With the release of MySQL version 5 the MySQL server now supports stored procedures with the SQL 2003 stored procedure syntax.

A stored procedure is a set of SQL statements that can be stored in the server. Once this has been done, clients don't need to keep reissuing the individual statements but can refer to the stored procedure instead.

Stored procedures can be particularly useful in situations such as the following:

Connector/NET supports the calling of stored procedures through the MySqlCommand object. Data can be passed in and our of a MySQL stored procedure through use of the MySqlCommand.Parameters collection.

This section will not provide in-depth information on creating Stored Procedures. For such information, please refer to http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/stored-routines.html.

A sample application demonstrating how to use stored procedures with Connector/NET can be found in the Samples directory of your Connector/NET installation.

Stored procedures in MySQL can be created using a variety of tools. First, stored procedures can be created using the mysql command-line client. Second, stored procedures can be created using the MySQL Query Browser GUI client. Finally, stored procedures can be created using the .ExecuteNonQuery method of the MySqlCommand object:

Visual Basic Example

Dim conn As New MySqlConnection
Dim cmd As New MySqlCommand

conn.ConnectionString = "server=127.0.0.1;" _
    & "uid=root;" _
    & "pwd=12345;" _
    & "database=test"

Try
    conn.Open()
    cmd.Connection = conn

    cmd.CommandText = "CREATE PROCEDURE add_emp(" _
        & "IN fname VARCHAR(20), IN lname VARCHAR(20), IN bday DATETIME, OUT empno INT) " _
        & "BEGIN INSERT INTO emp(first_name, last_name, birthdate) " _
        & "VALUES(fname, lname, DATE(bday)); SET empno = LAST_INSERT_ID(); END"
 
    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery()
Catch ex As MySqlException
    MessageBox.Show("Error " & ex.Number & " has occurred: " & ex.Message, "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error)
End Try

C# Example

MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection conn;
MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlCommand cmd;

conn = new MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection();
cmd = new MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlCommand();

conn.ConnectionString = "server=127.0.0.1;uid=root;" +
    "pwd=12345;database=test;";

try
{
    conn.Open();
    cmd.Connection = conn;

    cmd.CommandText = "CREATE PROCEDURE add_emp(" +
        "IN fname VARCHAR(20), IN lname VARCHAR(20), IN bday DATETIME, OUT empno INT) " +
        "BEGIN INSERT INTO emp(first_name, last_name, birthdate) " +
        "VALUES(fname, lname, DATE(bday)); SET empno = LAST_INSERT_ID(); END";

    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}
catch (MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException ex)
{
MessageBox.Show("Error " + ex.Number + " has occurred: " + ex.Message,
    "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
}

It should be noted that, unlike the command-line and GUI clients, you are not required to specify a special delimiter when creating stored procedures in Connector/NET.

To call a stored procedure using Connector/NET, create a MySqlCommand object and pass the stored procedure name as the .CommandText property. Set the .CommandType property to CommandType.StoredProcedure.

After the stored procedure is named, create one MySqlCommand parameter for every parameter in the stored procedure. IN parameters are defined with the parameter name and the object containing the value, OUT parameters are defined with the parameter name and the datatype that is expected to be returned. All parameters need the parameter direction defined.

After defining parameters, call the stored procedure by using the MySqlCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() method:

Visual Basic Example

Dim conn As New MySqlConnection
Dim cmd As New MySqlCommand

conn.ConnectionString = "server=127.0.0.1;" _
    & "uid=root;" _
    & "pwd=12345;" _
    & "database=test"

Try
    conn.Open()
    cmd.Connection = conn

    cmd.CommandText = "add_emp"
    cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure

    cmd.Parameters.Add("@lname", 'Jones')
    cmd.Parameters["@lname"].Direction = ParameterDirection.Input

    cmd.Parameters.Add("@fname", 'Tom')
    cmd.Parameters["@fname"].Direction = ParameterDirection.Input

    cmd.Parameters.Add("@bday", #12/13/1977 2:17:36 PM#)
    cmd.Parameters["@bday"].Direction = ParameterDirection.Input

    cmd.Parameters.Add("@empno", MySqlDbType.Int32)
    cmd.Parameters["@empno"].Direction = ParameterDirection.Output

    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery()

    MessageBox.Show(cmd.Parameters["@empno"].Value)
Catch ex As MySqlException
    MessageBox.Show("Error " & ex.Number & " has occurred: " & ex.Message, "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error)
End Try

C# Example

MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection conn;
MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlCommand cmd;

conn = new MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlConnection();
cmd = new MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlCommand();

conn.ConnectionString = "server=127.0.0.1;uid=root;" +
    "pwd=12345;database=test;";

try
{
    conn.Open();
    cmd.Connection = conn;

    cmd.CommandText = "add_emp";
    cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;

    cmd.Parameters.Add("@lname", "Jones");
    cmd.Parameters["@lname"].Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;

    cmd.Parameters.Add("@fname", "Tom");
    cmd.Parameters["@fname"].Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;

    cmd.Parameters.Add("@bday", DateTime.Parse("12/13/1977 2:17:36 PM"));
    cmd.Parameters["@bday"].Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;

    cmd.Parameters.Add("@empno", MySqlDbType.Int32);
    cmd.Parameters["@empno"].Direction = ParameterDirection.Output;

    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();

    MessageBox.Show(cmd.Parameters["@empno"].Value);
}
catch (MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlException ex)
{
    MessageBox.Show("Error " + ex.Number + " has occurred: " + ex.Message,
      "Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
}

Once the stored procedure is called, the values of output parameters can be retrieved by using the .Value property of the MySqlConnector.Parameters collection.