A Hand Book on

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. The ADO.Net Model - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -- -- - - - - - - 3

2. The ADO.net Command Object - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6

3. The ADO.net Connection Object - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9

4. The ADO.net Datareader - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14

5. The ADO.net Dataset Object Part 1 - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 16

6. The ADO.net Dataset Object Part 2- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 20

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THE ADO.NET MODEL

ADO.Net is the latest in a series of technologies from Microsoft which focus on the connection of applications to databases of one sort or another. From the DAO which (and is) was the native mode of connection for MSAccess, through the short-lived RDO, and the now comparatively long-in-the-tooth ADO, this is the next generation of technology. And, although it is not likely that there will not be some future add-ons, enhancements, and upgrades, it appears that this structure of database connectivity is a keeper. It is not a COM technology, so it can be used on other platforms in addition to Windows, and agnostic when it comes to the brand of database it facilitates connection to. In addition, it allows more extensive support to the XML paradigm. The .Net platform will continue to allow you to use the older ADO connection technology, but, under most circumstances, this is a poor choice because of the performance penalty , which comes from using the unmanaged code in the COM object. ADO.Net requires some new methods of accomplishing some of the simple tasks of interacting with data. For example, server-side cursors and are not supported any more because of the increased overhead and the potentially large number of lacks required on the server. Accordingly, the only connection s allowed are forward only, read- read-only result sets, and disconnected result sets. There are rumors of server side cursors being planned for future releases, probably due to the loud complaint from the developer community. However, there are a number of techniques and tools provided which greatly lessen the need for server side cursors, so by the time of the next release, there may be less need for them. To gain access to the ADO.Net class libraries, you must add the following statements to the top of your source files: Imports System.Data Imports System.Data.OleDb* or, if you are connecting to SQLServer

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Imports System.Data.SqlClient There is also support for the ODBC connections through Imports System.Data.ODBC These commands expose the objects needed to connect to the data source.

Data Retreival
Like ADO, ADO.Net uses a connection object to point to external data. Under the .Net model, a connection is opened, data is retrieved, and then the connection is closed. The closing of the connection is necessary to free up resources. The connection string (the part of the comment which identifies the source of the data, as well as access to it through username and password) is identical to the connection string grammar under the old model ADO. The first way to access data is after you have defined and opened the connection, invoke the command object providing it with a SELECT statement, or storedprocedure name with parameters. The Data Reader will allow the application to gain access to the returned resultset. An ExecuteReader method will allow a line by line reading of the data retrieved. However, be aware that this is a forward only dataset once a line is read, unless you save its contents somewhere, somewhere the data can be lost. The only way to make it available again is to re-establish the connection and read it again. The second method opens a connection, retrieves a recordset, then stores that recordset in an object called a DataSet. The DataSet acts and functions like a local database, storing the data retrieved even from multiple sources. It can even link and establish relationships between multiple tables. At the conclusion of the data retrieval, the connection is closed, so that in processing the DataSet is completely disconnected from the data source(s). The mapping of data between the DataSet and the outside data sources is handled by the DataAdapter object. In addition to keeping track of the connections to the data sources, the DataAdapter also facilitates the updating, deleting, and insertion of data back to the source.

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XML
XML is the native format for ADO.Net. It is so tightly integrated that you can define and read schemas, and can seamlessly exchange data in the XLM format, both reading and writing with any application on any platform.

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THE ADO.NET COMMAND OBJECT

In a connected mode environment, after a connection is established with the data, the data is manipulated and returned using the command object. The command object is passed a SQL query SELECT statement, which is run by one of the Execute methods. The three Execute methods are ExecuteNonQuery (for updates or deletes or appends), Execute Reader (for returning datasets to the client), and ExecuteScalar (returns a single value). The command objects themselves are either of SqlCommand, OleDbCommand, or ODBCCommand types. And the principal properties are the command text (the sql statement, and the connection object previously created. ) Other properties are the CommandType, Transaction, CommandTimeout, Parameters, and UpdatedRowSource. Dim cmd as New SqlCommand cmd.connection=conn cmd.CommandText=SELECT * FROM tblBooks; Dim dr as SqlDataReader = cmd.ExecuteReader() The preceding code will execute a SQL command and put the results into a DataReader after having made and opened a connection. Had the SQL statement been an INSERT statement, the appropriate method would have been ExecuteNonQuery(), rather than ExecuteReader(). There is an additional Execute XMLReader() method which is new in SQL2000, and is used for processing SELECT queries from an XML dataset. ExecuteScalar() is another method used for returning a single value from a dataset.

Parameters
In the OleDb model, you can define parameters in the CommandText using question marks.

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SELECT * from tblBooklist where YearPublished = ?; Then you need to create and define the parameter prior to passing them into the command object. Dim Parm as New OleDBParameter(YearPublished, OleDbType.Integer) Parm.Value=1994 cmd.Parameters.Add(parm) You can even have ADO.Net populate the list of parameters for you using the DeriveParameters method. Dim cmd as New SqlCommand(up_getshotgun, conn) cmd.CommandType=CommandType.StoredProcedure SqlCommandBuilder.DeriveParameters(cmd) Debug.writeline(cmd.parameters.count & parameters) For i = 0 to cmd.parameters.count-1 Debug.writeline(cmd.parameters(i).ParameterName) Next

Stored Procedures
Stored Procedures are handled using the parameters in the previous section and setting them with the Parameters.Add method. The only difference from the previous code is the calling of the stored procedure itself. This is accomplished using the CommandType property, rather than the CommandText property. Dim cmd as New SqlCommand(up_getshotgun, conn) cmd.CommandType=CommandType.StoredProcedure

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cmd.Parameters.Add(@Brand,Remington) Dim dr as SqlDataReader=cmd.ExecuteReader()

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THE ADO.NET CONNECTION OBJECT

Either in connected or disconnected mode, the first thing one needs to do is to connect to the database(s). This is accomplished in ADO.net by creating a connection object that points to the subject database.

The properties of the connection object are:

Connection string A string used to connect to the database.

Connection Timeout

The number of seconds till a connection times out (Read Only)

Database

Returns the database name as specified in connection string (Read Only)

DataSource

Returns the source attribute as specified in connection string (Read Only)

ServerVersion

Returns version of connected server.

State

Returns state of current database in integers. Values can be Closed, Connecting, Open, Executing, Fetching, Broken

Provider

Returns the value of provider attribute as specified in connection string (Read Only) (OleDb Only)

PacketSize

Returns size in bytes of network packets (SQL Server only)

WorkstationID

Identifies client, as specified in connection string (Read Only)

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In the above table, the only property that is NOT read only is the connection string. Some folks say that it is the connection string that is the most difficult aspect of ADO and ADO.Net. If so, it is an easily learned one. A typical connection string consists of 4 items: The Provider, which specifies the name of the underlying OLEDB provider. Appropriate values are SQLOLEDB (for SQLServer), Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0 (for Microsoft Access) and MSDORA (for Oracle); The Data Source attribute, which shows the location of the database. It can be a path on a network, or the IP address of a machine on the net; The UserID and Password, which grant access permission to the database; The Initial Catalog, which specifies the name of the database in the data source. Here are some common configurations:

For SQL Server

Data Source=Jupiter;Initial Catalog=pubs;User Id=ElmerFudd;Password=wabbitt; Server=Jupiter;Database=pubs;Trusted_Connection=True;Connection Timeout=10 Data Source=200.192.23.155;Network Library=Wiley3301;Initial Catalog=pubs;User ID=ElmerFudd;Password=wabbitt;

C#:
using System.Data.SqlClient; objqlConnection oSQLConn = new SqlConnection();oSQLConn.ConnectionString=connectstring;;oSQLConn.Open();

obj VB.NET:
Imports System.Data.SqlClient Dim objSQLConn As SqlConnection = New SqlConnection() objSQLConn.ConnectionString="connectstring" objSQLConn.Open()

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For Oracle:
Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;Data Source=mydatabase;User Id=ElmerFudd;Password=wabbitt; Provider=OraOLEDB.Oracle;Data Source= mydatabase;OSAuthent=1;

C#:
using System.Data.OracleClient; OracleConnection objOracleConn = new OracleConnection(); objOracleConn.ConnectionString = my connectionstring; objOracleConn.Open();

VB.NET:
Imports System.Data.OracleClient Dim objOracleConn As OracleConnection = New OracleConnection() objOracleConn.ConnectionString = myconnectionstring objOracleConn.Open()

For MS Access:
Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=\pathname\biblio.mdb;User Id=ElmerFudd;Password=wabbitt; Notice that the last instruction in the code using the method open(). After the connection has been made, and the data retrieved, you need to close the connection using the connection method close(). This should be done within an if statement which first checks whether the connection is, in fact, open: If (objConnection.state and ConnectionState.Open) <>0 Then objConnection.Close End If Note that the state property is 0 if the connection is already closed. Testing for a closed connection is necessary to prevent an error when you are invoking the close method.

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The connection objects methods are: Open Close BeginTransaction ChangeDatabase CreateCommand Opens connection Closes connection Begins database transaction Changes the name of database connected to Creates a command object schema tables and associated restricted

GetOleDbSchemaTable Returns columns ReleaseObjectPool

Shared method which allows closing of connection pool when last connection is closed

Exception Handling
All ADO connection procedures should be protected with a Try/Catch Block. When dealing with a connection to another server, this is especially important to let your users know that it was the connection that failed, rather than the application code. Try connSQLNorthwind.ConnectionString = _ "Server=Jupiter;Database=pubs;Trusted_Connection=True;Connection Timeout = 10" Catch ExSQL As System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException Dim strErrorMsg As String Dim strerror As System.Data.SqlClient.SqlError For Each strerror In ExSQL.Errors Select Case strerror.Number Case 17 strErrorMsg = "Missing server" Case 4060 strErrorMsg = "Missing database"

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Case 18456 strErrorMsg = "Missing user name or password" Case Else strErrorMsg = strerror.Message End Select MessageBox.Show(sErrorMsg, "SQL Server Error: " & strerror.Number, MessageBoxButtons.OK MessageBoxIcon.Error) Next

Catch ExcpInvOp As System.InvalidOperationException MessageBox.Show("Close the connection first!", _ "Invalid Operation MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error) Catch Excp As System.Exception ' generic exception handler MessageBox.Show(Excp.Message, "Unexpected Exception MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error)

End Try

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THE ADO.NET DATAREADER

The Data Reader is a simple object a use one time and throw away container for holding the results of an ExecuteReade()r method of the command object. The Data Readers principal method is the Read() method, which reads one record from the result set. Since in a client server environment, it is considered good programming practice to be frugal in retrieving records, the DataReader at any one time will contain relatively small amounts of data. For instance, in a typical form procedure, the trip to the server may only return a single record, or perhaps a single record with associated child records needed to populate one screen. When multiple records are retrieved, they are read from the data reader in loop structure one record at a time. Do while dr.Read Process stuff Loop Each record is processed and/or stored in turn, because the DataReader has ho no capacity for returning to any record after the application has passed it. The only way to revisit a record in the DataReader is to re-connect and request the data again. In more sophisticated applications, the DataReader may contain multiple records which may be read and mapped into a DataGrid. The Grid may be equipped with edit, append and delete buttons to allow changing of the data and eventual uploading of the changed results back to the server through the command object. It is also possible to use the GetSchemaTable() method to acquire characteristics of the data columns and built a local DataTable on the client either virtually or in an auxiliary Access, or XML table. The System.Data.DataTable() method is used to built the structure. A key property is the Item property, which will allow you to get field names like the fields collection in a DAO recordset. It is also possible to retrieve multiple resultsets at the same time into a DataReader. This is frequently the result of a batch SQL Server stored procedure with multiple SELECT

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statements. The NextResult method allows you to advance to the next recordset within the DataReader. Do while dr.NextResult Do while dr.Read Process stuff Loop Loop

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THE ADO.NET DATASET OBJECT PART 1

The DataSet is an in-memory database a collection of virtual tables with means to populate, examine, modify and deleting delete the tables and the data within them. You can also define and manipulate the relationships between the tables and tables, create and enforce constraints to maintain those relationships. Surprisingly, the data that populates the tables within a DataSet can and frequently does come from different data sources, leading to very powerful flexibility in connecting and maintaining data in various server sources. The primary purpose of a DataSet is to allow the user to operate on data from a server in a disconnected mode. The temporary separation of data from the server is a desirable thing because it frees memory on the server, as well as connection and network resources. The DataSet allows data to be borrowed from the server in relatively small usable chunks. The DataSet then manages the connection between the data and allows the user to edit, update, delete, append, or select portions of that data. The DataSet is first and foremost a collection of table objects. These table objects can be imported from various and diverse data sources such as SQL Server, Oracle, XML files, and the like, or they can be entered programmatically or through a convenient User Interface (UI) and then added to the DataSet programmatically. The most useful methods are to Accept Changes, AcceptChanges, RejectChanges, Merge, Clone, a few functions for reading and writing XML and XML schema, and most important of all- the GetChanges method, which gets a DataSet which contains all of the data changes made to the current one since it was loaded. The table objects look like tables in a regular database, though they are virtual tables, which reside only in memory. The table objects have collections of DataColumns, DataRows, Constraints, DataRelations, Property Collections, DataRowView, and a PrimaryKey, which may be a collection of DataColumns. DataTable Class Members

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Constructors
Visibility Constructor Parameters

public

DataTable

()

public

DataTable

( String tableName )

Properties
Visibility public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public Name CaseSensitive ChildRelations Columns Constraints Container DefaultView DesignMode DisplayExpression Value Type Boolean Accessibility [ Get , Set ]

DataRelationCollection [ Get ] DataColumnCollection ConstraintCollection IContainer DataView Boolean String [ Get ] [ Get ] [ Get ] [ Get ] [ Get ] [ Get , Set ] [ Get ] [ Get ] [ Get , Set ] [ Get , Set ] [ Get , Set ]

ExtendedProperties PropertyCollection HasErrors Locale MinimumCapacity Namespace ParentRelations Prefix PrimaryKey Rows Site TableName Boolean CultureInfo Int32 String

DataRelationCollection [ Get ] String DataColumn DataRowCollection ISite String [ Get , Set ] [ Get , Set ] [ Get ] [ Get , Set ] [ Get , Set ]

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Methods
Visibility public public public public public public public public public public public public public public Name AcceptChanges BeginInit BeginLoadData Clear Clone Compute Copy EndInit EndLoadData GetChanges GetChanges GetErrors ImportRow LoadDataRow Parameters () () () () () ( String expression, String filter ) () () () ( DataRowState rowStates ) () () ( DataRow row ) ( Object values , Boolean fAcceptChanges ) public public public public NewRow RejectChanges Reset Select () () () ( String filterExpression, String sort, DataViewRowState recordStates ) public public Select Select ( String filterExpression ) () DataRow DataRow DataRow Void Void DataRow DataTable DataRow Void DataRow DataTable Void Void DataTable Return Type Void Void Void Void DataTable Object

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public

Select

( String filterExpression , String sort )

DataRow

public

ToString

()

String

Events
Multicast multicast multicast multicast multicast multicast multicast multicast Name ColumnChanged ColumnChanging Disposed RowChanged RowChanging RowDeleted RowDeleting Type DataColumnChangeEventHandler DataColumnChangeEventHandler EventHandler DataRowChangeEventHandler DataRowChangeEventHandler DataRowChangeEventHandler DataRowChangeEventHandler

Rows are added programmatically using the DataRows object:

Dim dr as DataRow=tblEmployee.NewRow() dr(dcFirstName)=Elmer dr(dcLastName)=Fudd tblEmployee.Rows.Add(dr)

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THE ADO.NET DATASET OBJECT PART 2

DataRow Class Members Properties

Visibility public public Name HasErrors Item ( Int32 columnIndex ) ( DataRowVersion version ) public Item ( DataColumn column ) Object [ Get , Set ] Value Type Boolean Object Accessibility [ Get ] [ Get ]

public

Item ( DataColumn column ) ( DataRowVersion version )

Object

[ Get ]

public

Item ( String columnName ) ( DataRowVersion version )

Object

[ Get ]

public

Item ( Int32 columnIndex )

Object

[ Get , Set ]

public

Item ( String columnName )

Object

[ Get , Set ]

public

ItemArray

Object

[ Get , Set ]

public

RowError

String

[ Get , Set ]

public

RowState

DataRowState [ Get ]

public

Table

DataTable

[ Get ]

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Methods
Visibility public public public public public public public public Name AcceptChanges BeginEdit CancelEdit ClearErrors Delete EndEdit GetChildRows GetChildRows Parameters () () () () () () ( String relationName ) ( String relationName , DataRowVersion version ) DataRow GetChildRows ( DataRelation relation , DataRowVersion version ) public public public public public public GetChildRows GetColumnError GetColumnError GetColumnError GetColumnsInError GetParentRow ( DataRelation relation ) ( Int32 columnIndex ) ( String columnName ) ( DataColumn column ) () ( String relationName , DataRowVersion version ) DataColumn DataRow String String String DataRow DataRow Return Type Void Void Void Void Void Void ( String relationName ) DataRow

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public public

GetParentRow GetParentRow

( String relationName ) ( DataRelation relation , DataRowVersion version )

DataRow DataRow

public public

GetParentRow GetParentRows

( DataRelation relation ) ( DataRelation relation , DataRowVersion version )

DataRow DataRow

public public

GetParentRows GetParentRows

( DataRelation relation ) ( String relationName , DataRowVersion version )

DataRow DataRow

public public public public

GetParentRows HasVersion IsNull IsNull

( String relationName ) ( DataRowVersion version ) ( String columnName ) ( DataColumn column , DataRowVersion version )

DataRow Boolean Boolean Boolean

public public public

IsNull IsNull RejectChanges

( DataColumn column ) ( Int32 columnIndex ) ()

Boolean Boolean Void

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public public

SetColumnError SetColumnError

( Int32 columnIndex , String error ) ( DataColumn column , String error )

Void Void

public

SetColumnError

( String columnName , String error )

Void

public

SetParentRow

( DataRow parentRow , DataRelation relation )

Void

public

SetParentRow

( DataRow parentRow )

The DataSet is a much more powerful and complicated object than the DataReader. The DataReader is a read-only forward-only object wherein once a record is read it is gone, unless it is saved into an array. The DataSet and DataTable objects are virtualls datasets and tables which are used in client-side operations. Though there is no current record concept, the user is able to navigate between the rows using loops, either using the Rows collection of the DataTable object, or the DataRow object. For i=1 to 3 tblEmployee.Rows(i)(FirstName)=Daffy or dim dr as DataRow=tblEmployee.Rows(i) dr(LastName)=Duck Next

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Dont forget that the DataSet is disconnected from the original server-side source of the data. So any changes in the DataSet will not be reflected in the source unless and until the DataSet and the Source are reconciled. You can find the status of any record by querying the RowState property of the DataRow object. The result will be one of the following: Detached, Added, Modified, Deleted, or Unchanged. Though the RowState property is read only, the DataRow has two properties which can change it: the AcceptChanges, and RejectChanges Properties. Of further note are the DataTable.ColumnChanging, the DataTable.ColumnChanged, the DataTable.RowChanging, and the DataTable.RowChanged events which allow you to trap and code for these events within your code. The DataView Object The function of the DataView object is to facilitate data binding of data to Windows forms and web pages. Additionally, it can be used along with the Select method od the DataTable Object to present subsets of records from tables. Use the RowFilter property to select which records are visible, and use the Sort property to order their presentation.

DataView Class Members

Constructors

Visibility public public public

Constructor DataView DataView DataView

Parameters () ( DataTable table ) ( DataTable table , , , String String RowState ) RowFilter Sort

DataViewRowState

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Properties
Visibility public public public public public public public public public public public public public Name AllowDelete AllowNew ApplyDefaultSort Container Count DataViewManager DesignMode Item ( recordIndex ) RowFilter RowStateFilter Site Sort Table String DataViewRowState ISite String DataTable [ Get , Set ] [ Get , Set ] [ Get , Set ] [ Get , Set ] [ Get , Set ] Value Type Boolean Boolean Boolean IContainer Int32 DataViewManager Boolean Int32 DataRowView Accessibility [ Get , Set ] [ Get , Set ] [ Get , Set ] [ Get ] [ Get ] [ Get ] [ Get ] [ Get ]

Methods
Visibility public public public public public public public public public public Name AddNew BeginInit CopyTo Delete EndInit Find Find FindRows FindRows GetEnumerator Parameters () () ( Array array Int32 index ) ( Int32 index ) () ( Object key ) ( Object key ) ( Object key ) ( Object key ) () Void Void Int32 Int32 DataRowView DataRowView IEnumerator Return Type DataRowView Void , Void

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Events

Multicast multicast multicast

Name Disposed ListChanged

Type EventHandler ListChangedEventHandler

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