The original comes from http://www.sqljunkies.com/WebLog/knight_reign/archive/2005/10/05/17016.aspx Connection Managers and Substitution Parameters for Queries Connection Manager Type Parameter Marker Parameter Name Example Query Example Parameter Name OLEDB ? 0 1 … SELECT Name FROM People WHERE Name LIKE ? 0 ADO.Net @Varname @Varname SELECT Name FROM people WHERE Name LIKE @Name @Name ADO ? @Param1 @Param2 … SELECT Name From People WHERE Name LIKE ? @Param1 ODBC ? 1 2 … SELECT Name FROM People WHERE Name Like ?