DataTable C# Class

Remarks

The DataTable is a central object in the ADO.NET library. Other objects that use the DataTable include the DataSet and the DataView.

When accessing DataTable objects, note that they are conditionally case sensitive. For example, if one DataTable is named "mydatatable" and another is named "Mydatatable", a string used to search for one of the tables is regarded as case sensitive. However, if "mydatatable" exists and "Mydatatable" does not, the search string is regarded as case insensitive. A DataSet can contain two DataTable objects that have the same TableName property value but different Namespace property values. For more information about working with DataTable objects, see Creating a DataTable.

If you are creating a DataTable programmatically, you must first define its schema by adding DataColumn objects to the DataColumnCollection (accessed through the Columns property). For more information about adding DataColumn objects, see Adding Columns to a DataTable.

To add rows to a DataTable, you must first use the NewRow method to return a new DataRow object. The NewRow method returns a row with the schema of the DataTable, as it is defined by the table's DataColumnCollection. The maximum number of rows that a DataTable can store is 16,777,216. For more information, see Adding Data to a DataTable.

The DataTable also contains a collection of Constraint objects that can be used to ensure the integrity of the data. For more information, see DataTable Constraints.

There are many DataTable events that can be used to determine when changes are made to a table. These include RowChanged, RowChanging, RowDeleting, and RowDeleted. For more information about the events that can be used with a DataTable, see Handling DataTable Events.

When an instance of DataTable is created, some of the read/write properties are set to initial values. For a list of these values, see the DataTable.DataTable constructor topic.

Note
The DataSet and DataTable objects inherit from MarshalByValueComponent, and support the ISerializable interface for .NET Framework remoting. These are the only ADO.NET objects that you can use for .NET Framework remoting.

Topic	Location
How to: Create DataTables	Data Access in Visual Studio

Examples

The following example creates two DataTable objects and one DataRelation object, and adds the new objects to a DataSet. The tables are then displayed in a DataGridView control.

C#

VB

// Put the next line into the Declarations section. 
private System.Data.DataSet dataSet;

private void MakeDataTables()
{
    // Run all of the functions. 
    MakeParentTable();
    MakeChildTable();
    MakeDataRelation();
    BindToDataGrid();
}

private void MakeParentTable()
{
    // Create a new DataTable.
    System.Data.DataTable table = new DataTable("ParentTable");
    // Declare variables for DataColumn and DataRow objects.
    DataColumn column;
    DataRow row;

    // Create new DataColumn, set DataType,  
    // ColumnName and add to DataTable.    
    column = new DataColumn();
    column.DataType = System.Type.GetType("System.Int32");
    column.ColumnName = "id";
    column.ReadOnly = true;
    column.Unique = true;
    // Add the Column to the DataColumnCollection.
    table.Columns.Add(column);

    // Create second column.
    column = new DataColumn();
    column.DataType = System.Type.GetType("System.String");
    column.ColumnName = "ParentItem";
    column.AutoIncrement = false;
    column.Caption = "ParentItem";
    column.ReadOnly = false;
    column.Unique = false;
    // Add the column to the table.
    table.Columns.Add(column);

    // Make the ID column the primary key column.
    DataColumn[] PrimaryKeyColumns = new DataColumn[1];
    PrimaryKeyColumns[0] = table.Columns["id"];
    table.PrimaryKey = PrimaryKeyColumns;

    // Instantiate the DataSet variable.
    dataSet = new DataSet();
    // Add the new DataTable to the DataSet.
    dataSet.Tables.Add(table);

    // Create three new DataRow objects and add  
    // them to the DataTable 
    for (int i = 0; i<= 2; i++)
    {
        row = table.NewRow();
        row["id"] = i;
        row["ParentItem"] = "ParentItem " + i;
        table.Rows.Add(row);
    }
}

private void MakeChildTable()
{
    // Create a new DataTable.
    DataTable table = new DataTable("childTable");
    DataColumn column;
    DataRow row;

    // Create first column and add to the DataTable.
    column = new DataColumn();
    column.DataType= System.Type.GetType("System.Int32");
    column.ColumnName = "ChildID";
    column.AutoIncrement = true;
    column.Caption = "ID";
    column.ReadOnly = true;
    column.Unique = true;

    // Add the column to the DataColumnCollection.
    table.Columns.Add(column);

    // Create second column.
    column = new DataColumn();
    column.DataType= System.Type.GetType("System.String");
    column.ColumnName = "ChildItem";
    column.AutoIncrement = false;
    column.Caption = "ChildItem";
    column.ReadOnly = false;
    column.Unique = false;
    table.Columns.Add(column);

    // Create third column.
    column = new DataColumn();
    column.DataType= System.Type.GetType("System.Int32");
    column.ColumnName = "ParentID";
    column.AutoIncrement = false;
    column.Caption = "ParentID";
    column.ReadOnly = false;
    column.Unique = false;
    table.Columns.Add(column);

    dataSet.Tables.Add(table);

    // Create three sets of DataRow objects,  
    // five rows each, and add to DataTable. 
    for(int i = 0; i <= 4; i ++)
    {
        row = table.NewRow();
        row["childID"] = i;
        row["ChildItem"] = "Item " + i;
        row["ParentID"] = 0 ;
        table.Rows.Add(row);
    }
    for(int i = 0; i <= 4; i ++)
    {
        row = table.NewRow();
        row["childID"] = i + 5;
        row["ChildItem"] = "Item " + i;
        row["ParentID"] = 1 ;
        table.Rows.Add(row);
    }
    for(int i = 0; i <= 4; i ++)
    {
        row = table.NewRow();
        row["childID"] = i + 10;
        row["ChildItem"] = "Item " + i;
        row["ParentID"] = 2 ;
        table.Rows.Add(row);
    }
}

private void MakeDataRelation()
{
    // DataRelation requires two DataColumn  
    // (parent and child) and a name.
    DataColumn parentColumn = 
        dataSet.Tables["ParentTable"].Columns["id"];
    DataColumn childColumn = 
        dataSet.Tables["ChildTable"].Columns["ParentID"];
    DataRelation relation = new 
        DataRelation("parent2Child", parentColumn, childColumn);
    dataSet.Tables["ChildTable"].ParentRelations.Add(relation);
}

private void BindToDataGrid()
{
    // Instruct the DataGrid to bind to the DataSet, with the  
    // ParentTable as the topmost DataTable.
    dataGrid1.SetDataBinding(dataSet,"ParentTable");
}

This sample demonstrates how to create a DataTable manually with specific schema definitions:

• Create multiple DataTables and define the initial columns.

• Create the table constraints.

• Insert the values and display the tables.

• Create the expression columns and display the tables.

C# and Visual Basic projects with this code sample can be found on Developer Code Samples.

C#

VB

using System;
using System.Data;

class Program {
   static void Main(string[] args) {
      // Create two tables and add them into the DataSet
      DataTable orderTable = CreateOrderTable();
      DataTable orderDetailTable = CreateOrderDetailTable();
      DataSet salesSet = new DataSet();
      salesSet.Tables.Add(orderTable);
      salesSet.Tables.Add(orderDetailTable);

      // Set the relations between the tables and create the related constraint.
      salesSet.Relations.Add("OrderOrderDetail", orderTable.Columns["OrderId"], orderDetailTable.Columns["OrderId"], true);

      Console.WriteLine("After creating the foreign key constriant, you will see the following error if inserting order detail with the wrong OrderId: ");
      try {
         DataRow errorRow = orderDetailTable.NewRow();
         errorRow[0] = 1;
         errorRow[1] = "O0007";
         orderDetailTable.Rows.Add(errorRow);
      } catch (Exception e) {
         Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
      }
      Console.WriteLine();

      // Insert the rows into the table
      InsertOrders(orderTable);
      InsertOrderDetails(orderDetailTable);

      Console.WriteLine("The initial Order table.");
      ShowTable(orderTable);

      Console.WriteLine("The OrderDetail table.");
      ShowTable(orderDetailTable);

      // Use the Aggregate-Sum on the child table column to get the result.
      DataColumn colSub = new DataColumn("SubTotal", typeof(Decimal), "Sum(Child.LineTotal)");
      orderTable.Columns.Add(colSub);

      // Compute the tax by referencing the SubTotal expression column.
      DataColumn colTax = new DataColumn("Tax", typeof(Decimal), "SubTotal*0.1");
      orderTable.Columns.Add(colTax);

      // If the OrderId is 'Total', compute the due on all orders; or compute the due on this order.
      DataColumn colTotal = new DataColumn("TotalDue", typeof(Decimal), "IIF(OrderId='Total',Sum(SubTotal)+Sum(Tax),SubTotal+Tax)");
      orderTable.Columns.Add(colTotal);

      DataRow row = orderTable.NewRow();
      row["OrderId"] = "Total";
      orderTable.Rows.Add(row);

      Console.WriteLine("The Order table with the expression columns.");
      ShowTable(orderTable);

      Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit.....");
      Console.ReadKey();
   }

   private static DataTable CreateOrderTable() {
      DataTable orderTable = new DataTable("Order");

      // Define one column.
      DataColumn colId = new DataColumn("OrderId", typeof(String));
      orderTable.Columns.Add(colId);

      DataColumn colDate = new DataColumn("OrderDate", typeof(DateTime));
      orderTable.Columns.Add(colDate);

      // Set the OrderId column as the primary key.
      orderTable.PrimaryKey = new DataColumn[] { colId };

      return orderTable;
   }

   private static DataTable CreateOrderDetailTable() {
      DataTable orderDetailTable = new DataTable("OrderDetail");

      // Define all the columns once.
      DataColumn[] cols ={
                                  new DataColumn("OrderDetailId",typeof(Int32)),
                                  new DataColumn("OrderId",typeof(String)),
                                  new DataColumn("Product",typeof(String)),
                                  new DataColumn("UnitPrice",typeof(Decimal)),
                                  new DataColumn("OrderQty",typeof(Int32)),
                                  new DataColumn("LineTotal",typeof(Decimal),"UnitPrice*OrderQty")
                              };

      orderDetailTable.Columns.AddRange(cols);
      orderDetailTable.PrimaryKey = new DataColumn[] { orderDetailTable.Columns["OrderDetailId"] };
     return orderDetailTable;
   }

   private static void InsertOrders(DataTable orderTable) {
      // Add one row once.
      DataRow row1 = orderTable.NewRow();
      row1["OrderId"] = "O0001";
      row1["OrderDate"] = new DateTime(2013, 3, 1);
      orderTable.Rows.Add(row1);

      DataRow row2 = orderTable.NewRow();
      row2["OrderId"] = "O0002";
      row2["OrderDate"] = new DateTime(2013, 3, 12);
      orderTable.Rows.Add(row2);

      DataRow row3 = orderTable.NewRow();
      row3["OrderId"] = "O0003";
      row3["OrderDate"] = new DateTime(2013, 3, 20);
      orderTable.Rows.Add(row3);
   }

   private static void InsertOrderDetails(DataTable orderDetailTable) {
      // Use an Object array to insert all the rows . 
      // Values in the array are matched sequentially to the columns, based on the order in which they appear in the table.
      Object[] rows = {
                                 new Object[]{1,"O0001","Mountain Bike",1419.5,36},
                                 new Object[]{2,"O0001","Road Bike",1233.6,16},
                                 new Object[]{3,"O0001","Touring Bike",1653.3,32},
                                 new Object[]{4,"O0002","Mountain Bike",1419.5,24},
                                 new Object[]{5,"O0002","Road Bike",1233.6,12},
                                 new Object[]{6,"O0003","Mountain Bike",1419.5,48},
                                 new Object[]{7,"O0003","Touring Bike",1653.3,8},
                             };

      foreach (Object[] row in rows) {
         orderDetailTable.Rows.Add(row);
      }
   }

   private static void ShowTable(DataTable table) {
      foreach (DataColumn col in table.Columns) {
         Console.Write("{0,-14}", col.ColumnName);
      }
      Console.WriteLine();

      foreach (DataRow row in table.Rows) {
         foreach (DataColumn col in table.Columns) {
            if (col.DataType.Equals(typeof(DateTime)))
               Console.Write("{0,-14:d}", row[col]);
            else if (col.DataType.Equals(typeof(Decimal)))
               Console.Write("{0,-14:C}", row[col]);
            else
               Console.Write("{0,-14}", row[col]);           
         }
         Console.WriteLine();
      }
      Console.WriteLine();
   }
}