Capturing count from an SQL query

What is the simplest way in C# (.cs file) to get the count from the SQL command

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name

into an int variable?

Solution 1:

Use SqlCommand.ExecuteScalar() and cast it to an int:

cmd.CommandText = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name";
Int32 count = (Int32) cmd.ExecuteScalar();

Solution 2:

SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection("ConnectionString");
conn.Open();
SqlCommand comm = new SqlCommand("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name", conn);
Int32 count = (Int32) comm .ExecuteScalar();

Solution 3:

You'll get converting errors with:

cmd.CommandText = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name";
Int32 count = (Int32) cmd.ExecuteScalar();

Use instead:

string stm = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name WHERE id="+id+";";
MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand(stm, conn);
Int32 count = Convert.ToInt32(cmd.ExecuteScalar());
if(count > 0){
    found = true; 
} else {
    found = false; 
}

Solution 4:

Complementing in C# with SQL:

SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection("ConnectionString");
conn.Open();
SqlCommand comm = new SqlCommand("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM table_name", conn);
Int32 count = Convert.ToInt32(comm.ExecuteScalar());
if (count > 0)
{
    lblCount.Text = Convert.ToString(count.ToString()); //For example a Label
}
else
{
    lblCount.Text = "0";
}
conn.Close(); //Remember close the connection