Simple Helpers for Connecting to 'SQL Server'.

sqlserverconnect

Contents

• Installation
• Quick start
  • Windows Authentication (trusted connection)
  • Username + password authentication
• Pooled connections
• DBI vs pool: when to use which?
• Shiny Use
• Why use sqlserverconnect?
• Built on

sqlserverconnect provides a minimal, user-friendly interface for connecting to Microsoft SQL Server from R.

It wraps DBI (with the odbc driver) and optionally pool with a small set of consistent helpers:

• db_connect() – create a DBI connection (default) or a connection pool
• db_disconnect() – safely close either a DBI connection or a pool

The goal is to offer a lightweight API without the repeated setup/cleanup boilerplate that shows up in scripts and Shiny apps.

Installation

You can install the development version of sqlserverconnect from GitHub:

# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("drosenman/sqlserverconnect")

Quick start

Windows Authentication (trusted connection)

When using Windows Authentication, you typically don’t need uid/pwd. Keep trusted = TRUE (the default).

library(sqlserverconnect)
library(DBI)

conn <- db_connect(
  server   = "localhost",
  database = "master"
)

DBI::dbGetQuery(conn, "SELECT TOP (5) name, create_date FROM sys.databases")

db_disconnect(conn)

Username + password authentication

For SQL authentication, set trusted = FALSE and provide uid and pwd.

Tip: avoid hardcoding passwords in scripts. Use environment variables, a keyring, or another secret manager.

library(sqlserverconnect)
library(DBI)

conn <- db_connect(
  server   = "localhost",
  database = "master",
  uid      = Sys.getenv("SQLSERVER_UID"),
  pwd      = Sys.getenv("SQLSERVER_PWD"),
  trusted  = FALSE
)

DBI::dbGetQuery(conn, "SELECT TOP (5) name FROM sys.tables")

db_disconnect(conn)

Pooled connections

db_connect() supports pooled connections via the pool package. Set pool = TRUE to create a pool, or leave it as the default (FALSE) for a regular DBI connection.

library(sqlserverconnect)
library(DBI)

pool <- db_connect(
  server   = "localhost",
  database = "master",
  pool     = TRUE
)

DBI::dbGetQuery(pool, "SELECT TOP (5) name FROM sys.databases")

db_disconnect(pool)

DBI vs pool: when to use which?

• Use a plain DBI connection (pool = FALSE) for interactive scripts and short-lived jobs.
• Use a pool (pool = TRUE) for Shiny apps or long-running processes where you want connections managed and reused.

Shiny Use

In Shiny, create the pool once (at startup), reuse it everywhere, and close it when the app stops.

# global.R (or at the top of app.R)
library(sqlserverconnect)

db_pool <- db_connect(
  server   = "localhost",
  database = "master",
  pool     = TRUE
)

onStop(function() {
  db_disconnect(db_pool)
})

Why use sqlserverconnect?

• Minimal surface area (two main functions)
• Clear, explicit arguments
• Works with either a DBI connection or a pool
• Reduces boilerplate while staying close to DBI/odbc/pool

If you frequently connect to SQL Server from R, this package keeps your workflow clean and consistent.

Built on

sqlserverconnect is built on these packages:

• DBI – provides the database interface and dbConnect() generic
• odbc – provides the ODBC driver (odbc::odbc()) used by DBI to talk to SQL Server
• pool – optional connection pooling for DBI connections (recommended for Shiny apps)