Can I pass a list to stored procedure? - asp.net

Question

I have the following list
ID | DESC | PRICE
10 | SHOE | 5000
11 | LACE | 3000
12 | GAME | 2000
13 | TOAD | 3000
I am now passing individual rows in a foreach loop, and establishing a new connection all the time, which looks unconventional but I am hoping there is a faster way.
This is the code I have.
foreach(var item in tempList)
{
using (connection)
{
SqlCommand command = new SqlComman("StoredProc", connection);
command.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("id", item.id));
command.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("desc", item.desc));
command.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("price", item.price));
...
}
}
So how do I pass a list to a stored procedure?

Answer 1

To give a practical example of TVPs, in addition to the links (which are definitely worthwhile reading). Assuming SQL Server 2008 or better.
First, in SQL Server:
CREATE TYPE dbo.Items AS TABLE
(
ID INT,
Description VARCHAR(32),
Price INT
);
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.StoredProcedure
#Items AS dbo.Items READONLY
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;
INSERT INTO dbo.DestinationTable(ID, [DESC], Price)
SELECT ID, Description, Price FROM #Items;
END
GO
Now in C#:
DataTable tvp = new DataTable();
tvp.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("ID"));
tvp.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("Description"));
tvp.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("Price"));
foreach(var item in tempList)
{
tvp.Rows.Add(item.id, item.desc, item.price);
}
using (connection)
{
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("StoredProcedure", connection);
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
SqlParameter tvparam = cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("#Items", tvp);
tvparam.SqlDbType = SqlDbType.Structured;
connection.Open();
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}

Answer 2

You could declare a custom table data type in SQL Server, use that as a parameter to your stored procedure, use a DataTable in your code, and fill it with the rows.
Read more on MSDN: Table-Valued Parameters

Answer 3

You could take a look at using Table-Valued Parameters to pass all the rows in one call as a single parameter:
Table-valued parameters provide an easy way to marshal multiple rows
of data from a client application to SQL Server without requiring
multiple round trips or special server-side logic for processing the
data. You can use table-valued parameters to encapsulate rows of data
in a client application and send the data to the server in a single
parameterized command. The incoming data rows are stored in a table
variable that can then be operated on by using Transact-SQL.