Converting between SQL char and C#

Question

If I want to insert into a database column of type char(2) from C#. What data type would I use in C#?

If using the following code:

private static SqlParameter addParameterValue(string parameterName, ? parameterValue, SqlCommand command)
    {
        SqlParameter parameter = new SqlParameter(parameterName, SqlDbType.Char);
        parameter.Value = parameterValue;
        command.Parameters.Add(parameter);
        return parameter;
    }

What type would I give to parameterValue?

I already have method like this when the parameterValue is of type string, so this could be a problem when telling the difference between SqlDbType.Char and SqlDbType.Varchar

balexandre · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-02 11:08:51Z

10

char, varchar, nchar, nvarchar are actually strings

the size helps to determine how long the string is...

by the way

char has a fixed length, so if you want to have "1" in a char(2) the contents will be actual "1 "

varchar(2) will be "1"

the n part stands for unicode, so everything inside those fields will be in Unicode.

normally we use nvarchar to save some space on the data, as if you have a char(250) the database will always save the full length, as an empty varchar(250) will be nothing.

In our programming language we then use padding to do what char does, for example, in C#

"1".PadLeft(2);
"1".PadRight(2);

will output " 1" and "1 " respectively.

edited Nov 2, 2011 at 11:08

answered Nov 2, 2011 at 11:01

balexandre

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flipchart · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-02 11:01:04Z

4

string will work fine if it is 2 characters or shorter

answered Nov 2, 2011 at 11:01

flipchart

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2 Comments

ediblecode Over a year ago

So just need to do a length check on the string?

flipchart Over a year ago

I think that SQL will throw an exception along the lines of 'string or binary data would be truncated' rather than automatically truncating. Depends on the setup I suppose

Damith · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-02 11:22:43Z

1

try using AddWithValue method and parce it as string,

it is only a one line. no need to have a seperate method.

command.Parameters.AddWithValue(parameterName, parameterValue);

edited Nov 2, 2011 at 11:22

answered Nov 2, 2011 at 11:13

Damith

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1 Comment

ediblecode Over a year ago

thanks a lot, this has shortened my code slightly. Although I inherited this method.

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