Merged main into live

Author: mijacobs

docs/data-tools/connect-to-data-in-an-access-database-windows-forms.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 title: Connect to Access database in .NET Framework apps
 description: Connect to data stored in an Access database (.mdb file or .accdb file) from .NET Framework applications with ADO.NET in Visual Studio.
-ms.date: 05/02/2024
+ms.date: 03/12/2025
 ms.topic: how-to
 helpviewer_keywords:
 - data [Visual Studio], connecting
@@ -20,20 +20,20 @@ ms.subservice: data-tools
 You can connect to an Access database (either an `.mdb` file or an `.accdb` file) by using Visual Studio. After you define the connection, the data appears in the **Data Sources** window. From there, you can drag tables or views onto your design surface.
 
 > [!NOTE]
-> If you're using Visual Studio to connect to Access databases, you will need to be aware that versions of Visual Studio prior to Visual Studio 2022 are all 32-bit processes. This means some of the data tools in Visual Studio 2019 and earlier will only be able to connect to Access databases using 32-bit data providers.
+> If you're using Visual Studio to connect to Access databases, be aware that versions of Visual Studio prior to Visual Studio 2022 are all 32-bit processes. This means some of the data tools in Visual Studio 2019 and earlier can only connect to Access databases using 32-bit data providers.
 >
-> If you're using Visual Studio 2022 to connect to Access databases, you will need to be aware that Visual Studio 2022 is now a 64-bit process. This means some of the data tools in Visual Studio will not be able to connect to Access databases using 32-bit data providers.
+> If you're using Visual Studio 2022 to connect to Access databases, be aware that Visual Studio 2022 is now a 64-bit process. This means some of the data tools in Visual Studio can't connect to Access databases using 32-bit data providers.
 >
-> If you need to maintain 32-bit applications that connect to Access databases, you will still be able to build and run the application with Visual Studio 2022. However, if you need to use any of the Visual Studio Data Tools such as Server Explorer, Data Source Wizard, or the DataSet Designer, you will need to use an earlier version of Visual Studio that is still a 32-bit process. The last version of Visual Studio that was a 32-bit process was Visual Studio 2019.
+> If you need to maintain 32-bit applications that connect to Access databases, you can still build and run the application with Visual Studio 2022. However, if you need to use any of the Visual Studio Data Tools such as Server Explorer, Data Source Wizard, or the DataSet Designer, you need to use an earlier version of Visual Studio that is still a 32-bit process. The last version of Visual Studio that was a 32-bit process was Visual Studio 2019.
 >
-> If you plan on converting the project to be a 64-bit process, it's recommended that you use the 64-bit Microsoft Access database Engine, also called Access Connectivity Engine (ACE). Please see [OLE DB Provider for Jet and ODBC driver are 32-bit versions only](/office/troubleshoot/access/jet-odbc-driver-available-32-bit-version) for more information.
+> If you plan on converting the project to be a 64-bit process, it's recommended that you use the 64-bit Microsoft Access database Engine, also called Access Connectivity Engine (ACE). See [OLE DB Provider for Jet and ODBC driver are 32-bit versions only](/office/troubleshoot/access/jet-odbc-driver-available-32-bit-version).
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
 To use these procedures, you need:
 
 - [Visual Studio](../install/install-visual-studio.md)
-- A Windows Forms or WPF project
+- A Windows Forms or Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) project
 - Either an Access database (`.accdb` file), or an Access 2000-2003 database (`.mdb` file). Follow the procedure that corresponds to your file type.
 
 :::moniker range=">=vs-2022"
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ Connect to databases created with Microsoft 365, Access 2016, Access 2013, Acces
 8. Choose **Browse** next to **Database file name**, and then navigate to your `.accdb` file and choose **Open**.
 
    > [!NOTE]
-   > If the bitness (32-bit or 64-bit) of Microsoft Office and Visual Studio do not match, you will see an error while connecting to an Access database. In Visual Studio 2019, you will get an error that the database provider is not registered. In Visual Studio 2022, you will see an error that you can't connect to a 32-bit data provider. To resolve this error, make sure that if you are using a 32-bit version of Office, you are using Visual Studio 2019 or earlier; for a 64-bit version of Office, you need Visual Studio 2022 or later.
+   > If the bitness (32-bit or 64-bit) of Microsoft Office and Visual Studio do not match, you see an error while connecting to an Access database. In Visual Studio 2019, you get an error that the database provider is not registered. In Visual Studio 2022, you see an error that you can't connect to a 32-bit data provider. To resolve this error, make sure that if you are using a 32-bit version of Office, you are using Visual Studio 2019 or earlier; for a 64-bit version of Office, you need Visual Studio 2022 or later.
 
 9. Enter a user name and password (if necessary), and then choose **OK**.
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ Connect to databases created with Microsoft 365, Access 2016, Access 2013, Acces
 
     ![Screenshot of Data Sources Window, populated with database objects](media/vs-2022/data-sources-window-populated.png)
 
-14. On 64-bit machines with the 64-bit Access database engine, you need to ensure that the application runs as a 64-bit application. Open the project properties (press **Alt**+**Enter** or right-click on the project node, and select **Properties**). In the **Build** tab, clear the **Prefer 32-bit** checkbox.
+14. On 64-bit machines with the 64-bit Access database engine, you need to ensure that the application runs as a 64-bit application. Open the project properties (press **Alt**+**Enter** or right-click on the project node, and select **Properties**). In the **Build** tab for C#, or the **Compile** tab for Visual Basic, clear the **Prefer 32-bit** checkbox.
 
 The connection string is stored in *app.config*, and in the *Settings.settings* file under **Properties** in Solution Explorer.
 
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ Connect to databases created with Microsoft 365, Access 2016, Access 2013, Acces
 8. Choose **Browse** next to **Database file name**, and then navigate to your `.accdb` file and choose **Open**.
 
    > [!NOTE]
-   > If the bitness (32-bit or 64-bit) of Microsoft Office and Visual Studio do not match, you will see an error while connecting to an Access database. In Visual Studio 2019, you will get an error that the database provider is not registered. In Visual Studio 2022, you will see an error that you can't connect to a 32-bit data provider. To resolve this error, make sure that if you are using a 32-bit version of Office, you are using Visual Studio 2019 or earlier; for a 64-bit version of Office, you need Visual Studio 2022 or later.
+   > If the bitness (32-bit or 64-bit) of Microsoft Office and Visual Studio do not match, you see an error while connecting to an Access database. In Visual Studio 2019, you get an error that the database provider is not registered. In Visual Studio 2022, you see an error that you can't connect to a 32-bit data provider. To resolve this error, make sure that if you're using a 32-bit version of Office, you're using Visual Studio 2019 or earlier; for a 64-bit version of Office, you need Visual Studio 2022 or later.
 
 9. Enter a user name and password (if necessary), and then choose **OK**.
 
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ Congratulations! With a little help from Visual Studio, you've created a form-ba
 
 ## Next steps
 
-The dataset that you just created is available in the **Data Sources** window. You can now perform any of the following tasks:
+The dataset that you created is available in the **Data Sources** window. You can now perform any of the following tasks:
 
 - Select items in the **Data Sources** window and drag them onto your form or design surface (see [Bind Windows Forms controls to data in Visual Studio](../data-tools/bind-windows-forms-controls-to-data-in-visual-studio.md) or [WPF data binding overview](/dotnet/desktop-wpf/data/data-binding-overview)).
 

docs/ide/dotfuscator/index.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: Use Dotfuscator Community to protect .NET apps
-ms.date: 07/25/2024
+ms.date: 3/11/2025
 ms.devlang: dotnet
 ms.topic: overview
 keywords: Dotfuscator, Dotfuscator CE, Dotfuscator Community, PreEmptive, PreEmptive Solutions, PreEmptive Protection, protection, community edition, obfuscation, .NET, free, Visual Studio 2019, Visual Studio 2017, Visual Studio
@@ -64,11 +64,8 @@ Examples of [.NET Obfuscation][obfuscation] and other [Application Protection][a
 * *[Anti-rooted device][root]* to detect if the application is running on a rooted Android device and terminate or respond to sessions on these devices.
 * *[Application expiration behaviors][shelflife]* that encode an "end-of-life" date and terminate expired application sessions.
 
-For details on these features, including how they fit into your application protection strategy, see the [Capabilities page][capabilities].
-
 Dotfuscator Community offers basic protection out-of-the-box.
 Even more application protection measures are available to registered users of Dotfuscator Community, and to users of ***PreEmptive Protection - Dotfuscator Professional***, the world's leading [.NET Obfuscator][net-obfuscator].
-For information about enhancing Dotfuscator, see the [Upgrades page][upgrades].
 
 ## Getting started
 
@@ -79,19 +76,19 @@ To begin using Dotfuscator Community from Visual Studio, type `dotfuscator` into
 
 You can also get the **latest version** of Dotfuscator Community from [the Dotfuscator Downloads page on preemptive.com][download].
 
-:::moniker range="vs-2019"
+:::moniker range=">=vs-2019"
 
 ## Upgrade from Dotfuscator Community 5
 
 Learn how to upgrade to PreEmptive Protection - Dotfuscator Community 6.
 
-Depending on your installation history and version of Visual Studio, you may be currently running Dotfuscator Community 5, the prior major version. If so, you should upgrade, because it is important to ensure your code is being given the [latest protection measures][always-improving]. Upgrades are available at no charge.
+Depending on your installation history and version of Visual Studio, you might be currently running Dotfuscator Community 5, the prior major version. If so, you should upgrade, because it is important to ensure your code is being given the [latest protection measures][always-improving]. Upgrades are available at no charge.
 
 This article explains how to determine what version you currently have, how to upgrade to version 6 if necessary, and what features have been replaced or removed between the two versions.
 
 ### Determine the Dotfuscator version
 
-If you are unsure what version of Dotfuscator you are running, you can determine the version by doing one of the following options:
+If you are unsure what version of Dotfuscator you're running, you can determine the version by doing one of the following options:
 
 * Launch the Dotfuscator Community [graphical user interface][gui] (GUI) by going to Visual Studio's **Tools** menu and selecting **PreEmptive Protection - Dotfuscator Community**.
 
@@ -155,10 +152,10 @@ The reason a path to Dotfuscator's CLI may now be invalid is because the names o
 | [CLI][cli]   | `dotfuscatorCLI.exe`  | `dotfuscator.exe`     |
 
 > [!NOTE]
-> The CLI path may also be invalid if you upgrade between major versions of Visual Studio or switch Visual Studio editions, as the Dotfuscator CLI is installed under Visual Studio's installation directory.
+> The CLI path might also be invalid if you upgrade between major versions of Visual Studio or switch Visual Studio editions, as the Dotfuscator CLI is installed under Visual Studio's installation directory.
 The symptoms and solution listed below also apply to this scenario.
 
-If your build is using an invalid Dotfuscator CLI path, you may get errors such as one of the following examples:
+If your build is using an invalid Dotfuscator CLI path, you might get errors such as one of the following examples:
 
 `'"[...]\PreEmptiveSolutions\DotfuscatorCE\dotfuscatorCLI.exe"' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.`
 
@@ -243,7 +240,7 @@ There have been no changes to the [Obfuscation Attributes][attributes-obfuscatio
 
 #### Check Attributes
 
-The library containing the [Check Attributes][attributes-checks] has changed. In Dotfuscator Community 5, it was distributed as a file alongside Dotfuscator itself. Starting in Dotfuscator Community 6, it is instead distributed as a public NuGet package.
+The library containing the [Check Attributes][attributes-checks] has changed. In Dotfuscator Community 5, it was distributed as a file alongside Dotfuscator itself. Starting in Dotfuscator Community 6, it's available as a public NuGet package.
 
 If you try to build a Visual Studio project that still references the old location, you may get errors like the following examples:
 
@@ -269,7 +266,7 @@ These parameters were ignored in Dotfuscator Community 5, but if your source cod
 
 ##### Instrumentation attributes
 
-Instrumentation attributes were used to configure the PreEmptive Analytics feature in Dotfuscator 5. However, PreEmptive Analytics has been removed in Dotfuscator 6; see the Removed Feature subsection [PreEmptive Analytics](#removed-analytics). As a result, the instrumentation attributes have also been removed.
+Instrumentation attributes were used to configure the PreEmptive Analytics feature in Dotfuscator 5. However, PreEmptive Analytics was removed in Dotfuscator 6; see the Removed Feature subsection [PreEmptive Analytics](#removed-analytics). As a result, the instrumentation attributes were also removed.
 
 If you try to build a Visual Studio project that used instrumentation attributes, you may get the same kinds of errors and warnings as noted in [Check Attributes](#steps-attrs-check), though the attribute names differ (for example, `FeatureAttribute` instead of `TamperCheckAttribute`).
 
@@ -283,7 +280,7 @@ You also need to remove the assembly references to the library that defined the
 
 ## Removed features
 
-Dotfuscator Community 6 introduces breaking changes from Dotfuscator Community 5. If you have been using Dotfuscator Community 5, this section describes how to deal with the changes that might require build modifications or affect Dotfuscator's output.
+Dotfuscator Community 6 introduces breaking changes from Dotfuscator Community 5. If you upgraded from Dotfuscator Community 5, this section describes how to deal with the changes that might require build modifications or affect Dotfuscator's output.
 
 A full list of the changes is available in the [changelog][changelog].
 
@@ -319,7 +316,7 @@ Additionally, `.xap` packages can no longer be used as inputs because Silverligh
 
 #### Introduce explicit method overrides
 
-The Renaming option to introduce explicit method overrides has been removed from Dotfuscator. To use Dotfuscator 6, [upgrade your configuration file](#steps-config-files) to remove this setting.
+The Renaming option to introduce explicit method overrides was removed from Dotfuscator. To use Dotfuscator 6, [upgrade your configuration file](#steps-config-files) to remove this setting.
 
 :::moniker-end