4

Components and Database Handling

Exception Handling

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Ergo, one is constantly planning and preparing for the
future. We often set a path for ourselves and try to follow it steadily. But then life intervenes.
Uncertainties in life result in unforeseen situations. These are like exceptions in the normal
course that we set for ourselves. Similarly, when you write programs, unforeseen problems may
arise during its normal path of execution.

These unforeseen problems are nothing but an euphemism for errors. Just as in life, in the
programming world, these errors can be further classified into Fatal errors and Non-Fatal errors.
A Fatal error is an error that brings the program to a grinding halt. A Non-Fatal error is an error
that allows your program to run but with limited capacity. This can be exemplified by the
following.

Let's assume you have a card that is not of a high resolution. Accordingly, your browser displays
your page in a lower resolution. Now, technically, that is an error but it is not a Fatal one.
However, if you didn't have a graphics card at all then it would be a Fatal error. Thus, we may
also call an unforeseen problem or error an Exception. In other words, therefore, the word
Exception is used almost synonymously with the word Error.

Earlier, the problem was that we never centralized error handling. Let's assume you have to open
three files. Each time you open a file you have to check whether an error occurred or not. So you
have to conduct that check for every file. Since there are three files, it would mean repeating the
same error check thrice. That is surely a waste of time. Or you could be calling two functions and
checking for the same error in both the functions. One reason that programmers don't write error-
handling routines is that they get tired of the mundane task. It is the same thing repeated over and
over again.

Let's consider constructors. Before the constructor gets called, the object has not yet been
created. So you ask the constructor to create an object, to allocate memory and create a file.
Now, if it can't do so, how will the constructor return to tell you that an error occurred! Today
constructors carry a lot of code within them and if you haven't forgotten, constructors cannot
return values.

Because of the various reasons discussed above, we don't talk about errors any more; we handle
exceptions. Bearing this in mind let's understand the next program.

a.cs
class zzz

public static void Main()

yyy a;

a=new yyy();

a.abc();

System.Console.WriteLine("Bye");

class yyy

public void abc()

throw new System.Exception();

System.Console.WriteLine("abc");

Compiler Warning

a.cs(16,1): warning CS0162: Unreachable code detected

Output

Unhandled Exception: System.Exception: Exception of type System.Exception was thrown

at yyy.abc()
 at zzz.Main()

Here, a.abc calls the function abc in class yyy. System.Console.WriteLine is used to display
'Bye'. It is of significance to note that when you run this program the System.Console.WriteLine
does not get called. Hence the word 'Bye' is not displayed. Within the abc function we have a
line that says throw new System.Exception(); The word new indicates that we are creating an
object. We are creating an object that looks like System.Exception. 'throw' is a reserved word,
that means it is recognized by C#. Exception is a class in the System namespace. In other words,
we are identifying an exception, creating an object of it, and throwing it. Then we have a
WriteLine statement for printing 'abc'. Note that neither 'Bye' nor 'abc' gets displayed. A Message
Box may appear for debugging the applicaition. Since we are still at the learning stage, we click
on the No button.

The warning says that when you use the 'throw' keyword in your code, no lines of code get called
after that. Since the function abc is throwing an exception no code after the throw in abc will get
executed. The throw acts like the return statement. Everything comes to a stand still! And we get
an error at runtime and not at the time of running the compiler; indicating where the exception
occurred. Also no code gets called after function abc gets called as it throws an exception.

Explicitly declaring exceptions tells the compiler that a particular problem might occur. When
the problem does occur, an exception is thrown; the next step being to catch the exception. Let's
see how we can accomplish this. In our program, the function abc throws an exception. We will
now catch the exception.

a.cs

class zzz

public static void Main()

yyy a;

a=new yyy();

try

a.abc();

System.Console.WriteLine("Bye");
}

catch (System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine("In Exception"+ e.ToString());

System.Console.WriteLine("After Exception");

class yyy {

public void abc()

throw new System.Exception();

System.Console.WriteLine("abc");

Output

In ExceptionSystem.Exception: Exception of type System.Exception was thrown.

at yyy.abc()

at zzz.Main()

After Exception

Catching exceptions is done within 'try-catch' blocks. Therefore, the code for abc is included
within a 'try-catch' block. a.abc - the function that throws the exception - is included within the
try-catch block . The abc function throws an exception by using the keyword throw. There is no
other way of throwing an exception. At this point all code is skipped in function abc as well as
the in the try block and the control moves to the catch block. As such, neither 'abc' nor 'bye' gets
displayed.
Within the catch we have a parameter 'e' that looks like System.Exception. The object e has a
method called ToString. ToString is a very handy function. It tells you where exactly the
exception occurred and in which function, function within function. So,
System.Console.Writeline will display the string 'In Exception' along with the exception.

After the code contained in the catch block is executed, the remaining code after the end of the
try - catch block will be executed. Hence, WriteLine will display 'After Exception'. That means
the program will not come to a stand still, it resumes execution after the catch and not after the
function which threw the exception. If you give a return statement immediately after the catch
block, as we have given in the next program, the program will stop execution there itself. Hence,
in this case, 'After Exception' will not be displayed as shown below.

a.cs

class zzz

public static void Main()

yyy a;

a=new yyy();

try

a.abc();

System.Console.WriteLine("Bye");

catch (System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine("In Exception"+ e.ToString());

return;

}
System.Console.WriteLine("After Exception");

class yyy

public void abc()

throw new System.Exception();

System.Console.WriteLine("abc");

Output

In ExceptionSystem.Exception: Exception of type System.Exception was thrown.

at yyy.abc()

at zzz.Main()

Each time that abc gets called an exception is thrown. But you may not want that to happen.
Hence, exception handling is normally included in an if statement and if an error condition takes
place.

A 'try-catch' block can include a number of functions and whenever an exception occurs for any
one of them, we will catch it. By doing so we are synchronizing all the code to handle errors at
one place. Constructors can also throw exceptions.

Building Components

a.cs

public class zzz {

public void abc() {

System.Console.WriteLine("zzz abc");

The above program consists of a simple class zzz with one public function. The class has also
been tagged with the modifier public that makes it accessible to everyone. When we run the
command csc a.cs, we are asking the C# compiler to create an executable file for us even though
we did not explicitly ask it to. An executable file will always be created by the C# compiler
unless you override it by stating an option to the C# compiler. Let us start with the /t option.

csc /t:library a.cs

You could use /t or /target. This option specifies what type of output file the compiler should
create for you. If you do not specify a /t option on the command line, C# by default writes /t:exe
for you thereby creating an executable file. The long form of /t is /target and depending upon the
time of day, choose the appropriate one. Not all options have a long and a short form like /t does.
The : after the option is mandatory. Then we write the type of executable output file we want.
Library means a dll. When we run the dir command we see a file named a.dll in the current sub
directory. A file with a .dll or a .exe extension are called Windows PE files. This is the default
file format that Windows uses to create executable files. There is a minor difference between the
internal structures of a dll and a exe file. Which is that a dll cannot be executed like an exe
program can. By convention dlls' are used to store code even though an exe could have also be
used. What we have done is created a component.

What if we wanted to change the name of the output file. By default it is the name of our
program. Then we must use the /out option as follows.

csc /t:library /out:bbb.dll a.cs

This will create a file bbb.dll instead of a.dll as earlier. Whether we use the /out option or not, C#
does it for us. If the C# program was called a.cs, then C# wrote /out:a.exe on the command line
for us. We can use the /out option to change the name of the output file. /out does not have a
short form /o.

Remember C# uses defaults for command line options to make life easier for us.

Note that we have created a component in a file bbb.dll

a.cs

class yyy

{
public static void Main()

zzz a;

Compiler error

a.cs(5,1): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'zzz' could not be found (are you missing a
using directive or an assembly reference?)

The only reason we create a component is to allow other programs to call code from it. In the
above program, we are saying that a looks like a class zzz. The C# compiler is telling us in a
vague way that it does not know that zzz is a class. Though we know zzz is a class as we just
created it and it is in a file called bbb.dll, C# is not aware of the same.

a.cs

class yyy {

public static void Main()

zzz a;

>csc a.cs /r:bbb.dll

Compiler Warning

a.cs(5,5): warning CS0168: The variable 'a' is declared but never used

The /r or reference option tells the C# compiler to look at bbb.dll; in this case for the code of
classes it is not aware of. In our case the error disappears as the file bbb.dll contains the code for
the class bbb.dll. Thus in future, if the C# compiler ever gives you the above error, do not panic.
All that you need to do is specify which dll contains the code for the classes. The help available
along with C#, tells you every class and the dll that contains the code of the class.
a.cs

class yyy

public static void Main()

zzz a = new zzz();

a.abc();

Output

zzz abc

We have successfully called the function abc in class zzz. The code of the class zzz resides in
bbb.dll.

a.cs

namespace mukhi

public class zzz

public void abc()

System.Console.WriteLine("zzz abc");

}
>csc /t:library /out:bbb.dll a.cs

The same class zzz is now enclosed in a namespace mukhi and the component recreated.

a.cs

class yyy

public static void Main()

zzz a = new zzz();

a.abc();

csc a.cs /r:bbb.dll

Compiler Error

a.cs(5,1): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'zzz' could not be found (are you missing a
using directive or an assembly reference?)

a.cs(6,1): error CS0246: The type or namespace name 'a' could not be found (are you missing a
using directive or an assembly reference?)

The error results as the name of the class is not zzz but mukhi.zzz.

a.cs

using mukhi;

class yyy {

public static void Main()

zzz a = new zzz();

a.abc();

Output

zzz abc

All's well that ends well.

Databases

Databases are centralized stores of data. In a database, information from several files (also
known as tables) is accessed, coordinated and operated upon as if in a single file. Thus, the
database organizes data independently from the programs that access it. Large volumes of data
are stored in a database.

Computer programs have little meaning when written in isolation. Therefore, it is of importance
to have our programs work with databases. Databases work under the control of a database
management system. SQL Server is an RDBMS; it is one such database management system.

Before we can write programs that communicate with databases we need to have a database. One
of the simplest databases to use is Microsoft Access. As a large number of people use it, we have
based our examples on it. However you could use any RDBMS like Oracle, SQL Server as you
wish.

First and foremost, before we can access a database and perform various operations, we need to
connect to the database. Assuming you want to speak to your friend over the phone, you dial
your friend's phone number. Its only when you connect to your friends phone that the both of
you can speak to each other. Similarly, if we want to use a database we first have to connect to it
and only then can we speak to it.

a.cs

class zzz

public static void Main()

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection s;
}}

Compiler warning

a.cs(5,35): warning CS0168: The variable 's' is declared but never used

Let's see how we can connect to a database.

a.cs

class zzz

public static void Main()

try

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection s;

s = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection();

System.Console.WriteLine("hell");

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output

hell
Within the try block we have an object s that looks like System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection.
You are already aware that System is a namespace, but what about Data and OleDb? Well,
System.Data.OleDb is the name of the namespace. We can liken this to an earlier example where
we created a namespace mukhi.vijay. Hierarchy in a namespace can go to absurd lengths! The
help on C# states that System.Data.OleDb is the name of a namespace and OleDbConnection is a
class within that namespace. By saying s = System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection(); we are
creating the object s. When you run this program all that we see is the word hell, which means
that the constructor threw no Exception. If it did then the catch block would have been executed.

a.cs

class zzz

public static void Main()

try

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection s;

s = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection();

s.Open();

System.Console.WriteLine("hell");

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output
System.InvalidOperationException: The ConnectionString property has not been initialized.

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection.Open()

at zzz.Main()

The class OleDbConnection has a function called Open which opens or connects to our database.
When we run the above the above program, the Open function throws an exception. Now, at this
point you must catch the Exception. The ToString within the catch block displays the Exception
message. The error says that the ConnectionString property has not been initialized.

The reason an exception occurred is that we did not provide certain mandatory information
whilst creating the object. We did not indicate the location of the database server that we want to
connect to or the database. It's like picking up the phone and not dialing a number. How in the
world do you expect to connect then!

We will now provide the constructor with some basic information.

a.cs

class zzz

public static void Main()

try

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection s;

s = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;

Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb;");

s.Open();

System.Console.WriteLine("hell");

catch(System.Exception e)
{

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbException: Could not find file 'c:\zzz.mdb'. at

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection.ProcessResults(Int32 hr)

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection.InitializeProvider()

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection.Open()

at zzz.Main()

We first specify the database provider as Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0, which stands for

MS-Access and then the path as Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb separated by semicolon.

When you run the program, an OleDbException is thrown, which says could not find file
'c:\zzz.mdb'. This is because we have not created an MSAccess DataBase called zzz.mdb.

An mdb file stores data from multiple tables. In this file zzz.mdb, create one table abc with 2
fields f1 and f2 , both of type text. Add two records to this database. The first record will contain
1,a1 and the second record will be 2,a2.

Re run the program which now displays hell unlike before where we generated an Exception.

Output

hell

s.Open opens a connection to the database. The 'Provider' and 'Data Source' given in the
constructor identify the database.

As we have given the constructor all the mandatory information, s.Open() will open a connection
with the Access database. The program executes smoothly and once the connection is established
WriteLine displays 'hell'.

Now that we have established a connection with the database, let's see how we can communicate
with it. More specifically, let's see how we can execute an SQL command.
a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz

public static void Main()

try

OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;

Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;

c=new OleDbCommand("Create Table a1 ( vno integer , name char(10))",s);

c.ExecuteNonQuery();

System.Console.WriteLine("hell");

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

}
Output

hell

Employing using, we do not have to preface every class with the namespace
System.Data.OleDb. The purpose of this program is to execute an SQL statement. SQL is a short
form for Structured Query Language. It is not a computer programming language like C# but
rather a language like English. SQL understands certain words like Create, which create a table
for us in our database. SQL has nothing to do with Oracle or Access, it works with all the
RDBMSs of the world.

Create Table a1 (vno integer, name char(10))

The above SQL statement means that a table called a1 will be created in our database. It will
have 2 fields vno and name. Vno will store numbers and name will store characters subject to a
maximum of 10.

A class in any programming language is made up of a collection of variables and functions.

These put together do something for us like solving a particular problem or accomplishing a
certain task. We live in a world of specialization. Just like it is difficult to come across one
human being who is a PHD in Nuclear Science as well as Sociology, classes too are written to
focus on one particular task only.

Thus we need one class to handle our connection to a database and another class which
understands SQL. We first create an object that looks like an OleDbConnection, which
understands how to connect to a database using a string attributes 'Provider' and 'Data Source',
which it passes as a parameter to the constructor. Then we create an object c which looks like
OleDbCommand as this class understands SQL. The constructor gets called with 2 parameters,
the SQL statement and also the connection object. Thus the object c now comprises the
necessary information regarding the command we want to execute and the connection. Now,
c.ExecuteNonQuery() will actually execute the SQL statement. ExecuteNonQuery() is a function
within the OleDbCommand class that enables us to execute any SQL command. You will now
see the word 'hell' displayed on your screen.

But did the table get created? Let's find out by starting Access and then choosing the database
zzz. Here we will see the table a1 with 2 fields vno and name but with no data at all. We created
our table alright, but it is empty as it has no data in it! So let's start inserting data/records into the
table. Before doing so, Quit out of Access

a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz

{
public static void Main()

try

OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;

Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;

c=new OleDbCommand("insert into a1 values(1,'hi')",s);

c.ExecuteNonQuery();

System.Console.WriteLine("hell");

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

}}

Output

hell

The only difference between this program and the previous one is that this one uses the Insert
SQL command. Earlier, we created a table zzz, now we are inserting records in zzz. To the
constructor of OleDbCommand we are giving two things - the insert command "insert into a1
values(1,'hi')" and the connection. Insert into and values are part of the SQL syntax. A1 is the
name of the table in which a fresh record will be added. After values, we write the data separated
by commas. The first field will contain 1 and the second hi. As the second field has the data type
of character, it has to be enclosed in single quotes. c.ExecuteNonQuery as usual executes the
SQL command and as no exception gets thrown ,the word 'hell' gets displayed..

Let's cross check to see if the data has been inserted into zzz by running Access. Aha! It displays
the record that you just inserted in the following format-

vno name

1 hi

Now it follows that if we can insert a record then we should be able to remove it too. The
following program uses the delete command to remove all the records from the table zzz.

a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz

public static void Main()

try

OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;

Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;

c=new OleDbCommand("delete from a1",s);

c.ExecuteNonQuery();

System.Console.WriteLine("hell");

}
catch(System.Exception e) {

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output

hell

Now c.ExecuteNonQuery will execute the delete command. This command deletes all the data
from the table. In Access we will see an empty table. This proves that the delete command was
successful!

Apart from inserting and deleting data another operation that is commonly performed is updating
data. However, you must have data in your table to update it. Our table is empty right now, so
let's execute the insert program once again. You will now have one record in your table zzz.
After inserting a record, change the sql insert command to an update command. This is shown
below.

c= new OleDbCommand("update a1 set vno=3,name='bad' where vno=1",s);

Here, we are giving an update statement and our connection to the object is 'c'. The update
statement will change the vno and name to the values specified. It will do so for any record that
has vno=1. We have only one record in our table and it meets this criteria. Now, go back to
Access , you will find that the record has been updated as follows-

vno name

3 bad

a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz

public static void Main()

{
try

OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;

c=new OleDbCommand("delete from a11",s);

c.ExecuteNonQuery();

System.Console.WriteLine("hell");

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output

System.Data.OleDb.OleDbException: The Microsoft Jet database engine cannot find the input
table or query 'a11'. Make sure it exists and that its name is spelled correctly.

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand.ExecuteCommand

TextErrorHandling(Int32 hr)

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand.ExecuteCommand

TextForSingleResult(tagDBPARAMS dbParams, Object& executeResult)

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand.
ExecuteCommandText(Object& executeResult)

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand.

ExecuteCommand(CommandBehavior behavior, Object& executeResult)

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand.

ExecuteReaderInternal(CommandBehavior behavior, String method)

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand.ExecuteNonQuery()

at zzz.Main()

Don't worry, we have simulated this error on purpose. The table a11 does not exist in our
database. Thus an exception got thrown by ExecuteCommandText and not ExecuteNonQuery as
seen above. What it means is that ExecuteNonQuery calls Execute which calls
ExecuteCommand which finally calls ExecuteCommandText. Also the word hell does not get
displayed because of the exception thrown.

We will now execute a simple select statement.

a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz

public static void Main()

try

OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;
c=new OleDbCommand("select * from abc",s);

OleDbDataReader r;

r = c.ExecuteReader();

System.Console.WriteLine("hell");

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output

hell

We have executed different SQL commands through our earlier programs. We will now try and
execute an SQL select statement. In order to do so, we have given the following select statement
to the constructor along with the connection- 'Select * from abc'. Abc is a table in the database
called zzz . Remember, c looks like OleDbCommand. 'Select' is part of the SQL syntax like
insert , update . 'from' is also a reserved word . 'abc' is the name of the table created earlier in
Access and populated by data keyed in by us. The '*' means all fields in the table. We could have
also replaced the * with a comma separating list of field names that we were interested in.

As OleDbConnection has an Open function, OleDbCommand has a ExecuteReader function.

This function returns an object that looks like OleDbDataReader.

The function ExecuteReader will create an object that looks like OleDbDataReader and initialize
r to it. No exception was thrown, which meant no errors from our side.

What we need to do now is retrieve data from the abc table. The abc table may have ten fields
and twenty records. So we use what is called a 'dataset'. In other words, how do we access data
contained in multiple rows and multiple columns through our program? For example, when we
run the select statement it gives us the data in rows and columns. How can we achieve this
through our program? To do that we now need a third object which looks like OleDbDataReader.
We can almost feel your dismay - Oh no! Another object! Well, there is a very good reason why
you need to have three different objects. Firstly, you need an object that understands a
connection. Then you need another object that understands an SQL statement. This is because
somebody has to execute that statement. You now need a third object that will let you
read/retrieve data. That is why we have 'r' an object that looks like OleDbDataReader.
Thereafter, we have c.ExecuteReader. Earlier we used a function call ExecuteNonQuery. This is
because in case of an insert, update or delete we didn't want any data to be retrieved, we didn't
want an answer back!!

As a recap, we are using r to store the value return by ExecuteReader. That means r will be filled
up by ExecuteReader. On executing this program only 'hell' is displayed.

Now that we have the filled up r, let's see how we can display the data.

a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz

public static void Main()

try

OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;

Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;

c=new OleDbCommand("select * from abc",s);

OleDbDataReader r;

r = c.ExecuteReader();
System.Console.WriteLine("{0},{1}",r.GetValue(0),r.GetValue(1));

System.Console.WriteLine("hell");

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output

System.InvalidOperationException: No data exists for the row/column.

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbDataReader.DoValueCheck(Int32 ordinal)

at System.Data.OleDb.OleDbDataReader.GetValue(Int32 ordinal)

at zzz.Main()

Run this program. Expect the unexpected....an error! The error says 'No data exists for the
row/column' But didn't the function Execute fill up r? It did, but it did not position the record
pointer on the first record. A record pointer is an abstract concept. To start with it appears just
before the first record. The function GetValue will return the value of the fields depending upon
where the record pointer is. At the start it is just before the first record. So r can be also looked
at as an array that contains all the fields. We get an error because we need to read the data into
our array first. In order to read data into the fields we must give r.Read. Without r.Read, the
records will not be read into the array, so also the record pointer will not be moved forward to
the first record.

Now that we know the reason why the error occurred let's rectify it by doing the needful. Let's
add r.Read() to our program.

a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz
{

public static void Main()

try

OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;

Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;

c=new OleDbCommand("select * from abc",s);

OleDbDataReader r;

r = c.ExecuteReader();

System.Console.WriteLine(r.Read());

System.Console.WriteLine("{0},{1}",r.GetValue(0),r.GetValue(1));

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output
True

1,a1

Now that we have added r.Read() the program executes as advertised. r.Read() returns true.
Thereafter, the GetValue() function which needs the field number as a parameter retrieves the
data associated with the first and second column. Remember in C# we start counting from zero
and hence zero as a parameter to GetValue will retrieve the value of field one in the table. The
datatype of the first field is numeric and of the second character. However, the function
GetValue does not seem to care.

Read returns true if more data is available to read and false if it is at the last record. Also read
positions the record pointer to the next record.

a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz

public static void Main()

try

OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;

Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;

c=new OleDbCommand("select * from abc",s);

OleDbDataReader r;

r = c.ExecuteReader();
while (r.Read())

System.Console.WriteLine("{0},{1}",r.GetValue(0),r.GetValue(1));

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output

1,a1

2,a2

(A display of only the first two fields of all the records in the table. )

But now we want to display all the data in the fields. So we are using Read in a loop.
while(r.Read()). r.Read() returns true as long as it can read data. The while loop continues till the
condition is true. We are using our trusted function WriteLine to display the data of the first and
second field. Thus the moment r.Read() cannot read more data it returns false and the while loop
terminates. Now all the data in the two fields is displayed and as such we have a long list of data
displayed. To verify further, add some more fields and records to abc.

Just as we mind our manners in daily life we must do so in programming too. It is a good
practice to shut the door when leaving a room. Similarly, in programs we must close what ever
we opened.

a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz

public static void Main()

{

try

OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;

Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;

c=new OleDbCommand("select * from abc",s);

OleDbDataReader r;

r = c.ExecuteReader();

while (r.Read())

System.Console.WriteLine("{0},{1}",r.GetValue(0),r.GetValue(1));

r.Close();

s.Close();

System.Console.WriteLine("hell");

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

}
Output

1,a1

2,a2

We will mind our manners and give r.Close() and s.Close. Note that it is not mandatory to do so.
First we are closing r and then we are closing s i.e. the connection that we opened.

a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz

public static void Main()

try

OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;

Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;

c=new OleDbCommand("select * from abc",s);

OleDbDataReader r;

r = c.ExecuteReader();

System.Console.WriteLine(r.FieldCount);

for ( int i = 0 ; i < r.FieldCount ; i++)

System.Console.WriteLine(r.GetName(i));
}

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output

f1

f2

An OleDbDataReader has a useful function called FieldCount which tells you how many fields
the SQL statement contained. In our case abc has two fields. We have one more function
GetName which will tell us the name of the function in the table given the field number. Thus
r.GetName(1) will give us the name of the 2nd field. In the for statement, the variable i starts at
zero. The condition becomes false when the value of i is one less than r.FieldCount which in this
case is 2 i.e. i will take values of 0 and 1. The reason being i starts from zero as GetName
understands zero as the first field. Thus we can now print all the column names using the for.
Now lets print the entire table irrespective of the number of columns or the number of rows.

a.cs

using System.Data.OleDb;

class zzz

public static void Main()

try

{
OleDbConnection s;

s = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;

Data Source=c:\\zzz.mdb");

s.Open();

OleDbCommand c;

c=new OleDbCommand("select * from abc",s);

OleDbDataReader r;

r = c.ExecuteReader();

while ( r.Read() )

for ( int i = 0 ; i < r.FieldCount ; i++)

System.Console.Write(r.GetValue(i)+" ");

System.Console.WriteLine();

catch(System.Exception e)

System.Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());

Output

1 a1
2 a2

You can modify abc to add more fields and fill in more records. Execute the program and see the
change in output. Whenever we do not know better, we use a for or a while i.e. a looping
construct. However we do not know two things. One, the numbers of rows in the table and two
the number of columns. The first while takes care of the number of rows and the for, the variable
number of columns. Thus the above program will work for any number of columns and rows in
the table. All that we do is change the select statement. The difference between Write and
WriteLine is that Write does not add an enter at the end like WriteLine does. Also + is used to
join two strings together. We are adding a space at the end of every field as a separator