6.1.3 Working with Decoupled Data

Previously, when using MySqlDataReader, the connection to the database was continually maintained unless explicitly closed. It is also possible to work in a manner where a connection is only established when needed. For example, in this mode, a connection could be established to read a chunk of data, the data could then be modified by the application as required. A connection could then be reestablished only if and when the application writes data back to the database. This decouples the working data set from the database.

This decoupled mode of working with data is supported by MySQL Connector/NET. There are several parts involved in allowing this method to work:

• Data Set.  The Data Set is the area in which data is loaded to read or modify it. A DataSet object is instantiated, which can store multiple tables of data.

• Data Adapter.  The Data Adapter is the interface between the Data Set and the database itself. The Data Adapter is responsible for efficiently managing connections to the database, opening and closing them as required. The Data Adapter is created by instantiating an object of the MySqlDataAdapter class. The MySqlDataAdapter object has two main methods: Fill which reads data into the Data Set, and Update, which writes data from the Data Set to the database.

• Command Builder.  The Command Builder is a support object. The Command Builder works in conjunction with the Data Adapter. When a MySqlDataAdapter object is created, it is typically given an initial SELECT statement. From this SELECT statement the Command Builder can work out the corresponding INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE statements that would be required to update the database. To create the Command Builder, an object of the class MySqlCommandBuilder is created.

The remaining sections describe each of these classes in more detail.

Instantiating a DataSet Object

A DataSet object can be created simply, as shown in the following code-snippet:

DataSet dsCountry;
...
dsCountry = new DataSet();

Although this creates the DataSet object, it has not yet filled it with data. For that, a Data Adapter is required.

Instantiating a MySqlDataAdapter Object

The MySqlDataAdapter can be created as illustrated by the following example:

MySqlDataAdapter daCountry;
...
string sql = "SELECT Code, Name, HeadOfState FROM Country WHERE Continent='North America'";
daCountry = new MySqlDataAdapter (sql, conn);

Note

The MySqlDataAdapter is given the SQL specifying the data to work with.

Instantiating a MySqlCommandBuilder Object

Once the MySqlDataAdapter has been created, it is necessary to generate the additional statements required for inserting, updating and deleting data. There are several ways to do this, but in this tutorial you will see how this can most easily be done with MySqlCommandBuilder. The following code snippet illustrates how this is done:

MySqlCommandBuilder cb = new MySqlCommandBuilder(daCountry);

Note

The MySqlDataAdapter object is passed as a parameter to the command builder.

Filling the Data Set

To do anything useful with the data from your database, you need to load it into a Data Set. This is one of the jobs of the MySqlDataAdapter object, and is carried out with its Fill method. The following code example illustrates this point.

DataSet dsCountry;
...
dsCountry = new DataSet();
...
daCountry.Fill(dsCountry, "Country");

The Fill method is a MySqlDataAdapter method, and the Data Adapter knows how to establish a connection with the database and retrieve the required data, and then populate the Data Set when the Fill method is called. The second parameter “Country” is the table in the Data Set to update.

Updating the Data Set

The data in the Data Set can now be manipulated by the application as required. At some point, changes to data will need to be written back to the database. This is achieved through a MySqlDataAdapter method, the Update method.

daCountry.Update(dsCountry, "Country");

Again, the Data Set and the table within the Data Set to update are specified.

Working Example

The interactions between the DataSet, MySqlDataAdapter and MySqlCommandBuilder classes can be a little confusing, so their operation can perhaps be best illustrated by working code.

In this example, data from the world database is read into a Data Grid View control. Here, the data can be viewed and changed before clicking an update button. The update button then activates code to write changes back to the database. The code uses the principles explained previously. The application was built using the Microsoft Visual Studio to place and create the user interface controls, but the main code that uses the key classes described previously is shown in the next code example, and is portable.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;

using MySql.Data;
using MySql.Data.MySqlClient;

namespace WindowsFormsApplication5
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        MySqlDataAdapter daCountry;
        DataSet dsCountry;

        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {

            string connStr = "server=localhost;user=root;database=world;port=3306;password=******";
            MySqlConnection conn = new MySqlConnection(connStr);
            try
            {
                label2.Text = "Connecting to MySQL...";

                string sql = "SELECT Code, Name, HeadOfState FROM Country WHERE Continent='North America'";
                daCountry = new MySqlDataAdapter (sql, conn);
                MySqlCommandBuilder cb = new MySqlCommandBuilder(daCountry);

                dsCountry = new DataSet();
                daCountry.Fill(dsCountry, "Country");
                dataGridView1.DataSource = dsCountry;
                dataGridView1.DataMember = "Country";
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                label2.Text = ex.ToString();
            }
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            daCountry.Update(dsCountry, "Country");
            label2.Text = "MySQL Database Updated!";
        }

    }
}

The following figure shows the application started. The World Database Application updated data in three columns: Code, Name, and HeadOfState.

Figure 6.1 World Database Application