Ve ok Unit-VI Data Access with ADO.NET , Assistant Professor: Bhise 6.6 ADO.NET, first introduced in version 1.0 of the NET Framework, provided an extensive array of features to handle live data ina.connected mode or data that is disconnected from its underlying data store. ADO.NET 1.0 was primarily developed to address two specific problems in getting at data, The first had to do with the user's need to access data once and to iterate through a collection of data ina single instance. This need often arose in Web application development. ADO.NET addresses a couple of the most common data-access strategies that are used for applications today. When classic ADO was developed, many applications could be connected to the data store almost indefinitely. Today, with the explosion of the Internet as the means of data communication, a new data technology is required to make data accessible and updateable in a disconnected architecture , The first of these common data-access sceharios is one in which a user must locate a collection of data and iférate through this data a single time. This is a popular scenario for Web pages, When a request for data from a Web page that you have created is received, you can simply fill a table with data from a data _ Store. In this case, you go to the data store, grab the data that you want, send the data across the wire, and then populate the table, In this scenario, the goal is to get the data in place as fast as possible. The second way to work with data in this disconnected architecture is to graba collection of data and use this data separately from the data store itself. This could be on the server or even on the client. Although the data is disconnected, you want the ability to keep the data (with all of its tables and relations in place) on the client side, Classic ADO data was represented by a single table that you could iterate through. ADO.NET, however, can be a reflection of the data store itself, with tables, columns, rows, and relations all in place. When you are donewith the client-side copy of the data, you can pet in the local copy of data directly back into the data store: -tiered environment (client-server), easy to work with sist the changes that you made ¥ Although classic ADO was geared for a two ADO.NET addresses o multi-tiered environment. ADO.NET is because it has a unified programming model, This unified programmins spece makes working with data on the secver the same as working with dava on ine client. Because the models are the same, you find yourself more productive when working with ADO.NET. ADO.NET provides a bridge between the front ‘end controls and the back end database. The ADO.NET objects encapsulate all the data access operations and the controls interact with these objects to display data, thus hiding the details of movement of data. The following figure shows the ADO.NET|ebjects ata glance: [aaa emma ADO.NET is a set of classes that expose data access services for NET Framework programmers. ADO.NET provides arich set of components for creating distributed, data-sharing applications. I+ is an integral part of the NET Framework, providing access to relational, XML, and application data. ADO.NET supports a variety of development needs, including the creation of front-enddatabase clients and middle-tier business objects used by applications, tools, languages, or Internet browsers, Overview of ADO.NET Objects Here'sa list of the most common ADO.NET objects: + Data connection objects—To start working with a database, you must have a data connection. A data adapter needs a connection to a data source to read and write data, and it uses OleDbConnection or SqlConnection objects to communicate with a data source. Data adapters—Data adapters are a very important part of ADO.NET. You use ‘them to communicate between a data source and a dataset. You ‘typically configure a data adapter with SQL to executé ‘against the data source. The two types of data adapters are OleDbDataAdapter and SqlDataAdapter objects. Command objects—Data adapters can read, add, update, and delete records in @ data source. Toallow you to specify How each of these operations work, a data adapter contains command objects'for each of them. Data adapters support four oe Giveyou access to these command objects: Select \InsertCommand, UpdateCommand, and DeleteCommand. a ? Datasets—Datasets store data in a disconnected cache. The structure of a dataset is similar to that of a relational database; it gives you access to an object model of tables, rows, and columns, and it contains constraints and relationships defined for the dataset. Datasets are supported with DataSet objects. + DataTable objects—DataTable objects hold a data table froma data source. Data tables contain two important properties: Columns, which is a collection of the DataColumn objects that represent the columns of data ina table, and Rows, which is a collection of DataRow objects, representing the rows of data ina table.VW * Data readers— DataReader objects hold a read-only, forward-only (ie ay Can only move from one record to the succeeding record, not backwards) «,, e data from a database. Using a data reader can increase Speed because oniy row of data is in memory at a time. * Data views—Data views represent a customized view of a single table that car be filtered, searched, or sorted. In other words, a data view, supported by the DataView class, is a data "snapshot" that takes up few resources, + Constraint objects—Datasets support constraints to check data integrity. A constraint, supported by the Constraint class, isa rule that can be used when rows are inserted, updated, or deleted to check the affected table after the oPeration. There are two types of constraints: unique constraints check that the new values j one Qnother table is updated, 1 a” + DataRelation objects—DataRelation objects Specify a relationship between Parent and child tables, based on a key thaboth fables share, * DataRow objects—DataRow objects correspond to a particular row in a data table. You use the Item Property to get or set a value in a Particular field in the row. X DataColumn objects—DataColuiny objects correspond to the columns ina table. Each object has’@'bat raT ype Property that specifies the kind of data each column contains, such d,integers or string values, Working with Connection Object Using the Connection Object The Connection object creates a link (ar connection) to a Specified data source. This object must contain the necessary information to discover the specified data source and to log in to it Properly using a defined username and password combination. This information is provided via a single string called a connection string. You can also store this connection String in the web.config file of your applicationEvery type of data provider has a connection object of some kind. The data provider for working with a SQL data store includes a SqlConnection class that performs this type of operation. The SqiConnection object is a class that is specific to the SqlClient provider, As discussed earlier in this chapter, the SqiClient provider is built for working with the SQL Server 7.0 and higher databases, The properties for the SqlConnection class are shown in the following table. Property Description oaentleaitigg ‘Thi property hw yt rl er reid ft cmon ing tht atl bbe tied by the aiconcection object This read-only property returns the rane ofthe database to use after the sonnection i opens ‘This read-only property miturns the name ofthe instanceof the SQL Server ‘database used by the 241 Connect Lencbjec. “This read-only property returns the current state ofthe connection. The possible Values are araten, loved, Conmect ing, Kamouting, Fetching. and Open. atabase Connecting to a data source is probably: the most common task when you are working with data. This exampleand ithe‘ones that follow assume that you have a SQL Server database. In order, o'cofinéct to your SQL Server database, you use the SqiConneetion class Listing 8-5: Connecting to a 5¢ VB Dim conn as SqiConnection conn = New SqlConnection("Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;AttachDbFilename= |DataDirectory| \NORTHWND.MDF:Integrated Security=True; User Instance=True") ‘Put this string on one line in your code conn.Open() To make this connection work, be sure that the proper namespaces are imported before you start using any of the classes that work with SQL. The first step in making a connection is to create an instance of the SqlConnection class and assign it to the conn instance. This SqlConnection class is initialized after you pass in the connection string as a parameter to the class. In this case, you are connecting to allthe Northwind database that resides on your local machine using the system, administrator's login credentials, Another means of making a connection Is to. put the connection string within the application's web.config file and then 0 make a reference to the web config file, With ASP.NET 3.5, you will find that there is an easy way to manage the Storage °F your connection strings ‘through the use of the web.config file. This is actually @ better way to store your connection strings rather than hard-coding them within the code of the Application itself, In addition to having a single point in the application where the credentials for database access can be managed, storing credentials in the web.config also gives you the ability to encrypt the credentials To define your connection String within the webséonfig file, you are going to make Use of the section, From this section, you can place Gri element within it to define your connection. An example of this is illustrated in Listing 8-6, Listing 8-6: Providing your connection String Within the web config file Now that you have a connection string within the web.config file, you can then make use of that connection string directly in your code by using the ConnectiontAanager object as illustrated here in. Listing 8-7 Listing 8-7: Using the connection string found in the web.config file£e : conn = New _ SqlConnection( _ ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("DSN_Northwind").ConnectionString) For this line of code to work, you are going to have to make a reference to the ‘System.Configuration namespace. When you complete your connection to the data source, be sure that you close the connection by using conn.Close(). The NET Framework does not implicitly release «the connections when they fall out of scope, Using the Command Object The Command object uses the Connection obj queries can be in the form of inline text, stored procedure SELECT clause, the resul “ *%@ Import Namespac ="System,Data" %> <%@ Import Namespace-"System.Data.SqlClient" %> <%®@ Import Namespace="System.Configuration" %> mmandBehavior,CloseConnection)piGridView™ Listing 8-8 uses the ‘SqjConnection class to create o connection “The code shown in with the Northwind database using the connection string stored in the web.config | file. This connection string is then retrieved using the'ConfigurationManager | class. It is always best to store your connection strings inside the web.config and to reference them in this manner. If you have a single place To work with your connection strings, any task is a Jot mone Manageable than if you place all your “connection strings in the actual codesofs your application. After working with the connection string, this bit, fedde front Listing 8-8 creates a Command object using the Sqicommand class Becduse You are interested in working with a SQL database. Next, the code provides ‘the command text, command type. and connection properties. After the command ‘and the connection ore created, the code opens the connection and executes the command by calling the ExecuteReader method of the mycommand object. After receiving the data reader from the Command obje ply bind the retrieved results To on ct, you sim instance of the GridView control. The results are shown in Figure 8-1.pr important tasks, such as reading and writing data to and from an XML file, Zt didnt even caw you to serialize the DataTable object independently of the larger "and encompassing DataSet object, This limitation required you to always use the DataSet object to perform any operation ona DataTable. The current version of ADONET removes this limitation and enables you to work directly with the DataTable for all your needs. In fact, we recommend that you don't use the DataSet object unless you need to work with multiple DataTable objects ond need a.container object to manage them, If you end up working with only a single table of information, then it is best to work with an instance of the DataTable object rather than a DataSet that contains only a single DataTable. The current version of ADO.NET provides the é€pability to load « DataTable in memory by consuming a data source using qDataReader, In the past, you were sometimes restricted to creating multiple overloads ‘Of the same method just to work with both the DataReader and the DataTable objects. Now you hove the flexibility to write the data access code ore time and reuse the DataReader — either directly or to fill o DataTab 705 shown in Listing 8-11. ’ ‘ NF thie froma DataReader VB en Listing 8-11: How to load a\ <%4@ Page Language="VB" %> <%@ Import Namespace="System Data’ 7 <%@ Import Namespace="System,Data.SqiClient" %> <%@ Import Namespace="System Configuration” he