Before an application can request data from a database, it must establish a dialog, or connection, with a data source—either a relational DBMS Server or the Name Server. It does this by using the IIapi_connect() function. The connection handle is the identifier of this connection.

If the application needs to establish connection characteristics, it does so by using IIapi_setConnectParam() prior to IIapi_connect().

All activity between the application and the server must be within the context of a connection. Normally, the application controls the duration of the connection. When an application no longer needs to communicate with a server, it severs the connection by using the IIapi_disconnect() function. In some error conditions, however, the server severs the connection (IIapi_disconnect() must still be called to release the OpenAPI resources associated with the connection). II api_abort() can also be used to release the resources associated with a connection, but is only intended for use in recovering from error conditions.