dm_exec_sessions. Inside your own queries you can also get the value of the application name by simply calling APP_NAME(). For example, running SELECT APP_NAME(); in SQL Management Studio returns a nice "Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio - Query" value. In SQL Server Profiler the column is ApplicationName while in DMVs like sys.dm_exec_sessions the column is program_name.

Example connection string: Server=localhost;Database=MyDatabase;User Id=Siderite;Password=P4ssword; Application Name=Greatest App Ever

Hope it helps!