Executing SELECT Statements and TableDirect Commands A TableDirect command is actually a SELECT statement that returns all the rows and columns for a specified table. A Command object has three methods you can use to execute a SELECT statement or TableDirect command. Table 8.4 shows these methods, which you'll learn how to use in the following sections. Table 8.4: METHODS THAT RETRIEVE INFORMATION FROM THE DATABASE METHOD RETURN TYPE DESCRIPTION ExecuteReader() SqlDataReader Used to execute SQL SELECT statements, TableDirect commands or stored procedure calls that return a result set. Returns the result set in a DataReader object. ExecuteScalar() object Used to execute SQL SELECT statements that return a single value (any other values are ignored). Returns the single value as an object. ExecuteXmlReader() XmlReader Used to execute SQL SELECT statements that return XML data. Returns the result set in an XmlReader object. Applies only to the SqlCommand class. Executing a SELECT Statement Using the ExecuteReader() Method Let's take a look at an example that executes a SELECT statement using the ExecuteReader() method. This method returns the result set in a DataReader object, which you can then use to read the rows returned by the database. For example, the following code creates the required objects and executes a SELECT statement that retrieves the top five rows from the Customers table: SqlConnection mySqlConnection = new SqlConnection( "server=localhost;database=Northwind;uid=sa;pwd=sa" ); SqlCommand mySqlCommand = mySqlConnection.CreateCommand(); mySqlCommand.CommandText = "SELECT TOP 5 CustomerID, CompanyName, ContactName, Address " + "FROM Customers " + "ORDER BY CustomerID"; mySqlConnection.Open(); SqlDataReader mySqlDataReader = mySqlCommand.ExecuteReader(); Tip You'll notice that I didn't call the Open() method of the SqlConnection object until just before calling the ExecuteReader() method of the SqlCommand object. This is intentional. By opening the connection at the very last moment, you minimize time spent connected to the database and therefore conserve database resources. The result set returned by mySqlCommand is stored in mySqlDataReader. You then read the rows from mySqlDataReader using the Read() method. This method returns the Boolean true value when there is another row to read, otherwise it returns false. You can read an individual column value in a row from mySqlDataReader by passing the name of the column in square brackets. For example, to read the CustomerID column, you use mySqlDataReader["CustomerID"]. Note You can also specify the column you want to get by passing a numeric value in brackets. For example, my SqlDataReader[0] also returns the CustomerID column value. 0 corresponds to the first column in the table, which in this example is the CustomerID column. You can use the Read() method in a while loop to read each row in turn, as shown in the following example: while (mySqlDataReader.Read()) { Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" CustomerID\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["CustomerID"]); Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" CompanyName\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["CompanyName"]); Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" ContactName\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["ContactName"]); Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" Address\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["Address"]); } Listing 8.1 illustrates a complete program that uses the code examples shown in this section. Listing 8.1: EXECUTESELECT.CS /* ExecuteSelect.cs illustrates how to execute a SELECT statement using a SqlCommand object */ using System; using System.Data; using System.Data.SqlClient; class ExecuteSelect { public static void Main() { // create a SqlConnection object to connect to the database SqlConnection mySqlConnection = new SqlConnection( "server=localhost;database=Northwind;uid=sa;pwd=sa" ); // create a SqlCommand object SqlCommand mySqlCommand = mySqlConnection phần 1'>atic void Main() { // create a SqlConnection object to connect to the database SqlConnection mySqlConnection = new SqlConnection( "server=localhost;database=Northwind;uid=sa;pwd=sa" ); // create a SqlCommand object SqlCommand mySqlCommand = mySqlConnection.CreateCommand(); // set the CommandText property of the SqlCommand object to // the SELECT statement mySqlCommand.CommandText = "SELECT TOP 5 CustomerID, CompanyName, ContactName, Address " + "FROM Customers " + "ORDER BY CustomerID"; // open the database connection using the // Open() method of the SqlConnection object mySqlConnection.Open(); // create a SqlDataReader object and call the ExecuteReader() // method of the SqlCommand object to run the SQL SELECT statement SqlDataReader mySqlDataReader = mySqlCommand.ExecuteReader(); // read the rows from the SqlDataReader object using // the Read() method while (mySqlDataReader.Read()) { Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" CustomerID\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["CustomerID"]); Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" CompanyName\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["CompanyName"]); Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" ContactName\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["ContactName"]); Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" Address\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["Address"]); } // close the SqlDataReader object using the Close() method mySqlDataReader.Close(); // close the SqlConnection object using the Close() method mySqlConnection.Close(); } } The output from this program is as follows: mySqlDataReader["CustomerID"] = ALFKI mySqlDataReader["CompanyName"] = Alfreds Futterkiste mySqlDataReader["ContactName"] = Maria Anders mySqlDataReader["Address"] = Obere Str. 57 mySqlDataReader["CustomerID"] = ANATR mySqlDataReader["CompanyName"] = Ana Trujillo3 Emparedados y helados mySqlDataReader["ContactName"] = Ana Trujillo mySqlDataReader["Address"] = Avda. de la Constitución 2222 mySqlDataReader["CustomerID"] = ANTON mySqlDataReader["CompanyName"] = Antonio Moreno Taquería mySqlDataReader["ContactName"] = Antonio Moreno mySqlDataReader["Address"] = Mataderos 2312 mySqlDataReader["CustomerID"] = AROUT mySqlDataReader["CompanyName"] = Around the Horn mySqlDataReader["ContactName"] = Thomas Hardy mySqlDataReader["Address"] = 120 Hanover Sq. mySqlDataReader["CustomerID"] = BERGS mySqlDataReader["CompanyName"] = Berglunds snabbköp mySqlDataReader["ContactName"] = Christina Berglund mySqlDataReader["Address"] = Berguvsvägen 8 Controlling the Command Behavior Using the ExecuteReader() Method The ExecuteReader() method accepts an optional parameter that controls the command behavior. The values for this parameter come from the System.Data.CommandBehavior enumeration, for which values are shown in Table 8.5 . Table 8.5: CommandBehavior ENUMERATION VALUES VALUE DESCRIPTION Table 8.5: CommandBehavior ENUMERATION VALUES VALUE DESCRIPTION CloseConnection Specifies that when the associated DataReader object is closed, the Connection object is also closed. Default Indicates the Command object may return multiple result sets. KeyInfo Specifies the Command object returns information about the primary key columns in the result set. SchemaOnly Indicates the Command object returns information only about the columns. SequentialAccess Enables a DataReader object to read rows that have columns containing large binary values. SequentialAccess causes the DataReader to read the data as a stream. You then use the GetBytes() or GetChars() methods of the DataReader to read the stream. Note: you'll learn the details of DataReader objects in the next chapter . SingleResult Specifies the Command object returns a single result set. SingleRow Indicates the Command object returns a single row. You'll see how to use the SingleRow and SchemaOnly command behaviors next. Using the SingleRow Command Behavior You use the SingleRow command behavior to indicate that your Command object returns a single row. For example, let's say you have a Command object named mySqlCommand with the CommandText property set as follows: mySqlCommand.CommandText = "SELECT ProductID, ProductName, QuantityPerUnit, UnitPrice " + "FROM Products"; Next, the following example passes the CommandBehavior.SingleRow value to the ExecuteReader() method, indicating that the Command object retrieves only the first row: SqlDataReader mySqlDataReader = mySqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.SingleRow); Even though the earlier SELECT statement indicates that all the rows are to be retrieved from the Products table, the mySqlDataReader object will be able to read only the first row. Listing 8.2 illustrates the effect of using CommandBehavior.SingleRow. Listing 8.2: SINGLEROWCOMMANDBEHAVIOR.CS /* SingleRowCommandBehavior.cs illustrates how to control the command behavior to return a single row */ using System; using System.Data; using System.Data.SqlClient; class SingleRowCommandBehavior { public static void Main() { SqlConnection mySqlConnection = new SqlConnection( "server=localhost;database=Northwind;uid=sa;pwd=sa" ); SqlCommand mySqlCommand = mySqlConnection.CreateCommand(); mySqlCommand.CommandText = "SELECT ProductID, ProductName, QuantityPerUnit, UnitPrice " + "FROM Products"; mySqlConnection.Open(); // pass the CommandBehavior.SingleRow value to the // ExecuteReader() method, indicating that the Command object // only returns a single row SqlDataReader mySqlDataReader = mySqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.SingleRow); while (mySqlDataReader.Read()) { Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" ProductID\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["ProductID"]); Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" ProductName\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["ProductName"]); Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" QuantityPerUnit\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["QuantityPerUnit"]); Console.WriteLine("mySqlDataReader[\" UnitPrice\"] = " + mySqlDataReader["UnitPrice"]); } mySqlDataReader.Close(); mySqlConnection.Close(); } } The output from this program is as follows: mySqlDataReader["ProductID"] = 1 mySqlDataReader["ProductName"] = Chai mySqlDataReader["QuantityPerUnit"] = 10 boxes x 20 bags mySqlDataReader["UnitPrice"] = 18 Using the SchemaOnly Command Behavior You use the SchemaOnly command behavior to indicate that your Command object returns information only about the columns retrieved by a SELECT statement, or all the columns when you use a TableDirect command. For example, let's say you have a Command object named mySqlCommand with the CommandText property set as follows: mySqlCommand.CommandText = "SELECT ProductID, ProductName, UnitPrice " + "FROM Products " + "WHERE ProductID = 1"; Next, the following example passes the CommandBehavior.SchemaOnly value to the ExecuteReader() method, indicating that the Command object returns information about the schema: SqlDataReader productsSqlDataReader = mySqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.SchemaOnly); In this example, since the ProductID, ProductName, and UnitPrice columns of the Products table were used in the earlier SELECT statement, information about those columns is retrieved instead of the column values. You get the information about the columns using the GetSchemaTable() method of your SqlData-Reader object. The GetSchemaTable() method returns a DataTable object with columns that contain the details of the retrieved database columns: DataTable myDataTable = productsSqlDataReader.GetSchemaTable(); To display the values in the DataTable object, you can use the following loop that displays the DataTable column names and the contents of each DataTable column: foreach (DataRow myDataRow in myDataTable.Rows) { foreach (DataColumn myDataColumn in myDataTable.Columns) { Console.WriteLine(myDataColumn + "= " + myDataRow[myDataColumn]); if (myDataColumn.ToString() == "ProviderType") { Console.WriteLine(myDataColumn + "= " + ((System.Data.SqlDbType) myDataRow[myDataColumn])); } } } Notice that this code features two foreach loops. The outer loop iterates over the DataRow objects in myDataTable, and the inner loop iterates over the DataColumn objects in the current DataRow. Don't worry too much about the details of accessing a DataTable just yet: you'll learn the details in Chapter 10 , "Using DataSet Objects to Store Data." The if statement in the inner foreach loop requires a little explanation. What I'm doing is examining the myDataColumn to see if it contains the ProviderType. ProviderType contains a number value that indicates the SQL Server type of the database column. I cast this number to System.Data.SqlDbType, which is an enumeration that defines the SQL Server column types, as you'll see later in the "Supplying Parameters to Commands " section. Table 8.9 in that section shows the SqlDbType enumeration values. By casting the ProviderType number to SqlDbType, you can see the actual name of the SQL Server column type. The first iteration of the outer loop displays all the DataColumn object values for the first DataRow object. This cause the following output to be produced and shows the schema details for the ProductID column; notice the ProviderType number and name that indicate ProductID is a SQL Server int: ColumnName = ProductID ColumnOrdinal = 0 ColumnSize = 4 NumericPrecision = 0 NumericScale = 0 IsUnique = IsKey = BaseCatalogName = BaseColumnName = ProductID BaseSchemaName = BaseTableName = DataType = System.Int32 AllowDBNull = False ProviderType = 8 ProviderType = Int IsAliased = IsExpression = IsIdentity = True IsAutoIncrement = True IsRowVersion = IsHidden = IsLong = False IsReadOnly = True The meanings of these results are shown in Table 8.6 . Table 8.6: SCHEMA COLUMN VALUES VALUE DESCRIPTION ColumnName Name of the column. ColumnOrdinal Ordinal of the column. ColumnSize Maximum length (in characters) of a column value. For fixed-length SQL Server types such as int, the ColumnSize is the length of that type. NumericPrecision Total number of digits used to represent a floating-point type. An example of a floating-point type is the SQL Server float type. The total number of digits includes the digits to the left and right of the decimal point. NumericScale Total number of digits to the right of the decimal point in a floating- point type. IsUnique Boolean true/false value that indicates whether two rows can have the same value in the current column. IsKey Boolean true/false value that indicates whether the column is part of the primary key. BaseCatalogName Name of the catalog in the database that contains the column. BaseCatalogName defaults to null. BaseColumnName Name of the column in the database. This will differ from the Table 8.6: SCHEMA COLUMN VALUES VALUE DESCRIPTION ColumnName if you use an alias for the column. BaseColumnName defaults to null. BaseSchemaName Name of the schema in the database that contains the column. BaseSchemaName defaults to null. BaseTableName Name of the table or view in the database that contains the column. BaseTableName defaults to null. DataType .NET type used to represent the column. You'll learn about the .NET types in the next chapter . AllowDBNull Boolean true/false value that indicates whether the column can accept a database null value. ProviderType Indicates the column's database type. IsAliased Boolean true/false value that indicates whether the column is an alias. IsExpression Boolean true/false value that indicates whether the column is an expression. IsIdentity Boolean true/false value that indicates whether the column is an identity. IsAutoIncrement Boolean true/false value that indicates whether the column is automatically assigned a value for a new row and that value is automatically incremented. IsRowVersion Boolean true/false value that indicates whether the column contains a persistent row identifier that cannot be written to. IsHidden Boolean true/false value that indicates whether the column is hidden. IsLong Boolean true/false value that indicates whether the column contains a binary long object (BLOB). A BLOB contains a long string of binary data. IsReadOnly Boolean true/false value that indicates whether the column can be modified. Listing 8.3 illustrates the effect of using CommandBehavior.SchemaOnly and displays the schema details for the ProductID, ProductName, and UnitPrice columns. . Executing SELECT Statements and TableDirect Commands A TableDirect command is actually a SELECT statement that returns all the rows and columns. SqlCommand object SqlCommand mySqlCommand = mySqlConnection.CreateCommand(); // set the CommandText property of the SqlCommand object to // the SELECT