SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection("connection string");
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM SomeTable", connection);
SqlDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
connection.Open();
if (reader != null)
{
while (reader.Read())
{
//do something
}
}
reader.Close(); // <- too easy to forget
reader.Dispose(); // <- too easy to forget
connection.Close(); // <- too easy to forget
Instead, wrap them in using statements:
using(SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection("connection string"))
{
connection.Open();
using(SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM SomeTable", connection))
{
using (SqlDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader())
{
if (reader != null)
{
while (reader.Read())
{
//do something
}
}
} // reader closed and disposed up here
} // command disposed here
} //connection closed and disposed here
The using statement will ensure correct disposal of the object and freeing of resources.
If you forget then you are leaving the cleaning up to the garbage collector, which could take a while.
Note that disposing a SqlDataReader instantiated using SqlCommand.ExecuteReader() will not close/dispose the underlying connection.
There are two common patterns. In the first, the reader is opened and closed within the scope of the connection:
using(SqlConnection connection = ...)
{
connection.Open();
...
using(SqlCommand command = ...)
{
using(SqlDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader())
{
... do your stuff ...
} // reader is closed/disposed here
} // command is closed/disposed here
} // connection is closed/disposed here
Sometimes it's convenient to have a data access method open a connection and return a reader. In this case it's important that the returned reader is opened using CommandBehavior.CloseConnection, so that closing/disposing the reader will close the underlying connection. The pattern looks something like this:
public SqlDataReader ExecuteReader(string commandText)
{
SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(...);
try
{
connection.Open();
using(SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(commandText, connection))
{
return command.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);
}
}
catch
{
// Close connection before rethrowing
connection.Close();
throw;
}
}
and the calling code just needs to dispose the reader thus:
using(SqlDataReader reader = ExecuteReader(...))
{
... do your stuff ...
} // reader and connection are closed here.