Question 1: What is ADO.NET?

Answer 1: ADO stands for Active Data Object and ADO.NET is a set of .NET libraries for ADO.

ADO.NET is a collection of managed libraries used by .NET applications for data source
communication using a driver or provider:

• Enterprise applications handle a large amount of data. This data is primarily stored in
relational databases, such as Oracle, SQL Server, and Access and so on. These databases
use Structured Query Language (SQL) for retrieval of data.

• To access enterprise data from a .NET application, an interface was needed. This
interface acts as a bridge between an RDBMS system and a .NET application. ADO.NET is
such an interface that is created to connect .NET applications to RDBMS systems.

• In the .NET framework, Microsoft introduced a new version of Active X Data Objects
(ADO) called ADO.NET. Any .NET application, either Windows based or web based, can
interact with the database using a rich set of classes of the ADO.NET library. Data can be
accessed from any database using connected or disconnected architecture.
ADO.NET provides mainly the following two types of architectures:

• Connected Architecture.

• Disconnected Architecture.

ADO.NET Namespaces

Namespaces Description
System.Data Contains the definition for columns,
relations, tables, database, rows, views and
constraints.
System.Data.SqlClient Contains the classes that are used to connect
to a Microsoft SQL Server database such as
SqlCommand, SqlConnection,
SqlDataAdapter.
 System.Data.Odbc Contains classes required to connect to most
ODBC drivers. These classes include
OdbcCommand,OdbcConnection.
System.Data.OracleClient Contains classes such as
OracleConnection,OracleCommand required
to connect to an Oracle database.

See for more detail:

• Database Programming With ADO.NET

Question 2: What are the ADO.NET components?

Answer 2: ADO.NET components categorized in three modes: disconnected, common or shared

and the .NET data providers.

The disconnected components build the basic ADO.NET architecture. You can use these
components (or classes) with or without data providers. For example, you can use a DataTable
object with or without providers and shared or common components are the base classes for
data providers. Shared or common components are the base classes for data providers and
shared by all data providers. The data provider components are specifically designed to work
with different kinds of data sources. For example, ODBC data providers work with ODBC data
sources and OleDb data providers work with OLE-DB data sources.

Figure represents the ADO.NET components model and how they work together:

See for more detail:

 • Understanding ADO.NET Components

Question 3: How can you define the DataSet structure?

Answer 3: A DataSet object falls in disconnected components series. The DataSet consists of a
collection of tables, rows, columns and relationships.

DataSet contains a collection of DataTables and the DataTable contains a collection of

DataRows, DataRelations, and DataColumns. A DataTable maps to a table in the database. The
previous DataSet contains a DataTable that maps to the Orders table because you filled it with a
SELECT query executed on the Order table.

See for more detail:

• Data Set and Data View objects in ADO.NET

Question 4: What is Connection Pooling in ADO.NET?

Answer 4: Connection pooling is the ability of reusing your connection to the database. This
means if you enable Connection pooling in the connection object, actually you enable the re-
use of the connection to more than one user.

ADO.NET uses a technique called connection pooling, which minimizes the cost of repeatedly
opening and closing connections. Connection pooling reuses existing active connections with
the same connection string instead of creating new connections when a request is made to the
database. It involves the use of a connection manager that is responsible for maintaining a list,
or pool, of available connections for a given connection string. Several pools exist if different
connection strings ask for connection pooling.

Example of Pooling:
 1. connection.ConnectionString = sqlConnectString + "Connection
Timeout=30;Connection Lifetime=0;Min Pool Size=0;Max Pool
Size=100;Pooling=true;";
2. //Open connection
A Connection String in the Web.Config file with connection pooling option:

3. <connectionStrings>
4. <clear />
5. <add name="sqlConnectionString" connectionString="Data
Source=mySQLServer;Initial Catalog=myDatabase;Integrated
Security=True;Connection Timeout=15;Connection Lifetime=0;Min
Pool Size=0;Max Pool Size=100;Pooling=true;" />
6. </connectionStrings>
SQL Server connection string pooling attributes:

• Connection Lifetime: Length of time in seconds after creation after which a connection
is destroyed. The default is 0, indicating that connection will have the maximum
timeout.

• Connection Reset: Specifies whether the connection is reset when removed from the
pool. The default is true.

• Enlist: Specifies whether the connection is automatically enlisted in the current

transaction context of the creation thread if that transaction context exists. The default
is true.

• Load Balance Timeout: Length of time in seconds that a connection can remain idle in a
connection pool before being removed.

• Max Pool Size: Maximum number of connections allowed in the pool. The default is
100.

• Min Pool Size: Minimum number of connections maintained in the pool. The default is
0.
 • Pooling: When true, the connection is drawn from the appropriate pool, or if necessary,
created and added to the appropriate pool. The default is true.
See for more detail:

• Connection Pooling (ADO.NET)

Question 5: What is the differences Between DataReader and

DataSet?
Answer

No DataReader DataSet
1 Used in a connected Used in a disconnected
architecture architecture.
2 Provides better performance Provides lower performance.
3 DataReader object has read- A DataSet object has
only access read/write access
4 DataReader object supports a A DataSet object supports
single table based on a single multiple tables from various
SQL query of one database databases.
5 A DataReader object is bound A DataSet object is bound to
to a single control. multiple controls.
6 A DataReader object has A DataSet object has slower
faster access to data. access to data.
7 A DataReader object must be A DataSet object is supported
manually coded. by Visual Studio tools.
8 We can't create a relation in We can create relations in a
a data reader. dataset.
9 Whereas a DataReader A Dataset supports
doesn't support data reader integration with XML Dataset
communicates with the communicates with the Data
command object. Adapter only.
10 DataReader cannot modify A DataSet can modify data.
data.

See for more detail:

• Database Programming With ADO.NET

Question 6: What is SqlCommand Object?

Answer 6: The SqlCommand carries the SQL statement that needs to be executed on the
database. SqlCommand carries the command in the CommandText property and this property
will be used when the SqlCommand calls any of its execute methods.

• The Command Object uses the connection object to execute SQL queries.
• The queries can be in the form of Inline text, Stored Procedures or direct Table access.
• An important feature of Command object is that it can be used to execute queries and
Stored Procedures with Parameters.
• If a select query is issued, the result set it returns is usually stored in either a DataSet or
a DataReader object.
The three important methods exposed by the SqlCommand object is shown below:

• ExecuteScalar
• ExecuteNonQuery
• ExecuteReader

ExecuteScalar is useful for returning a single value from the database. For example, using this
method we can retrieve a sum of sales made by a specific product, total number of records in
the employee table, unique id by supplying filtering conditions and so on. Since this method
performs faster we do not need to go for the Reader method just to retrieve a single scalar
value.

ExecuteNonQuery is useful for performing data manipulation on the database. Simply, the
ExecuteNonQuery is for executing the DML statements. The return value of the
ExecuteNonQuery is an integral value that represents the number of rows affected by the
Operation.

ExecuteReader is used when we need to retrieve rows and columns of data using the SQL select
statements. As the data retrieved is a table of data, ExecuteReader returns SqlDataReader. We
should iterate through this object to get the required values.

See for more detail:

• Working With Command Object in ADO.NET

Question 7: What is the difference between ADO and ADO.NET?

Answer: Difference between ADO and ADO.NET.

 ADO ADO.NET
ADO has one main object that is used to ADO.NET provides objects that allow you to
reference data, called the RecordSet object. access data in various ways. The
DataSetobject allows you to store the
relational model of your database. MARS
(Multiple Active Result Sets) is implemented
in ADO.NET
You can only work on connected manner. ADO.NET uses data in a disconnected
This means that when you access data, such fashion. When you access data, ADO.NET
as viewing and updating data, it is real-time, makes a copy of the data using XML.
with a connection being used all the time. ADO.NET only holds the connection open
This is barring, of course, you programming long enough to either pull down the data or
special routines to pull all your data into to make any requested updates. This makes
temporary tables. ADO.NET efficient to use for Web
applications. It's also decent for desktop
In connectedmodel you always get refreshed applications.
data.
You can work on connected and
disconnected manner.br>
In disconnectedmodel you will get old data as
you are editing it. Outlook is an example of
disconnected model. We work on offline
object model and when connection is
required it is connected.

Connected object can be used on

disconnected object.
Whereas ADO allows you to persist records in ADO.NET allows you to manipulate your data
XML format. using XML as the primary means. This is nice
when you are working with other business
applications and also helps when you are
working with firewalls because data is passed
as HTML and XML.
ADO allows you to create client-side cursors ADO.NET gives you the choice of either using
only. client-side or server-side cursors. In
ADO.NET, classes actually handle the work of
cursors. The developer has the freedom of
choice in internet development, for creating
efficient applications.
See for more detail:

• What is ADO.NET?
Question 8: What is the DataAdapter Object in ADO.NET?

Answer 8: A Data Adapter represents a set of data commands and a database connection to fill
the dataset and update a SQL Server database.

A Data Adapter contains a set of data commands and a database connection to fill the dataset
and update a SQL Server database. Data Adapters form the bridge between a data source and a
dataset.

Data Adapters are designed depending on the specific data source. The following table shows
the Data Adapter classes with their data source.

Provider-Specific Data Adapter classes Data Source

SqlDataAdapter SQL Server
OledbDataAdapter OLE DB provider
OdbcDataAdapter ODBC driver
OracleDataAdapter Oracle

A Data Adapter supports mainly the following two methods:

• Fill (): The Fill method populates a dataset or a data table object with data from the
database. It retrieves rows from the data source using the SELECT statement specified
by an associated select command property.

The Fill method leaves the connection in the same state as it encountered before
populating the data.

• Update (): The Update method commits the changes back to the database. It also
analyzes the RowState of each record in the DataSet and calls the appropriate INSERT,
UPDATE, and DELETE statements.

Example:

7. SqlDataAdapter da=new SqlDataAdapter("Select * from

8. Employee", con);
9. da.Fill(ds,"Emp");
10. bldr =new SqlCommandBuilder(da);
 11. dataGridView1.DataSource = ds.Tables["Emp"];
See for more detail:

• Database Programming With ADO.NET

Question 9: Use of DataSet object in ADO.NET?

Answer

• It is used in a disconnected architecture.

• Provides lower performance. A DataSet object has read/write access.
• A DataSet object supports multiple tables from various databases.
• A DataSet object is bound to multiple controls.
• A DataSet object has slower access to data.
• A DataSet object is supported by Visual Studio tools.
• We can create relations in a dataset.
• A Dataset supports integration with XML.
• A DataSet communicates with the Data Adapter only.
• A DataSet can modify data.

A DataSet is a collection of DataTable and DataRelations. Each DataTable is a collection of

DataColumn, DataRows and Constraints.

Example

12. DataTable dt = new DataTable();

13. DataColumn col =new DataColumn();
14. Dt.columns.Add(col2);
15. DataRow row = dt.newRow();
See for more detail:

• Database Programming With ADO.NET

Question 10: Describe the System.Data Namespace Class?

Answer: The three general namespaces are System.Data, System.Data.Common and

System.Data.SqlTypes. Some of the provider-specific namespaces are System.Data.OleDb,
Microsoft.Data.Odbc and System.Data.SqlClient.
The System.Data namespace defines classes that you can use with all the data providers or
without data providers at all. This namespace also defines interfaces that are base classes for
the data provider classes. The following figure shows the System.Data namespace class
hierarchy.

See for more detail:

• ADO .NET Class Hierarchy

Question 11: What is DataTable in ADO.NET?

Answer

• DataTable represents a single table in a database.

• In this show row and column.
• DataSet is a collection of data tables.
• In this store data record.

DataTable representation in .aspx.cs code,

16. protected void BinddataTable()

17. {
18. SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection("your database
connection string");
19. con.Open();
20. SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("Write your query or
procedure", con);
21. SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd);
22. DataTable dt = new DataTable();
23. da.Fill(dt);
24. grid.DataSource = dt;
25. grid.DataBind();
26. }
See for more detail:

• ADO.NET Technique With ASP.NET

Question 12: What is the DataReader in ADO.Net?

Answer

• DataReader holds only one table at a time.

• It only provides read only access mode and cannot write data.
• It is not required local storage to data store.
• Holds one row at a time.
• Uses less memory.
• DataReader do not maintain relation.

DataReader representation in .aspx.cs code,

27. protected void Bind()

28. {
29. SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection("your database
connection string ");
30. con.Open();
31. SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("Write your query or
procedure ", con);
32. SqlDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader();
33. grid.DataSource = dr;
34. grid.DataBind();
35. }
The DataReader properties

Property Description
Depth Indicates the depth of nesting for row
FieldCount Returns number of columns in a row
IsClosed Indicates whether a data reader is closed
Item Gets the value of a column in native format
RecordsAffected Number of row affected after a transaction

The DataReader methods

Property Description
Close Closes a DataRaeder object.
Read Reads next record in the data reader.
NextResult Advances the data reader to the next result
during batch transactions.
Getxxx There are dozens of Getxxx methods. These
methods read a specific data type value from
 a column. For example. GetChar will return a
column value as a character and GetString as
a string.

See for more detail:

• DataReader in ADO.NET

Question 13: What is the SqlCommandBuilder?

Answer: CommandBuilder helps you to generate update, delete, and insert commands on a
single database table for a data adapter. Similar to other objects, each data provider has a
command builder class. The OleDbCommandBuilder, SqlCommonBuilder, and
OdbcCommandBuilder classes represent the CommonBuilder object in the OleDb, Sql, and
ODBC data providers.

Creating a Command Builder Object:

Creating a CommonedBuider object is pretty simply. You pass a DataAdapter as an argument of

the CommandBuilder constructor. For example,

36. // Create a command builder object

37. SqlCommandBuilder builder = new SqlCommandBuilder(adapter);
See for more detail:

• CommandBuilder in ADO.NET

Question 14: What is the Connection object in ADO.NET?

Answer : A Connection object sits between a data source and a DataAdapter (via Command).
You need to define a data provider and a data source when you create a connection. With
these two, you can also specify the user ID and password depending on the type of data source.
Figure 3-3 shows the relationship between a connection, a data source, and a data adapter.
Figure: The relationship between connection, data Adapter, and a data source.

Connection can also be connected to a Command object to execute SQL queries, which can be
used to retrieve, add, update and delete data to a data source. Figure 2 shows the relationship
between the Command and Connection objects.

Data provider connection classes

Data provider Connection classes

OleDb OleDbConnection
Sql SqlConnection
ODBC OdbcConnection
See for more detail:

• Connection Object in ADO.NET

Question 15: Describe the DataView in ADO.NET?

Answer: A DataView enables you to create different views of the data stored in a DataTable, a
capability that is often used in data binding applications. Using a DataView, you can expose the
data in a table with different sort orders, and you can filter the data by row state or based on a
filter expression. A DataView provides a dynamic view of data whose content, ordering, and
membership reflect changes to the underlying DataTable as they occur. This is different from
the Select method of the DataTable, which returns a DataRow array from a table per particular
filter and/or sort order and whose content reflects changes to the underlying table, but whose
membership and ordering remain static. The dynamic capabilities of the DataView make it ideal
for data-binding applications.

How we can create a DataView

There are two ways to create a DataView. You can use the DataView constructor, or you can
create a reference to the DefaultView property of the DataTable. The DataView constructor can
be empty, or will also take either a DataTable as a single argument, or a DataTable along with
filter criteria, sort criteria, and a row state filter.

38. DataView custDV = new DataView(customerDS.Tables["Customers"],

39. "Country = 'USA'",
40. "ContactName",
41. DataViewRowState.CurrentRows);
42. DataView custDV = customerDS.Tables["Customers"].DefaultView;
See for more detail:

• DataView in C#

Question 16: What is ExecuteScalar method in ADO.NET?

Answer:

ExecuteScalar Method

The ExecuteScalar method of the SqlCommand object is useful for retrieving a single value from
the database. In our example, we need to retrieve the total number of records in the Titles
table of the Pubs database. Since the total number of records is a single scalar value, the
Execute Scalar method is used. The following is the code and its explanation:

43. private void frmSqlCommand_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

44. {
45. //Sample 03: Open Database Connection
46. String con_string = Properties.Settings.Default.ConStrPubs;
47. pubs_db_connection = new SqlConnection(con_string);
 48. pubs_db_connection.Open();
49. //Sample 04: Form the Command Object
50. SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand();
51. cmd.CommandText = "Select Count(*) as Count from Titles";
52. cmd.Connection = pubs_db_connection;
53. //Sample 05: Execute the Command & retrive scalar value
54. lblTotal.Text = System.Convert.ToString(cmd.ExecuteScalar());
55. }
See for more detail:

• Understanding SqlCommand and DataReader in ADO.NET

Question 17: What are the methods of DataSet?

Answer: It is used in disconnected architecture. It represent records in the form of Database

table (Row and Column) format. It stores record of one or more tables.
56. SqlDataAdapter da;
57. DataSet ds;
58. string strconn = "Data Source=YourServerName;Initial
Catalog=EMP;Integrated Security=True";
59. private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
60. {
61. da = new SqlDataAdapter("select * from userdet", strconn);
62. ds = new System.Data.DataSet();
63. da.Fill(ds);
64. dataGridView1.DataSource = ds.Tables[0];
65. }
Methods of DataSet:

• AcceptChanges(): This method saves changes which are made with records in a DataSet.

• Clear(): This method clears (removes) all rows from DataSet.

• Clone(): The clone method copy the structure of DataSet. Means it copy only schema
not full records of DataSet.

• Copy(): It copies the whole records with structure of DataSet.

 • RejectChanges(): This method discard changes which is made with DataSet and set the
DataSet to previous stage (which was at first).

• HasChanges(): This method return boolean value to show whether record of DataSet
has changed or not. It returns true if any changes has made and false if no other
changes made.

• GetChanges(): This method keep copy of those record, which is changed or modified.
See for more detail:

• Working With DataSet and It's Methods in ADO.NET

Question 18: What are Parameters in ADO.NET?

Answer: Parameters in conjunction with SelectCommand to help you Select data for the
DataSet.

The OleDbType describes the type information for the parameter. It consists of everything from
strings to Global Unique Identifiers (GUIDs). SQL data provider has SqlDbType, and ODBC data
provider has an ODBC type. These type names and definitions differ depending upon the
provider you're using. For example, the Money type is the same in ODBC and Sqldata providers,
but is called Currency in OleDb data providers.

The OLEDB Parameter Class properties

Property Description
DbType Represents the DbType of the parameter.
Direction Represents the direction of a parameter. A
parameter can be input-only, output-only, bi-
directional, or a stored procedure.
IsNullable Represents whether a parameter accepts null
values.
OleDbType Represents the OleDbType of the parameter.
ParameterName Represents the name of the parameter.
Precision Represents the maximum number of digits
used to represent the Value property.
 Scale Represents the decimal places to which Value
is resolved.
Size Represents the maximum size in bytes a
column can store.
SourceColumn Represents the source column mapped to the
DataSet.
SourceVersion Represents the DataRowversion.
Value Represents the Value of the parameter.

Creating a parameter

this.oleDbDeleteCommand2.Parameters.Add(newSystem.Data.OleDb.OleDbParameter("Contac
tName", System.Data.OleDb.OleDbType.char, 30, System.Data.ParameterDirection.Input, false,
(( system.Byte)(0)),((System.Byte)(0)), "Contact Name", System.Data.DataRowVersion.Original,
null));

See for more detail:

• Parameters in ADO.NET

Question 19: What is the difference between DataSet and

DataReader?

Answer:

DataReader
66. The ADO.NET DataReader is used to retrieve read-only (cannot update data back to
datasource) and forward-only (cannot read backward/random) data from a database.

67. Using the DataReader increases application performance and reduces system
overheads. This is due to one row at a time is stored in memory.

68. You create a DataReader by calling Command.ExecuteReader after creating an instance

of the Command object.
 69. This is a connected architecture: The data is available as long as the connection with
database exists.

70. You need to open and close the connection manually in code.
DataSet
71. The DataSet is a in-memory representation of data.

72. It can be used with multiple data sources. That is a single DataSet and can hold the data
from different data sources holding data from different databases/tables.

73. The DataSet represents a complete set of data including related tables, constraints, and
relationships among the tables.

74. The DataSet can also persist and reload its contents as XML and its schema as XML
Schema definition language (XSD) schema.

75. The DataAdapter acts as a bridge between a DataSet and a data source for retrieving
and saving data.

76. The DataAdapter helps mapping the data in the DataSet to match the data in the data
source.

77. Also, upon an update of dataset, it allows changing the data in the data source to match
the data in the DataSet.

78. No need to manually open and close connection in code.

79. Hence, point (8) says that it is a disconnected architecture. Fill the data in DataSet and
that's it. No connection existence required.
See for more detail:

• DataReader Vs DataSet?

Question 20 : What you understand by ExecuteNonQuery

Method?

Answer 20: The ExecuteNonQuery method is used to execute the command and return the
number of rows affected.

The ExecuteNonQuery method cannot be used to return the result set.

Snippets working with ExecuteNonQuery

80. public void CallExecuteNonQuery()

81. {
82. SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection();
83. conn.ConnectionString =
ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["connString"].ConnectionSt
ring;
84. try
85. {
86. SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand();
87. cmd.Connection = conn;
88. cmd.CommandText = "DELETE FROM EMP WHERE DEPTNO = 40";
89. cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
90. conn.Open();
91. Int32 RowsAffected = cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
92. MessageBox.Show(RowsAffected + " rows affected",
"Message");
93. cmd.Dispose();
94. conn.Dispose();
95. }
96. catch(Exception ex)
97. {
98. MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
99. }
100. }
See for more detail:

• Working With Command Object in ADO.NET

Question 21: What do you understand by DataRelation class?

Answer: The DataRelation is a class of disconnected architecture in the .NET framework. It is

found in the System.Data namespace. It represents a relationship between database tables and
correlates tables on the basis of matching column.
101. DataRelation drel;
102. drel = new DataRelation("All", ds.Tables[0].Columns[0],
ds.Tables[1].Columns[0]);
See for more detail:

• DataRelation class in ADO.NET

Question 22: How can create a SqlConnection?

Answer: SqlConnection class is used to establish the connection between front end and back
end.

Syntax:

SqlConnection obj=new SqlConnection(“Integrated Security=true;Initial

Catalog=Table_Name;Data Source=.”);-- for Windows authentication

SqlConnection obj=new SqlConnection(“user id= sa ;

Password=sa123;server=.;database=name”); --Sql server Authentication
See for more detail:

• Overview Of ADO.NET

Question 23: What are the important classes in ADO.NET?

Answer: ADO.NET is a set of classes (a framework) to interact with data sources such as
databases and XML files. ADO is the acronym for ActiveX Data Object. It allows us to connect to
underlying data or databases. It has classes and methods to retrieve and manipulate data.
The following are a few of the .NET applications that use ADO.NET to connect to a database,
execute commands and retrieve data from the database.

• ASP.NET Web Applications

• Console Applications
• Windows Applications.

Important classes in ADO.NET

103. Connection Class
104. Command Class
105. DataReader Class
106. DataAdaptor Class
107. DataSet.Class
How to Connect to a Database using ADO.NET:

To create a connection, you must be familiar with connection strings. A connection string is
required as a parameter to SQLConnection. A ConnectionString is a string variable (not case
sensitive).

This contains key and value pairs, like provider, server, database, userid and word as in the
following:

Server="nameof the server or IP Address of the server"

Database="name of the database"
userid="user name who has permission to work with database"
word="the word of userid"

See for more detail:

• Basics of ADO.NET

Question 24: What do you understand by SqlTransaction class in

ADO.NET?

Answer: The SqlTransaction class is an important class of .NET Framework. It ensures that a
body of code will affect a Database or kept the same as previous (Rollback).
At first we should know about it's two most important method which will be used here. They
are given below.

• Commit(): It commits the transaction. It save changes made in Database during

transaction. In simple term we can also say that it shows the end of transaction at that
time.

• Rollback(): It is used to rollback the transaction. It set the database in previous stage
which was, before the begin of transaction.
See for more detail:

• Working with the SqlTransaction Class in ADO.NET

Question 25: What are the two fundamental objects in

ADO.NET?

Answer: There are the two fundamental objects in ADO.NET:

• Data reader
• Data set
DataReader Class:

The DataReader class object allows you to read the data returned by a SELECT command by a
simple forward-only and read-only cursor. It requires a live connection with the data source and
provides a very efficient way of looping and consuming all parts of the result set. The object of
the DataReader cannot be directly instantiated. Instead you must call the ExecuteReader
method of the Command object and close the connection when you are done using the
DataReader otherwise the connection remains alive until it is explicitly closed.

DataReader with ExecuteReader() Method:

108. //Open connection

109. Conn.Open();
110. sdr = sc.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);
111. //Get all records
112. while(sdr.Read())
 113. {
114. textBox1.AppendText(sdr.GetValue(0) + "\t" +
sdr.GetValue(1));
115. textBox1.AppendText("\n");
116. }
DataSet class:

A DataSet is a disconnected architecture technology. It contains zero or more tables and

relationships. When you work with a dataset, the data in the data source is not touched at all.
Instead all the changes are made locally to the dataset in memory. In the following example you
will see how to retrieve data from a SQL Server table and use it to fill in a DataTable object in
the DataSet.
117. private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
118. {
119. //Connection String
120. string conString = "Data
Source=localhost;Database=AdventureWorksLT2008;Integrated
Security=SSPI";
121. // Add Connection string to SqlConnection
122. SqlConnection Conn = new SqlConnection(conString);
123. string query = "select * from SalesLT.Customer";
124. //Command Class definition
125. SqlCommand sc = new SqlCommand(query, Conn);
126. // Data Adapter definition
127. SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter();
128. sda.SelectCommand = sc;
129. //data Set definition
130. DataSet ds = new DataSet();
131. // filling the result set in data table
132. sda.Fill(ds, "SalesLT.Customer");
133. //output in data grid
134. dataGridView1.DataSource =
ds.Tables["SalesLT.Customer"];
135. }
See for more detail:

• Overview of ADO.NET Architecture

Question 26: What is DataAdapter and its property?

Answer: A DataAdapter bridges the gap between the disconnected DataTable objects and the
physical data source. The SqlDataAdapter is capable of executing a SELECT, DELETE and UPDATE
statement on a data source as well as extracting input from the result set into a DataTable
object. The SqlDataAdapter class provides a method called Fill() to copy the result set into the
DataTable.

136. // Data Adapter definition

137. SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter(sc);
These are the commonly used properties offered by the SqlDataAdapter class as in the
following:

Property Description
SelectCommand This command executed to fill in a Data Table
with the result set.
InsertCommand Executed to insert a new row to the SQL
database.
UpdateCommand Executed to update an existing record on the
SQL database.
DeleteCommand Executed to delete an existing record on the
SQL database.

See for more detail:

• Overview of ADO.NET Architecture

Question 27: Which namespaces are used for data access?

Answer: ADO.NET is a collection of managed libraries used by .NET applications for data source
communication using a driver or provider.

ADO.NET provides libraries for the datasource communication under the following namespaces.
138. system.Data
139. system.Data.OleDb
140. system.Data.SqlClient
141. system.Data.OracleClient
142. system.Data.Odbc
143. System.Data: This namespace is used for holding and managing data on a client
machine.
 144. System.Data.OleDb: This namespace can communicate with any data source like
files, databases, indexing servers and so on using the “OleDb” Provider.

145. System.Data.SqlClient: This namespace can communicate with “SQL Server”

database only using SqlClient Providers.

146. System.Data.OracleClient: This namespace can communicate with an “Oracle”

database only using OracleClient Providers.

147. System.Data.ODBC: This namespace contains the same set of classes as the
following:

o Connection
o Command
o DataReader
o DataAdaptar
o CommandBuilder
o Parameter
See for more detail:

• Introduction To ADO.NET

Question 28: Explain the properties and methods of Command

Object.

Answer: The command object is one of the basic components of ADO .NET.
148. The Command Object uses the connection object to execute SQL queries.
149. The queries can be in the form of Inline text, Stored Procedures or direct Table
access.
150. An important feature of Command object is that it can be used to execute
queries and Stored Procedures with Parameters.
151. If a select query is issued, the result set it returns is usually stored in either a
DataSet or a DataReader object.

Associated Properties of SqlCommand class

 Property Type of Access Description

Connection Read/Write The SqlConnection object

that is used by the command
object to execute SQL queries
or Stored Procedure.
CommandText Read/Write Represents the T-SQL
Statement or the name of
the Stored Procedure.
CommandType Read/Write This property indicates how
the CommandText property
should be interpreted. The
possible values are:

1. Text (T-SQL Statement)

2. StoredProcedure (Stored
Procedure Name)
3. TableDirect
CommandTimeout Read/Write This property indicates the
time to wait when executing
a particular command.

Default Time for Execution of

Command is 30 Seconds.

The Command is aborted

after it times out and an
exception is thrown.

Now, let us have a look at various execute methods that can be called from a Command Object.

Property Description
ExecuteNonQuery This method executes the command specifies
and returns the number of rows affected.
ExecuteReader The ExecuteReader method executes the
command specified and returns an instance
of instance of SqlDataReader class.
ExecuteScalar This method executes the command
specified and returns the first column of first
 row of the result set. The remaining rows and
column are ignored
ExecuteXMLReader This method executes the command
specified and returns an instance of
XmlReader class. This method can be used to
return the result set in the form of an XML
document

See for more detail:

• Working With Command Object in ADO.NET

Question 29: Explain the ExecuteReader method

152. The DataReader object is a forward-only and read-only cursor.
153. It requires a live connection to the data source.
154. The DataReader object cannot be directly instantiated. Instead, we must call the
ExecuteReader() method of the command object to obtain a valid DataReader object.
155. SqlDataReader reader =
cmd.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);
• Working With Command Object in ADO.NET

Question 30: Explain the ExecuteScalar method in ADO.NET?

Answer:

The ExecuteScalar Method in SqlCommandObject returns the first column of the first row after
executing the query against the Data Source.
156. If the result set contain more than one column or rows, it takes only the first
column of the first row. All other values are ignored.

157. If the result set is empty it will return null.

158. Int32 TotalSalary = Convert.ToInt32(cmd.ExecuteScalar());
See for more detail:

• Working With Command Object in ADO.NET

Question 31: Explain the ExecuteXmlReader?

Answer: The execute reader method is flexible when we need the result set in the form of an
XML doucment. The ExecuteXmlReader methods returns an instance of XmlReader class.

Example: XmlReader xmlreader = cmd.ExecuteXmlReader();

XmlDocument xdoc = new XmlDocument();

Using the XmlDocument class we load the XmlReader object and save it to the File System using
the Save method.

See for more detail:

• Working With Command Object in ADO.NET

Question 32: What method in the oleDbDataAdapter class

populates a dataset with records?

Answer: The Fill method populates a dataset with records.

159. private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

160. {
161. SqlConnection con;
 162. SqlDataAdapter adapter;
163. DataSet ds = new DataSet();
164. try
165. {
166. //create connection object
167. con = new SqlConnection("connetionString");
168. //create query string(SELECT QUERY)
169. String query = "SELECT * FROM SOMETABLE WHERE...";
170. con.Open();
171. //Adapter bind to query and connection object
172. adapter = new SqlDataAdapter(query, con);
173. //fill the dataset
174. adapter.Fill(ds);
175. }
176. catch(Exception ex)
177. {
178. con.Close();
179. }
180. }
Your DataSet contains the result table of SELECT query. You can play around the table and its
data.

• SqlDataAdapter Fill Method

Question 33: Explain the OleDbDataAdapter Command

Properties with Examples?

Answer:

Property Example
SelectCommand cmd.SelectCommand.CommandText =
"SELECT * FROM Orders ORDER BY Price"
DeleteCommand TheDataSetCommand.DeleteCommand.Com
mandText = "DELETE FROM orders WHERE
LastName = 'Smith' ";
InsertCommand TheDataSetCommand.InsertCommand.Comm
andText = "INSERT INTO Orders VALUE (25,
'Widget1', 'smith')";
UpdateCommand TheDataSetCommand.UpdateCommand.Com
mandText = "UPDATE Orders SET ZipCode =
'34956' WHERE OrderNum = 14";
The OLEDb Data Adapter methods

Method Description
Fill This method fills data records from a
DataAdapter to a DataSet object.
FillSchema This method adds a DataTable to a DataSet.
GetFillParameters This method retrieves parameters that are
used when a SELECT statement is executed.
Update This method stores data from a data set to
the data source.

See for more detail:

• DataAdapter Properties and Methods in ADO.NET

Question 34: Explain the clear() method of DataSet?

Answer: This method clears (removes) all rows from DataSet.

Create a button, set it's text as Clear and write the following code in the click event.

181. private void btnclear_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

182. {
183. ds.Clear();
184. }
185. Run the application.
Output:
Click the "clear" button. You will note that all rows are clear as in the following screenshot,

See for more detail:

• Working With DataSet and It's Methods in ADO.NET

Question 35: What is clone() method of DataSet?

Answer: The clone method copy the structure of DataSet. Means it copy only schema not full
records of DataSet.

Take another DataGridView and one button in your project and write the following code on
button click event.
 186. private void btnclone_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
187. {
188. DataSet daset = ds.Clone();
189. dataGridView2.DataSource = daset.Tables[0];
190. }
Now run the application.

Output

Click the "Clone" button. The following figure shows that only structure has copied.
See for more detail:

• Working With DataSet and It's Methods in ADO.NET

Question 36: What is the Copy() method of DataSet?

Answer: Copy the whole records with structure of DataSet.

Take a button and set it's text as copy and write the following code on click event.

191. private void btncopy_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

192. {
193. DataSet daset = ds.Copy();
194. dataGridView2.DataSource = daset.Tables[0];
195. }
Now run the application.

Output
Click the copy button.

See for more detail:

• Working With DataSet and It's Methods in ADO.NET

Question 37: What is the HasChanges() method of DataSet?

Answer: This method return boolean value to show whether record of DataSet has changed or
not. It returns true if any changes made and false if no changes performed.

Take a button and set it's text as "HasChanges" and write the following code on button click.

196. private void btnHasChanges_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

197. {
198. if(ds.HasChanges())
199. {
200. MessageBox.Show("Changes Has Made");
 201. }
202. if(!ds.HasChanges())
203. {
204. MessageBox.Show("No Change");
205. }
206. }
Run the application.

Output

Now click at "HasChanges" button after doing some changes in dataset record.
Output

See for more detail:

• Working With DataSet and It's Methods in ADO.NET

Question 38: What are the Connection object properties and

Connection class members?

Answer: The Connection class has a connection string that opens a connection to the database.
The connection string will vary depending upon the provider used. The connection strings
typically contain a group of property-value pair to describe how to connect to a database. For
an OleDbConnection, you have properties such as Provider and DataSource.

Property Description
ConnectionString Represent the connection string.
ConnectionTimeOut Waiting time while establishing a connection.
DataBase Name of the current database.
DataSource Location of the file name of the data source.
Provider Name of the OLE DB provider. This property
is not available for Sql and ODBC data
providers.
State Current state of the connection of type
ConnectionState. (Table 5-17 describes the
ConnectionState).
 PacketSize Size of network packets. Available to only Sql
data providers.
ServerVersion SQL server version. Available to only Sql data
providers.
WorkStationId Database client ID. Available to only Sql data
providers.

The connection can have different states such as open, closed, connecting, and so on. The
ConnectionType enumeration defines the members of the ConnectionState.

The connection Class Members

Method Description
BeginTransaction Begins database transaction.
ChangeDatabase Changes databases for an open connection.
Close Closes an opened connection.
CreateCommand Creates and return a Command object
depends on the data providers. For example,
OleDb Connection returns OleDbCommand,
and SqlConnection returns SqlCommand.
Open Open a new connection.
ReleaseObjectPool Represents that the connection pooling can
be cleared when the provider is released.
Available only for Ole Db data providers.
• Connecting to the Database in ADO.NET

Question 39: What is the preferred method for executing SQL

commands that contain parameters?

Answer: The preferred method is to use the SqlParameter and oleDbParameter objects, as
detailed in the section "Using Parameters with the command Object."

The SqlParameter class is found in the "System.Data.SqlClient" namespace. It is a class of a

connected architecture of .NET framework. It represents parameters. To work with the
SqlParameter class we should have a database.
See for more detail:

• Working With the SqlParameter Class in ADO.NET

Question 40: Hpw DataSet objects in ADO.NET replace the ADO

Recordset object?

Answer : DataSet is good for ADO.NET objects to replace the ADO Recordset object:

• DataSet can hold multiple tables at a time.

• It allows data access to easily read or write data operations in / from the database.
• DataSet data stores in local system.
• It holds multiple rows at a time.
• It uses more memory.
• DataSet maintain relation.
• It bind data from the database.
DataSet representation in .aspx.cs code,

207. protected void BindDataSet()

208. {
209. SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection("your database
connection string ");
210. con.Open();
211. SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("Write your query or
procedure ", con);
212. SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd);
213. DataSet ds = new DataSet();
214. da.Fill(ds);
215. grid.DataSource = ds;
216. grid.DataBind();
217. }
See for more detail:

• ADO.NET Technique With ASP.NET

Question 41: What is Transactions and Concurrency in

ADO.NET?

Answer: Transactions: ADO.NET providers a transaction class that represents a transaction. All
data providers provide their own version of the transaction class. The IDbTransaction interface
implements the basic functionality of the transaction class. All data provider-specific classes
implement this namespace.

Figure shows some of the classes that implement IDbTransaction.

Methods of the Transaction Class

Method Description
Commit Commits the transaction to the database
Rollback Rollbacks a transaction to the previous
database state
Begin(IsolationLevel) Begins a nested database transaction passing
the isolation level

Concurrency in ADO.NET

The ADO.NET model assumes that the optimistic concurrency is the default concurrency
because of its disconnected nature of data. A user reads data in a data through a data adapter,
and data is available to user as a local copy of the data. The server database is available to all
other users.

Another way of handling optimistic concurrency that you may be familiar with is by checking to
see if a timestamp on the data source row has changed or the row version number has changed
on the row being updated.

Pessimistic locking on the database isn't really supported by the data providers because the
connection to the database is not kept open, so you must perform all locking with business
logic on the DataSet.

• Transactions and Concurrency in ADO.NET

Question 42: What is the ADO.NET Data provider?

Answer: There are four .NET data providers available.

218. SQL Server: It is used to work specifically with Microsoft SQL Server. It exists in a
namespace within the System.Data.SqlClient.

219. OLE DB: It is used to work with the OLEDB provider. The System.Data.dll
assembly implements the OLEDB .NET framework data provider in the
System.Data.OleDb namespace.

220. ODBC: To use this type of provider, you must use an ODBC driver. The
System.Data.ODBC.dll assembly implements the ODBC .NET framework data provider.
This assembly is not part of the Visual Studio .NET installation.

221. Oracle: The System.Data.OracleClient.dll assembly implements the Oracle .NET

framework data provider in the System.Data.OracleClient namespace. The Oracle client
software must be installed on the system before you can use the provider to connect to
an Oracle data source.
See for more detail:

• Introduction to ADO.Net
Question 43: How can we Create and Manage Connections In
ADO.NET?

Answer : Creating a Connection object

The connection component of a dataprovider establishes a connection with a database. To

connect to Microsoft SQL Server, you use the SQL connection class. The following are the
commonly used properties and methods of the SqlConnection class.

ConnectionString: It provides information, such as database name and user credentials for
database access and so on.
Open(): Opens the connection for accessing the database.
Close(): Closes the connection to the database.

For Example:

222. // Creating object of SqlConnection Class.

223. SqlConnection cn = new SqlConnection();
224. //Creating connection string to sample database.
225. cn.ConnectionString = "Data source=.; Initial
Catalog=Sample; User Id=sa; Password=faculty";
The connection string provides the information that defines the connection to the database.

• Data Source: Specifies the provider name or your server name.

• Initial Catalog: Specifies the name of the database.
• User Id and Password: Provide the username and password of your database server.
226. Open the Connection
227.
228. // Creating object of SqlConnection Class.
229. SqlConnection cn = new SqlConnection();
230. //Creating connection string to sample database.
231. cn.ConnectionString = "Data source=.; Initial
Catalog=Sample; User Id=sa; Password=faculty";
232. cn.Open(); // it open the connection to database server..
Close the Connection

233. // Creating object of SqlConnection Class.

 234. SqlConnection cn = new SqlConnection();
235. //Creating connection string to sample database.
236. cn.ConnectionString = "Data source=.; Initial
Catalog=Sample; User Id=sa; Password=faculty";
237. cn.Open(); // it open the connection to database server..
238. //Creating sqlcommand class object
239. SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("Select * from
tblEmployees", cn);
240. SqlDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader();//Executing query
241. cn.Close();//Closing the connection
See for more detail:

• Introduction to ADO.Net

Question 44: What is disconnected data?

Answer: A data representation, such a DataSet, that doesn't require a continuous database
connection. Working with disconnected data:

The data in DataSet is disconnected from database. Once you fetch the results of a query into a
DataSet using a DataAdapter object, there is no longer a connection between DataSet and
database. Changes you make to the contents of the DataSet will not affect the database. If
other users modify data in database that corresponds to the data in DataSet, you will not see
those changes in your DataSet.

Working with disconnected data structures definitely has its benefits. The first major benefit of
working with disconnected data is that it does not require a live connection to your database.
Once you've fetched the results of your query into a DataSet object, you can close the
connection to your database and continue to work with the data in your DataSet.

Disconnected data structures such as DataSets are also helpful when you build multi-tiered
applications. If your application uses business objects running on a middle-tier server to access
database, business object needs to pass disconnected data structures to client application. The
DataSet object is designed for use in such situations. You can pass the contents of a DataSet
from one component to another. The component that receives the data can work with the
information as a DataSet (if the component is built using the Microsoft .NET Framework) or as
an XML document.
See for more detail:

• DataSets in Microsoft .NET

Question 45: Explain the DataTable and Relationship between

the DataTable, the DataRow, and the DataColumn.

Answer: A DataTable object represents a database table. A data table is a collection of columns
and rows. The DataRow object represents a table row, and the DataColumn object represents a
column of the table.

The Columns property of the DataTable object represents the DataColumnCollection, which is a
collection of DataColumn objects in a DataTable. You use a DataRow object to add data to a
data table. TheDataRowCollection object represents a collection of rows of a DataTable object,
which can be accessed by its Rows property.

Figure shows the relationship between the DataTable, DataRow, and DataColumn.

See for more detail:

• DataTable, DataColumn and DataRow classes

Question 46: Explain about Data Access Object or DAO?

Answer: Data Access Object (DAO) enabled programmers to access local databases in the
Microsoft Jet Database Engine format, which were primarily Indexed Sequential Access Method
(ISAM) files. After DAO came RDO and then ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). These data access
technologies were designed for a client / server paradigm. However the tendency of distributed
computing forced the development of a new technology to solve the problems of data
manipulation on a n-tier architecture. ADO.NET is the evolution of ADO and its components
have been designed to function properly on a n-tier architecture.

Summary of the evolution of the database objects to access data from Microsoft:

Name Brief Description

DAO Data Access Objects The first object-oriented
interface that exposed the
Microsoft Jet database
engine that allowed
developers using Visual Basic
to directly connect to Access
tables and other databases
using ODBC. It is ideal for
small databases in local
deployments and single-
system applications.
RDO Remote Data Objects An object-oriented data
access interface to ODBC
combined with the easy
functionality of DAO allowing
an interface to almost all of
ODBC's low power and
flexibility.
RDO can't access Jet of ISAM
databases in an efficient way.
RDO provides the objects,
properties, and methods
needed to access the more
complex aspects of stored
procedures and complex
resultsets.
ADO Microsoft ActiveX Data ADO is the successor to
Objects DAO/RDO. ADO is the
consolidation of almost all
the functionality of DAO and
 RDO.
ADO mostly includes RDO-
style functionality to interact
with OLE DB data sources,
plus remoting and DHTML
technology.
ADO MD Microsoft ActiveX Data Provides easy access to
Objects Multidimensional multidimensional data from
languages such as Microsoft
Visual Basic and Microsoft
Visual C++. ADO MD extends
Microsoft ActiveX Data
Objects (ADO) to include
objects specific to
multidimensional data, such
as the CubeDef and Cellset
objects. To work with ADO
MD, the provider must be a
multidimensional data
provider (MDP) as defined by
the OLE DB for OLAP
specification. MDPs present
data in multidimensional
views as opposed to tabular
data providers (TDPs) that
present data in tabular views.
With ADO MD you can
browse multidimensional
schema, query a cube, and
retrieve the results.
ADOX Microsoft ActiveX Data Extensions for Data
Objects Definition Language and
Security Is an extension to
the ADO objects and
programming model. ADOX
includes objects for schema
creation and modification, as
well as security. Because it is
an object-based approach to
schema manipulation, you
can write code that will work
against various data sources
regardless of differences in
their native syntaxes.ADOX is
 a companion library to the
core ADO objects. It exposes
additional objects for
creating, modifying, and
deleting schema objects,
such as tables and
procedures. It also includes
security objects to maintain
users and groups and to
grant and revoke permissions
on objects.
RDS Remote Data Service You can move data from a
server to a client application
or Web page, manipulate the
data on the client, and return
updates to the server in a
single round trip.
ADO.NET Microsoft ActiveX Data .NET ADO.NET is entirely
Objects based on XML. ADO.NET
provides consistent access to
data sources such as
Microsoft SQL Server, as well
as data sources exposed via
OLE DB and XML. Data-
sharing consumer
applications can use
ADO.NET to connect to these
data sources and retrieve,
manipulate, and update data.
ADO.NET cleanly factors data
access from data
manipulation into discrete
components that can be used
separately or in tandem.
ADO.NET includes .NET data
providers for connecting to a
database, executing
commands, and retrieving
results. Those results are
either processed directly, or
placed in an ADO.NET
DataSet object in order to be
exposed to the user in an ad-
hoc manner, combined with
 data from multiple sources,
or remoted between tiers.
The ADO.NET DataSet object
can also be used
independently of a .NET data
provider to manage data
local to the application or
sourced from XML.
The ADO.NET classes are
found in System.Data.dll, and
are integrated with the XML
classes found in
System.Xml.dll. When
compiling code that uses the
System.Data namespace,
reference both
System.Data.dll and
System.Xml.dll. Compared
with ADO there is no
Recordset object.
In ADO.NET there are four
classes that read and write
data from data sources:
242. Connection .-
Connect to data
source
243. Command .-
Execute stored
procedures
244. DataAdapter .-
Connects DataSet to
database
245. DataReader .-
Forward/only,
read/only cursor

See for more detail:

• From DAO to ADO.NET

Question 47: What are the advantages of ADO.NET?

Answer: Advantages of ADO.NET

ADO.NET offers several advantages over previous Microsoft data access technologies, including
ADO. Few advantages are listed below:

Single Object-oriented API

ADO.NET provides a single object-oriented set of classes. There are different data providers to
work with different data sources but the programming model for all these data providers work
in the same way.

Managed Code

The ADO.NET classes are managed classes. CLR takes care of language independency and
automatic resource management.

Deployment

Microsoft uses MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Component), which is used as ActiveX component
in .NET Framework (X is extensible component, when X is written after a term means
extensible). .NET components takes care of deployment which was difficult than the previous
technologies used in deployment.

XML Support

ADO.NET data is cached and transferred in XML (EXtensible Markup Language) format. XML
provide fast access of data for desktop and distributed applications.

Performance and scalability

Performance and scalability are two major factors while developing web-based application and
services. Disconnected cached data in XML help in performance and scalability.
 • What is ADO.NET?

Question 48: What is GetChanges() method in ADO.NET?

Answer: The GetChanges method of DataSet can be used to retrieve the rows that have been
modified since the last time DataSet was filled, saved or updated. The GetChanges method
returns a DataSet object with modified rows.

The GetChanges method can take either no argument or one argument of type DataRowState.
The DataRowState enumeration defiles the DataRow state, which can be used to filter a
DataSet based on the types of rows.

DataRowState members

Member Description
Added Add added rows to a DataRowCollection of a
DataSet and AcceptChanges has not been
called.
Deleted All the deleted rows.
Detached Rows were created but not added to the row
collection. Either waiting for the addition or
have removed from the collection.
Modified Modified rows and AcceptChanges has not
been called.
Unchanged Unchanged rows since last AcceptChanges
was called.

See for more detail:

• The GetChanges of DataSet and DiffGrams

Question 49: How can you access the data from DataReader?

Answer: DataReader is a class that holds data as rows and coloums to access data from the
DataReader.

It provides the following methods:

 246. GetName(int ColIndex)

The return type of this method is a string, it returns the name of the column for the
given index position.

247. Read()

Moves the Record Pointer from the current location to the next row and returns a
Boolean status that tells whether the row to which we have moved contains data in it
or not, that will be true if present or false if not present.

248. GetValue(int Colindex)

Returns a column's value from the row to which the pointer was pointing by specifying
the column index position.

249. NextResult ()

Moves the record pointer from the current table to the next table if a table exists and
returns true else returns false.
Features of Data Reader

250. Provides faster access to data from a Data Source, since it is connection oriented.

251. It can hold multiple tables at a time. To load multiple tables into a DataReader
pass multiple select statements as the argument to the command separated by a colon
(;).
For example:

252. Command cmd=new Command(“Select * From Student ; Select *

From Mark ”, Con);
253. Data Reader dr= cmd.ExecuteReader();
See for more detail:

• Introduction To ADO.NET: Part 2

Question 50: What is BindingSource class in ADO.NET?

Answer: The BindingSource class is used to simplify data binding as well as various operations
on records. It has different methods like AddNew( ), MoveFirst( ), MovePrevious( ), MoveNext(
), etc which provide easier way for adding new row, moving to first record, moving to previous
record, moving to next record and many other operations without writing code for them.