SqlDataAdapter. This C# class interacts with the DataTable type. It can be used to fill a DataTable with a table from your SQL Server database.

Type notes. We review important members (methods, events and properties) on SqlDataAdapter. We should include the System.Data namespace to access this type.

SqlCommandBuilder

Example. You can change the SELECT command to use a table from a custom database. You may also need to add a DataGridView to the Windows Forms program.

SqlClient

using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            FillData();
        }

        void FillData()
        {
            // Part 1: open connection.
            using (SqlConnection c = new SqlConnection( Properties.Settings.Default.DataConnectionString))
            {
                c.Open();
                // Part 2: create new DataAdapter.
                using (SqlDataAdapter a = new SqlDataAdapter( "SELECT * FROM EmployeeIDs", c))
                {
                    // Part 3: Use DataAdapter to fill DataTable.
                    DataTable t = new DataTable();
                    a.Fill(t);

                    // Part 4: render data onto the screen.
                    // dataGridView1.DataSource = t;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Fill. Fill is the most important method on the DataAdapter objects. It executes the query and fills the DataAdapter object with the results.

Options. LoadOption is an enumeration of the options you can use when the DataAdapter is loaded. You can specify OverwriteChanges, PreserveChanges and Upsert.

Summary. We used SqlDataAdapter, part of the System.Data.SqlClient namespace. There are many members of SqlDataAdapter. We touched on SqlCeDataAdapter, which is similar.