Download TableAdapters and TableAdapterManager

ADO.Net TableAdapters
and
TableAdapterManager
Code Camp 2008
Emmet Gray
http://home.hot.rr.com/graye
Introduction
Strongly-typed DataSets
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Based upon DataSet and DataTable classes
Wizard based (no need to hand code)
Graphical view of the data
Benefits
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Design-time type checking
Intellisense
Slight performance increase*
Strongly-Typed DataSet
Disadvantages
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Severe code bloat*
Is often incorrectly used as a substitute for
true n-tier “data access layer”
Use of wizard may cause you to overlook
other options such as stored procedures
* Performance increases may be overshadowed by code bloat
TableAdapter
Strongly-typed version of the DataAdapter
class
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The typical way to get data in/out of a
strongly-typed DataSet
One “DataAdapter” per table
Has traditional Fill() and Update() methods
Can be expanded with additional methods
Concepts similar to that of stored procedures
All queries located in one place
TableAdapter Disadvantages
Tied to the current data provider (i.e. SQL
Server)
To make a program database “agnostic”
you would:
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Build the DataSet as usual
Remove all TableAdapters
Use the “Data Provider Factory”
Schema Based
All queries in a TableAdapter must return
rows based upon the schema associated
with the strongly-typed DataTable
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Joins are allows for filtering (but only columns
in the base table are allowed)
Exception for scalar queries (that return a
single value)
Supports parameterized queries
Queries
So how do I handle custom queries that
return a different schema?
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Create a new TableAdapter!
Also creates a new strongly-typed DataTable
Update() methods
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Automatically creates the “CommandBuilder”
equivalent Insert, Update, Delete commands
Database Integrity
Constraints upon the data
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Unique / Primary key
Foreign Key
Relationships
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Strongly-typed DataSets support relationships
Enforces relationships at run-time
Detects problems prior to saving to back-end
database
Saving the data
TableAdapter.Update() method
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Scans the rows for changes and sends the
changes to the back-end database
How does the TableAdapter handle
updates for queries based upon joins?
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Poorly…
You’re are forced to write the update logic by
hand
Database Integrity Revisited
Since strongly-typed DataSets support
relationships, I’m good to go… right?
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That’s true for your locally cached version of
the data
But you must make sure you update the
tables in the back-end database in the correct
order!
Particularly important in foreign-key
relationship
TableAdapterManager
TableAdapterManager
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New to VS2008
Automatically scans the relationships and
builds an UpdateAll() method that updates the
tables in the correct order
Not really based upon a “base class”
Not tied to newer .Net Framework v3.x
End Notes
TableAdapter
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Based upon the associated schema of the
strongly-typed DataTable
Handy place to keep all your queries
May not be suitable for all ocasions
TableAdapterManager
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New component to solve the problem of
updating the back-end database tables in the
correct order