ADO.NET 3.5 Cookbook, 2nd Edition

2.2. Creating a DataTable and Adding It to a DataSet

Problem

You need to create a table and add it to a DataSet.

Solution

Use the Add() or AddRange() method of the DataTableCollection of the DataSet, which is exposed through its Tables property.

The solution creates, configures, and adds a column to a DataTable using three different techniques:

• Add a DataTable to a DataSet and configure the DataTable.

• Creates and configures a DataTable and adds it to a DataSet.

• Creates multiple DataTable objects, configures them, and adds them to the DataSet using the AddRange() method of the DataTableCollection of the DataSet.

The C# code in Program.cs in the project CreateDataTableAddDataSet is shown in Example 2-2.

Example 2-2. File: Program.cs for CreateDataTableAddDataSet solution

using System; using System.Data; namespace CreateDataTableAddDataSet { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { DataSet ds = new DataSet(); // Add a DataTable named Table-1 directly DataTable dt1 = ds.Tables.Add("Table-1"); // ... Configure the DataTable -- add some columns, etc. // Add a DataTable named Table-2 by creating the table // and adding it to the DataSet DataTable dt2 = new DataTable("Table-2"); // ... Configure the DataTable -- add some columns, etc. ds.Tables.Add(dt2); // Add multiple DataTables to the DataSet DataTable dt3 = new DataTable("Table-3"); DataTable dt4 = new DataTable("Table-4"); // ... Configure the DataTable -- add some columns, etc. ds.Tables.AddRange(new DataTable[] { dt3, dt4 }); // Output ...