ADO.NET

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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 objects at a glance:

ADO.Net objects

The DataSet Class

The dataset represents a subset of the database. It does not have a continuous connection to the database. To update the database a reconnection is required. The DataSet contains DataTable objects and DataRelation objects. The DataRelation objects represent the relationship between two tables.

Following table shows some important properties of the DataSet class:

Properties Description
CaseSensitive Indicates whether string comparisons within the data tables are case-sensitive.
Container Gets the container for the component.
DataSetName Gets or sets the name of the current data set.
DefaultViewManager Returns a view of data in the data set.
DesignMode Indicates whether the component is currently in design mode.
EnforceConstraints Indicates whether constraint rules are followed when attempting any update operation.
Events Gets the list of event handlers that are attached to this component.
ExtendedProperties Gets the collection of customized user information associated with the DataSet.
HasErrors Indicates if there are any errors.
IsInitialized Indicates whether the DataSet is initialized.
Locale Gets or sets the locale information used to compare strings within the table.
Namespace Gets or sets the namespace of the DataSet.
Prefix Gets or sets an XML prefix that aliases the namespace of the DataSet.
Relations Returns the collection of DataRelation objects.
Tables Returns the collection of DataTable objects.

The following table shows some important methods of the DataSet class:

Methods Description
AcceptChanges Accepts all changes made since the DataSet was loaded or this method was called.
BeginInit Begins the initialization of the DataSet. The initialization occurs at run time.
Clear Clears data.
Clone Copies the structure of the DataSet, including all DataTable schemas, relations, and constraints. Does not copy any data.
Copy Copies both structure and data.
CreateDataReader() Returns a DataTableReader with one result set per DataTable, in the same sequence as the tables appear in the Tables collection.
CreateDataReader(DataTable[]) Returns a DataTableReader with one result set per DataTable.
EndInit Ends the initialization of the data set.
Equals(Object) Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object.
Finalize Free resources and perform other cleanups.
GetChanges Returns a copy of the DataSet with all changes made since it was loaded or the AcceptChanges method was called.
GetChanges(DataRowState) Gets a copy of DataSet with all changes made since it was loaded or the AcceptChanges method was called, filtered by DataRowState.
GetDataSetSchema Gets a copy of XmlSchemaSet for the DataSet.
GetObjectData Populates a serialization information object with the data needed to serialize the DataSet.
GetType Gets the type of the current instance.
GetXML Returns the XML representation of the data.
GetXMLSchema Returns the XSD schema for the XML representation of the data.
HasChanges() Gets a value indicating whether the DataSet has changes, including new, deleted, or modified rows.
HasChanges(DataRowState) Gets a value indicating whether the DataSet has changes, including new, deleted, or modified rows, filtered by DataRowState.
IsBinarySerialized Inspects the format of the serialized representation of the DataSet.
Load(IDataReader, LoadOption, DataTable[]) Fills a DataSet with values from a data source using the supplied IDataReader, using an array of DataTable instances to supply the schema and namespace information.
Load(IDataReader, LoadOption, String[]) Fills a DataSet with values from a data source using the supplied IDataReader, using an array of strings to supply the names for the tables within the DataSet.
Merge() Merges the data with data from another DataSet. This method has different overloaded forms.
ReadXML() Reads an XML schema and data into the DataSet. This method has different overloaded forms.
ReadXMLSchema(0) Reads an XML schema into the DataSet. This method has different overloaded forms.
RejectChanges Rolls back all changes made since the last call to AcceptChanges.
WriteXML() Writes an XML schema and data from the DataSet. This method has different overloaded forms.
WriteXMLSchema() Writes the structure of the DataSet as an XML schema. This method has different overloaded forms.

The DataTable Class

The DataTable class represents the tables in the database. It has the following important properties; most of these properties are read only properties except the PrimaryKey property:

Properties Description
ChildRelations Returns the collection of child relationship.
Columns Returns the Columns collection.
Constraints Returns the Constraints collection.
DataSet Returns the parent DataSet.
DefaultView Returns a view of the table.
ParentRelations Returns the ParentRelations collection.
PrimaryKey Gets or sets an array of columns as the primary key for the table.
Rows Returns the Rows collection.

The following table shows some important methods of the DataTable class:

Methods Description
AcceptChanges Commits all changes since the last AcceptChanges.
Clear Clears all data from the table.
GetChanges Returns a copy of the DataTable with all changes made since the AcceptChanges method was called.
GetErrors Returns an array of rows with errors.
ImportRows Copies a new row into the table.
LoadDataRow Finds and updates a specific row, or creates a new one, if not found any.
Merge Merges the table with another DataTable.
NewRow Creates a new DataRow.
RejectChanges Rolls back all changes made since the last call to AcceptChanges.
Reset Resets the table to its original state.
Select Returns an array of DataRow objects.

The DataRow Class

The DataRow object represents a row in a table. It has the following important properties:

Properties Description
HasErrors Indicates if there are any errors.
Items Gets or sets the data stored in a specific column.
ItemArrays Gets or sets all the values for the row.
Table Returns the parent table.

The following table shows some important methods of the DataRow class:

Methods Description
AcceptChanges Accepts all changes made since this method was called.
BeginEdit Begins edit operation.
CancelEdit Cancels edit operation.
Delete Deletes the DataRow.
EndEdit Ends the edit operation.
GetChildRows Gets the child rows of this row.
GetParentRow Gets the parent row.
GetParentRows Gets parent rows of DataRow object.
RejectChanges Rolls back all changes made since the last call to AcceptChanges.

The DataAdapter Object

The DataAdapter object acts as a mediator between the DataSet object and the database. This helps the Dataset to contain data from multiple databases or other data source.

The DataReader Object

The DataReader object is an alternative to the DataSet and DataAdapter combination. This object provides a connection oriented access to the data records in the database. These objects are suitable for read-only access, such as populating a list and then breaking the connection.

DbCommand and DbConnection Objects

The DbConnection object represents a connection to the data source. The connection could be shared among different command objects.

The DbCommand object represents the command or a stored procedure sent to the database from retrieving or manipulating data.

Example

So far, we have used tables and databases already existing in our computer. In this example, we will create a table, add column, rows and data into it and display the table using a GridView object.

The source file code is as given:

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="createdatabase._Default" %>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" >

   <head runat="server">
      <title>
         Untitled Page
      </title>
   </head>
   
   <body>
      <form id="form1" runat="server">
      
         <div>
            <asp:GridView ID="GridView1" runat="server">
            </asp:GridView>
         </div>
         
      </form>
   </body>
   
</html>

The code behind file is as given:

namespace createdatabase
{
   public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page
   {
      protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
      {
         if (!IsPostBack)
         {
            DataSet ds = CreateDataSet();
            GridView1.DataSource = ds.Tables["Student"];
            GridView1.DataBind();
         }
      }
      
      private DataSet CreateDataSet()
      {
         //creating a DataSet object for tables
         DataSet dataset = new DataSet();

         // creating the student table
         DataTable Students = CreateStudentTable();
         dataset.Tables.Add(Students);
         return dataset;
      }
      
      private DataTable CreateStudentTable()
      {
         DataTable Students = new DataTable("Student");

         // adding columns
         AddNewColumn(Students, "System.Int32", "StudentID");
         AddNewColumn(Students, "System.String", "StudentName");
         AddNewColumn(Students, "System.String", "StudentCity");

         // adding rows
         AddNewRow(Students, 1, "M H Kabir", "Kolkata");
         AddNewRow(Students, 1, "Shreya Sharma", "Delhi");
         AddNewRow(Students, 1, "Rini Mukherjee", "Hyderabad");
         AddNewRow(Students, 1, "Sunil Dubey", "Bikaner");
         AddNewRow(Students, 1, "Rajat Mishra", "Patna");

         return Students;
      }

      private void AddNewColumn(DataTable table, string columnType, string  columnName)
      {
         DataColumn column = table.Columns.Add(columnName,  Type.GetType(columnType));
      }

      //adding data into the table
      private void AddNewRow(DataTable table, int id, string name, string city)
      {
         DataRow newrow = table.NewRow();
         newrow["StudentID"] = id;
         newrow["StudentName"] = name;
         newrow["StudentCity"] = city;
         table.Rows.Add(newrow);
      }
   }
}

When you execute the program, observe the following:

  • The application first creates a data set and binds it with the grid view control using the DataBind() method of the GridView control.

  • The Createdataset() method is a user defined function, which creates a new DataSet object and then calls another user defined method CreateStudentTable() to create the table and add it to the Tables collection of the data set.

  • The CreateStudentTable() method calls the user defined methods AddNewColumn() and AddNewRow() to create the columns and rows of the table as well as to add data to the rows.

When the page is executed, it returns the rows of the table as shown:

ADO.Net Result
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