Posted by Erland Sommarskog on 06/10/07 09:06

Omar Abid (omar.abid2006@gmail.com) writes:
> Im using VB 2005 to create a program that open SQL Data base
> The problem that i want to detect the tables of a database
> so how can i know a data base tables instantly

Your question is very open-ended and it is not clear what you really
want assistance with. Is it running a metadata query in SQL Server? Or
is about data access from VB .Net in general? In the latter case, I would
suggest that you are better off by first learning the basics before you
play with metadata.

Nevertheless, a query you could run to get all tables is this one:

SELECT quotename(schema_name(schema_id)) + '.' + quotename(name)
FROM sys.tables
ORDER BY 1

As for running it from VB - there are many possible variations depending
on what you want to do with the data. Here is a console-mode prorgam that
just prints the table names, and which uses DataAdapater.Fill. It also
includes some error handling.

Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.Sql
Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Module Bugtest

Private Sub ErrorFill(ByVal sender as Object, ByVal args as FillErrorEventArgs)
Console.WriteLine(args.Errors.Message)
args.Continue = true
End Sub


Private Sub PrintSqlErrors(ByVal errors As SqlErrorCollection, ByVal what As String)
Dim e As SqlError
For Each e In errors
Console.Write (Now.ToString("HH:mm:ss.fff") & " " & what & _
" Message: Msg " & e.Number.ToString() & _
", Severity " & e.Class.ToString() & _
", State: " & e.State.ToString() & _
", Procedure: " & e.Procedure & _
", Line no: " & e.LineNumber.ToString & vbCrLf & _
e.Message & vbCrLf)
Next
End Sub

Private Sub OutputException(ex As Exception)
If TypeOf ex Is SqlException Then
Dim SqlEx As SqlException = DirectCast(ex, SqlException)
PrintSqlErrors(SqlEx.Errors, "Error")
Else
Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString())
End if
End Sub

Private Sub SqlInfoMessage(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As SqlInfoMessageEventArgs)
PrintSqlErrors(e.Errors, "INFO MSG")
End Sub

Private Sub PrintDataTable(ByVal tbl As DataTable)
Console.Writeline ("=========================================================" & vbCrLf)
For Each col As DataColumn In tbl.Columns
Console.Writeline (col.ColumnName & vbTab)
Next col
Console.Writeline (vbCrLf)
For Each row As DataRow In tbl.Rows
For Each col As DataColumn In tbl.Columns
Console.Writeline (row(col).ToString() & vbTab)
Next col
Console.Writeline(vbCrLf)
Next row
End Sub


Public Sub Main()

Dim cn As New SqlConnection, _
strConn As String

' This does not help.
' AddHandler cn.InfoMessage, AddressOf SqlInfoMessage

' Connection string, change server and database!
strConn = "Application Name=systablesdemo;Integrated Security=SSPI;"
strConn &= "Data Source=(local);Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks"

Try
cn.ConnectionString = strConn
cn.Open()
Catch ex As Exception
Console.Writeline(ex.Message, "Connection failed!")
cn = Nothing
Exit Sub
End Try

Dim cmd As SqlCommand = cn.CreateCommand()

cmd.CommandText = "SELECT quotename(schema_name(schema_id)) + "
cmd.CommandText &= " '.' + quotename(name) FROM sys.tables "
cmd.CommandText &= "ORDER BY 1"
Dim dt As New DataTable, _
da As SqlDataAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter(cmd), _
no_of_rows As Integer
AddHandler da.FillError, AddressOf ErrorFill
Try
no_of_rows = da.Fill(dt)
Catch e As Exception
OutputException(e)
End Try
Console.Writeline("No of rows filled " & no_of_rows.ToString() & vbCrLf)
PrintDataTable(dt)

cn.Close()
cn.Dispose()

End Sub

End Module




--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel@sommarskog.se

Books Online for SQL Server 2005 at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/downloads/books.mspx
Books Online for SQL Server 2000 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/previousversions/books.mspx

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