ADO.NET provides different types of support for data entry. For example, you can use the classic INSERT INTO expression
from the SQL. You can also create a stored procedure that internally creates a
new record. Besides the INSERT expression or a stored procedure, to
perform data entry, you can use a DataSet object.
The DataSet class is equipped with a Tables
property, which is a collection of the tables that are part of a data set. The
Tables property is an object of type DataTableCollection. As its
name indicates, the DataTableCollection itself is a list of tables and
each table can be located using an index, either by the numeric order of the
table or its name. The DataTableCollection class supports this through an
Item property which is based on the DataTable class. This
relationship makes it possible to access the contents of a table. Fundamentally,
a table is made of columns and records, and each record is also called a row.
The records of a table are stored in a member of the DataTable
called Rows. The Rows property is an object of type DataRowCollection.
An individual record is an object of type DataRow. To represent each
record, the DataRowCollection is equipped with an Item property which is
of type DataRow. To perform data entry, you can assign a value to the
name of each column of the desired table of your database. Each column is
accessible through the Item property of the DataRow class. One of
the overloaded versions of this property takes a string value as its
index.
After assigning the right value to each DataRow
that corresponds to the desired column of a table, you can call the Update()
method of the data adapter you were using. This means that, in the beginning,
you should have initialized a data adapter.
Practical Learning: Performing Data Entry With DataRow
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- Start Microsoft Visual C# or Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
- In Server Explorer, expand the Servers, the name of the server, and the
SQL Servers nodes.
Expand the name of the server. If you see a database named CarInventory,
fine. If not, To create a new database, right-click the name of the server
and click New Database. Set the name of the database to CarInventory and
click OK
- Expand the new CarInventory node. To create a new table, right-click the
Tables node and click New Table
- Complete the table as follows:
Column Name |
Data Type |
Length |
Allow Nulls |
Properties |
CarID |
int |
|
|
Primary Key
Identity: Yes |
TagNumber |
varchar |
20 |
Unchecked |
|
Make |
varchar |
40 |
Unchecked |
|
Model |
varchar |
40 |
Unchecked |
|
CarYear |
varchar |
20 |
Unchecked |
|
Category |
varchar |
40 |
Unchecked |
|
HasK7Player |
bit |
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HasCDPlayer |
bit |
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HasDVDPlayer |
bit |
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|
CarPicture |
varchar |
240 |
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|
IsAvailable |
bit |
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- Save the table as Cars and close it
- On the main menu of Visual Studio .NET, click File -> New -> Project
- In the Project Types list, select Microsoft Visual C++ Projects. In the
Templates list, click Windows Forms Application
- Set the Name to CarInventory2 and click OK
- Design the form as follows:
|
Control |
Text |
Name |
Other Properties |
Label |
Text # |
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|
TextBox |
|
txtTagNumber |
|
Label |
Make: |
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|
TextBox |
|
txtMake |
|
Label |
Model: |
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|
TextBox |
|
txtModel |
|
Label |
Year: |
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|
TextBox |
|
txtYear |
|
Label |
Category: |
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|
ComboBox |
|
cboCategory |
DropDownStyle: DropDownList |
Items: |
Economy
Compact
Standard
Full Size
Mini Van
SUV
Truck
Van |
CheckBox |
Cassete Player |
chkK7Player |
CheckAlign: MiddleRight |
CheckBox |
DVD Player |
chkDVDPlayer |
CheckAlign: MiddleRight |
CheckBox |
CD Player |
chkCDPlayer |
CheckAlign: MiddleRight |
CheckBox |
Available |
chkAvailable |
CheckAlign: MiddleRight |
PictureBox |
|
pctCar |
SizeMode: CenterImage |
Button |
Picture |
btnPicture |
|
TextBox |
|
txtPicture |
|
Button |
Add Car |
btnAddCar |
|
Button |
Close |
btnClose |
DialogResult: OK |
Form |
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AcceptButton: btnAddCar
MaximizeBox: False
StartPosition: CenterScreen |
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- In the Windows Forms section of the Toolbox, click the OpenFileDialog
button and click the form
- Set its Filter as Picture Files (*.bmp;*.gif;*.jpeg;*jpg)|*.bmp;*.gif;*.jpeg;*jpg
- Set its Title to Select Car Picture
- On the form, double-click the Picture button and implement its event as
follows:
private void btnPicture_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
if( openFileDialog1.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK )
{
this.txtPicture.Text = openFileDialog1.FileName;
this.pctCar.Image = Bitmap.FromFile(openFileDialog1.FileName);
}
}
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- From Server Explorer, open the server that holds the above database then
expand the CarInventory database followed by the Tables node
- Drag the Cars table and drop it on the form
- On the main menu, click Data -> Generate Dataset...
- While the New radio button is selected, change the name of the dataset to dsCarInventory
and click OK
- Double-click an empty area of the form and change the Load event as
follows:
private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
this.sqlDataAdapter1.Fill(this.dsCarInventory1);
}
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- Return to the form and double-click the Add Car followed by the Close
buttons
- Implement the events as follows:
private void btnAddCar_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
DataTable tblCars = new DataTable();
tblCars = this.dsCarInventory1.Tables["Cars"];
DataRow rowNewCar;
rowNewCar = tblCars.NewRow();
rowNewCar["TagNumber"] = this.txtTagNumber.Text;
rowNewCar["Make"] = this.txtMake.Text;
rowNewCar["Model"] = this.txtModel.Text;
rowNewCar["CarYear"] = this.txtYear.Text;
rowNewCar["Category"] = this.cboCategory.Text;
rowNewCar["HasK7Player"] = this.chkK7Player.Checked.ToString();
rowNewCar["HasCDPlayer"] = this.chkCDPlayer.Checked.ToString();
rowNewCar["HasDVDPlayer"] = this.chkDVDPlayer.Checked.ToString();
rowNewCar["CarPicture"] = this.txtPicture.Text;
rowNewCar["IsAvailable"] = this.chkAvailable.Checked.ToString();
tblCars.Rows.Add(rowNewCar);
this.sqlDataAdapter1.Update(this.dsCarInventory1);
this.txtTagNumber.Text = "";
this.txtMake.Text = "";
this.txtModel.Text = "";
this.txtYear.Text = "";
this.cboCategory.SelectedIndex = -1;
this.chkK7Player.Checked = false;
this.chkCDPlayer.Checked = false;
this.chkDVDPlayer.Checked = false;
this.txtPicture.Text = "";
this.chkAvailable.Checked = false;
this.pctCar.Image = null;
this.txtTagNumber.Focus();
}
private void btnClose_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
Close();
}
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- Execute the application and create a record (you can first download
a few pictures of cars):
- Click Add Car to submit the record
- Click Close to close the form
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