Getting data using the SACommand object

The SACommand object allows you to execute a SQL statement or call a stored procedure against a SQL Anywhere database. You can use any of the following methods to retrieve data from the database:

ExecuteReader Issues a SQL query that returns a result set. This method uses a forward-only, read-only cursor. You can loop quickly through the rows of the result set in one direction.
For more information, see ExecuteReader method.
ExecuteScalar Issues a SQL query that returns a single value. This can be the first column in the first row of the result set, or a SQL statement that returns an aggregate value such as COUNT or AVG. This method uses a forward-only, read-only cursor.
For more information, see ExecuteScalar method.

When using the SACommand object, you can use the SADataReader to retrieve a result set that is based on a join. However, you can only make changes (inserts, updates, or deletes) to data that is from a single table. You cannot update result sets that are based on joins.

The following instructions use the Simple code sample included with SQL Anywhere.

For more information about the Simple code sample, see Understanding the Simple sample project.

To issue a SQL query that returns a complete result set

Declare and initialize a Connection object.

SAConnection conn = new SAConnection(
    "Data Source=SQL Anywhere 12 Demo" );

Open the connection.
try { conn.Open();

Add a Command object to define and execute a SQL statement.

SACommand cmd = new SACommand(
     "SELECT Surname FROM Employees", conn );

If you are calling a stored procedure, you must specify the parameters for the stored procedure.

For more information, see Using stored procedures and SAParameter class.

Call the ExecuteReader method to return the DataReader object.
SADataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();

Display the results.

listEmployees.BeginUpdate();
while( reader.Read() ) {
     listEmployees.Items.Add( reader.GetString( 0 ) );
}
listEmployees.EndUpdate();

Close the DataReader and Connection objects.
reader.Close(); conn.Close();

To issue a SQL query that returns only one value

Declare and initialize an SAConnection object.

SAConnection conn = new SAConnection(
    "Data Source=SQL Anywhere 12 Demo" );

Open the connection.
conn.Open();

Add an SACommand object to define and execute a SQL statement.

SACommand cmd = new SACommand(
    "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Employees WHERE Sex = 'M'",
    conn );

If you are calling a stored procedure, you must specify the parameters for the stored procedure.

For more information, see Using stored procedures.

Call the ExecuteScalar method to return the object containing the value.
int count = (int) cmd.ExecuteScalar();
Close the SAConnection object.
conn.Close();

When using the SADataReader, there are several Get methods available that you can use to return the results in the specified data type.

For more information, see SADataReader class.

Visual Basic DataReader example

The following Visual Basic code opens a connection to the SQL Anywhere sample database and uses the DataReader to return the last name of the first five employees in the result set:

Dim myConn As New SAConnection()
Dim myCmd As _
  New SACommand _
  ("SELECT Surname FROM Employees", myConn)
Dim myReader As SADataReader
Dim counter As Integer
myConn.ConnectionString = _
  "Data Source=SQL Anywhere 12 Demo"
myConn.Open()
myReader = myCmd.ExecuteReader()
counter = 0
Do While (myReader.Read())
  MsgBox(myReader.GetString(0))
  counter = counter + 1
  If counter >= 5 Then Exit Do
Loop
myConn.Close()

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