use DBI; sub open_conn { # join isn't stricly necessary, # it just improves readability. my $strConnect = join ';', 'Provider=SQLOLEDB.1', 'Data Source=iblons3506\oi_c1_prd4', 'Initial Catalog=OMDPortal', 'User ID=OMDPortal_General', 'Password=ObFuScAtEd'; my $dbh = DBI->connect("dbi:ADO:$strConnect", '', '') or die "Can't connect: $DBI::errstr\n"; }