How do I connect to a database and loop over a recordset in C#?

What's the simplest way to connect and query a database for a set of records in C#?

Solution 1:

@Goyuix -- that's excellent for something written from memory. tested it here -- found the connection wasn't opened. Otherwise very nice.

using System.Data.OleDb;
...

using (OleDbConnection conn = new OleDbConnection())
{
    conn.ConnectionString = "Provider=sqloledb;Data Source=yourServername\\yourInstance;Initial Catalog=databaseName;Integrated Security=SSPI;";

    using (OleDbCommand cmd = new OleDbCommand())
    {
        conn.Open();
        cmd.Connection = conn;
        cmd.CommandText = "Select * from yourTable";

        using (OleDbDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader())
        {
            while (dr.Read())
            {
                Console.WriteLine(dr["columnName"]);
            }
        }
    }
}

Solution 2:

Very roughly and from memory since I don't have code on this laptop:

using (OleDBConnection conn = new OleDbConnection())
{
  conn.ConnectionString = "Whatever connection string";

  using (OleDbCommand cmd = new OleDbCommand())
  {
    cmd.Connection = conn;
    cmd.CommandText = "Select * from CoolTable";

    using (OleDbDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader())
    {
      while (dr.Read())
      {
        // do something like Console.WriteLine(dr["column name"] as String);
      }
    }
  }
}

Solution 3:

That's definitely a good way to do it. But you if you happen to be using a database that supports LINQ to SQL, it can be a lot more fun. It can look something like this:

MyDB db = new MyDB("Data Source=...");
var q = from db.MyTable
        select c;
foreach (var c in q)
  Console.WriteLine(c.MyField.ToString());

Solution 4:

This is an alternative way (DataReader is faster than this one):

string s = "";
SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection("Server=192.168.1.1;Database=master;Connect Timeout=30;User ID=foobar;Password=raboof;");
SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter("SELECT TOP 5 name, dbid FROM sysdatabases", conn);
DataTable dt = new DataTable();

da.Fill(dt);

for (int i = 0; i < dt.Rows.Count; i++)
{
    s += dt.Rows[i]["name"].ToString() + " -- " + dt.Rows[i]["dbid"].ToString() + "\n";
}

MessageBox.Show(s);