• Connection: Provides a connection used to communicate with the data source.
• DataAdapter: A bridge used to transfer data between a Data source and a DataSet object.
• DataSet: Stores query result from DataAdapter.

On this post, you will see how to develop an ASP.NET web application that query data from SQL Server 2005 and display the result on a GridView object. I have provided both VB.NET and C# programming languages.

Step-by-step

1. Create a connection string in web.config. I decide to put the connection string in web.config so that I can re-use the connection string in other web form.

   <connectionstrings>
   		<add name="Northwind"
          connectionString="Data Source=BKKSQL001\INSTANCE01;
          Initial Catalog=Northwind;
          Integrated Security=True"
         providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"/>
   </connectionstrings>

   Attributes explanation:

   • name: A connection string name.
   • connectionString: A connection string which is used to connect to a database. On this example, it connects to Northwind database on BKKSQL001\INSTANCE01.
   • providerName: A provider name that is used.

   

2. On a Web Form, imports some namespaces which are required for working with SQL Server. System.Web.Configuration is use to read values from web.config.

   'Visual Basic
   Imports System.Data
   Imports System.Data.SqlClient
   Imports System.Web.Configuration

   //C#
   using System.Data;
   using System.Data.SqlClient;
   using System.Web.Configuration;

3. Use a GridView object to display the query result. Set the name of GridView to “gridView1“. Copy and paste the code below to Page_Load method.

   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

   'Visual Basic Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load   Dim connStr As String = WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("Northwind").ConnectionString Dim conn As New SqlConnection(connStr) conn.Open()   Dim sqlProducts As String = "SELECT ProductID, ProductName, UnitPrice FROM Products"   Dim da As New SqlDataAdapter(sqlProducts, conn) Dim ds As New DataSet() da.Fill(ds, "Products")   gridView1.DataSource = ds.Tables("Products") gridView1.Databind() End Sub

   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

   //C# protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) { string connStr = WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["Northwind"].ConnectionString; SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(connStr); conn.Open();   string sqlProducts = "SELECT ProductID, ProductName, UnitPrice FROM Products";   SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter(sqlProducts, conn); DataSet ds = new DataSet(); da.Fill(ds, "Products");   gridView1.DataSource = ds.Tables["Products"]; gridView1.DataBind(); }

   Code Explanation:

   • Line 4-6: Get a connection string value from web.config. Then, open a connection using the connection string to a SQL Server.
   • Line 8: Create a variable “sqlProducts” which stores SQL query from Products table.
   • Line 10-12: Create a SqlDataAdapter object “da” to execute the query. Then, create a DataSet object “ds” to hold the result from object “da” and set name to “Products“.
   • Line 14-15: Display data from object “ds” on a GridView object “gridView1“.
4. Run the project. You will see the result as figure below.
   

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From part 1: SELECT Data, you see how to query data from SQL Server 2005 to display on a GridView object using SqlDataSource web control. But the data is read-only, you cannot modify any data on a GridView. So now you will see how to modify data on the GridView which will update back on the database.

Step-by-step

Note: This example is continue from part 1: SELECT Data.

1. On SqlDataSource1, click on Configure Data Source.
   
2. On Choose Your Data Connection, click Next.
   
3. On Configure Select Statement, change the option from Specify columns from a table or view to Specify a custom SQL statement or stored procedure. Click Next.
   
4. On Define Custom Statements or Stored Procedures, you see 4 tabs which are SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT and DELETE. Here you can define custom SQL statements for each SQL operations. On SELECT tab, enter the SQL statement as below:

   SELECT [ProductID], [ProductName], [UnitPrice] FROM [Products]

   

5. Click on UPDATE tab, enter the SQL statement below and click Next.

   UPDATE Products SET ProductName = @ProductName, UnitPrice = @UnitPrice
   WHERE [ProductID] = @ProductID

   

6. On Test Query, Click Finish.
   
7. On GridView1, click Edit Columns.
   
8. On Fields, select Command Fields -> Edit, Update, Cancel on Available fields and click Add. Then, move the field Edit, Update, Cancel to the top by click on up arrow button. Next, click OK.
   
9. On GridView1, check Enable Editing to allow edit data on the Grid View.
   
10. Build and run the project. You see the Edit column in front of each row. Click Edit to edit the row.
    
11. You can modify the value of product name and unit price of the row which also update back on the database, too.
    

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On this post, you will see how to develop an ASP.NET web application that query data from SQL Server 2005 and display the result on a GridView object using SqlDataSource web control so you don’t have to write any code!

Step-by-step-

1. Drag a SqlDataSource object from Toolbox to a Web Form.
   
2. On SqlDataSource1 object, click Configure Data Source.
   
3. On Choose Your Data Connection, click New Connection.
   
4. On Add Connection, select Data Source as Microsoft SQL Server (SqlClient). Then, type the Server name of the SQL Server and select a database. On this example, the server is BKKSQL001\INSTANCE01 and Northwind is the database.
   
5. On Save the Connection String to the Application Configuration File, click Next to continue.
   
6. On Configure the Select Statement, select Specify columns from table or view and select Products table. Then, check ProductID, ProductName and UnitPrice columns. Click Next.
   
7. On Test Query, you can click on Test Query button to verify the query result. Then, click Finish.
   
8. Drag a GridView object from Toolbox to the Web Form. Then, choose the Data Source to the one that you have just created.
   
9. Build and run the project. You will see the result as the figure below.
   

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