Saving C# textbox attributes to SQL

Question

In my C# Web Application I have simple page where a user enters their first name in one textbox (named txtFirst) and their last name in another textbox (named txtLast). After they enter this information in the two textboxes, they click on a continue button which saves the data to a SQL database. My problem is trying to save these values in SQL. I have a "Value" table (columns are PersonID, AttributeID, and Value) and an "Attribute" table (columns are a primary key AttributeID and AttributeName).

In my Attribute table I have the following:

AttributeID:   AttributeName: 
    1            FirstName 
    2            LastName

My goal is to have this save in the Value table as:

PersonID:       AttributeID:             Value: 
    A                1                     FirstName Value Here
    B                2                     LastName Value Here

I know how to save the data by directly passing it into a stored procedure, but how can I have the AttributeID get assigned correctly? (Example: AttributeID = 1 for FirstName and AttributeID = 2 for LastName). Is there a way I can assign the textboxes in the application to have a specific AttributeID or even by AttributeName? Thanks so much.

It might be confusing, but the idea here is for when the button is clicked, it pulls the AttributeID associated to FirstName from the table and then saves the value and that pulled AttributeID in table "Value". Thanks

If you are using two different TextBox objects, why do the objects need to keep the IDs? Just save the IDs in the ViewState or Session and be done with it. — Trisped
– Trisped, Commented Jan 7, 2013 at 23:15
Hey thanks for the quick response, but its' not the IDs of the textboxes. Its the AttributeID from the database side that I want to capture this way I can save the AttributeID of FirstName along with the value in the "Value" table. Is that any clearer? — Bill Edwards
– Bill Edwards, Commented Jan 7, 2013 at 23:20

XIVSolutions · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-07 23:35:49Z

1

Tuck the AttributeID for each into the Tag property of each respective textbox. It's a hack, but it will get the job done. You will need to cast the value stored in the tag to its proper type when you retrieve it, though:

A. Set the .Tag property:

txtFirst.Tag = firstNameAttributeID;
txtLast.Tag = lastNameAttributeID;

B. Retreive the .Tag Property (assuming both are ints, for example):

firstNameAttributeID = (int)txtFirst.Tag;
lastNameAttributeID = (int)txtLast.Tag;

Like I said, you can probably make this work. But I might examine your design first. It seems to me your person entity should have designated fields for each of these things.

answered Jan 7, 2013 at 23:35

XIVSolutions

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2 Comments

Bill Edwards Over a year ago

It calls a stored procedure that will save these values to the database. You can use a .Tag property that will capture this?

XIVSolutions Over a year ago

Ach. I missed that this was a web app. I was thinking winforms. Oops.

Trisped · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-08 00:41:55Z

0

I would store them in the ViewState or Session depending on what you are doing:

//Code to get the values from the database.
Session("FirstNamePersionId") = fnamePId;
Session("FirstNameAttributeId") = fnameAId;
Session("LastNamePersionId") = lnamePId;
Session("LastNamePersionId") = lnameAId;
//other code.

Then to access just use Session("FirstNamePersionId") or what ever you called the value.

I would wrap the calls to the ViewState or Session in properties to make it easier to maintain and read.

Let me know if you need an example.

Update:
To get the values from the database you can try the following.

int fNameId = -1, lNameId = -1;
SqlConnection sqlConn = new SqlConnection(conString);//conString is the connection string for your DB.  This should be the same as what you use to execute the stored procedure.
SqlCommand sqlQuery = new SqlCommand("SELECT AttributeID, AttributeName FROM Attribute WHERE AttributeName IN ('FirstName','LastName')", sqlConn);
SqlDataReader sqlReader;

sqlConn.Open();
sqlReader = sqlQuery.ExecuteReader();
if (sqlReader.HasRows)
{
    while (sqlReader.Read())
    {
        if (sqlReader[1].ToString().Equals("FirstName", StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase))
        {
            fNameId = (int)fNameId;
        }
        else if (sqlReader[1].ToString().Equals("LastName", StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase))
        {
            lNameId = (int)fNameId;
        }
    }
}
sqlReader.Close();
sqlConn.Close();

If you want you can make a separate call for each id, but that adds a bit of processing overhead. If you do make two calls then I suggest using the same SqlConnection, though you will need to create a new command.
Accessing the results by id (as I did using sqlReader[1]) is sometimes frowned upon. I personally do not worry about it since I declare the column order in the SQL query.
This would probably be easier using LINQ2SQL.
Let me know if I made any mistakes or missed anything.

edited Jan 8, 2013 at 0:41

answered Jan 7, 2013 at 23:58

Trisped

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5 Comments

Bill Edwards Over a year ago

In your "Code to get the values from the database" is there a way to use a Select statement that can pull the AttributeID's from the database?

Trisped Over a year ago

@BillEdwards Yes. To give you a relevent answer I would need to know how you are getting things from the database. For example, are you using LINQ2SQL? standard ADO (like SqlConnection)? This would be similar to how you execute the stored procedure.

Trisped Over a year ago

@BillEdwards Just read your update, it would probably be easier/smarter to update your stored procedure to take the first and last name, look up the IDs for the two fields, and make the update, instead of making your C# program keep track of the information.

Bill Edwards Over a year ago

Yes, standard ADO. Thanks.

Bill Edwards Over a year ago

Do you know anyway for the C# code to keep track of the information? Thanks.

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