SqlCommand.BeginExecuteReader Method

public:
 IAsyncResult ^ BeginExecuteReader();

public IAsyncResult BeginExecuteReader ();

member this.BeginExecuteReader : unit -> IAsyncResult

Public Function BeginExecuteReader () As IAsyncResult

Returns

An IAsyncResult that can be used to poll or wait for results, or both; this value is also needed when invoking EndExecuteReader(IAsyncResult), which returns a SqlDataReader instance that can be used to retrieve the returned rows.

Exceptions

Examples

The following console application starts the process of retrieving a data reader asynchronously. While waiting for the results, this simple application sits in a loop, investigating the IsCompleted property value. As soon as the process has completed, the code retrieves the SqlDataReader and displays its contents.

using System.Data.SqlClient;

class Class1
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // This is a simple example that demonstrates the usage of the
        // BeginExecuteReader functionality
        // The WAITFOR statement simply adds enough time to prove the
        // asynchronous nature of the command.
        string commandText =
            "WAITFOR DELAY '00:00:03';" +
            "SELECT LastName, FirstName FROM Person.Contact " +
            "WHERE LastName LIKE 'M%'";

        RunCommandAsynchronously(commandText, GetConnectionString());

        Console.WriteLine("Press ENTER to continue.");
        Console.ReadLine();
    }

    private static void RunCommandAsynchronously(
        string commandText, string connectionString)
    {
        // Given command text and connection string, asynchronously execute
        // the specified command against the connection. For this example,
        // the code displays an indicator as it is working, verifying the
        // asynchronous behavior.
        using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
        {
            try
            {
                SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(commandText, connection);

                connection.Open();
                IAsyncResult result = command.BeginExecuteReader();

                // Although it is not necessary, the following code
                // displays a counter in the console window, indicating that
                // the main thread is not blocked while awaiting the command
                // results.
                int count = 0;
                while (!result.IsCompleted)
                {
                    count += 1;
                    Console.WriteLine("Waiting ({0})", count);
                    // Wait for 1/10 second, so the counter
                    // does not consume all available resources
                    // on the main thread.
                    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(100);
                }

                using (SqlDataReader reader = command.EndExecuteReader(result))
                {
                    DisplayResults(reader);
                }
            }
            catch (SqlException ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Error ({0}): {1}", ex.Number, ex.Message);
            }
            catch (InvalidOperationException ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.Message);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                // You might want to pass these errors
                // back out to the caller.
                Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.Message);
            }
        }
    }

    private static void DisplayResults(SqlDataReader reader)
    {
        // Display the data within the reader.
        while (reader.Read())
        {
            // Display all the columns.
            for (int i = 0; i < reader.FieldCount; i++)
                Console.Write("{0} ", reader.GetValue(i));
            Console.WriteLine();
        }
    }

    private static string GetConnectionString()
    {
        // To avoid storing the connection string in your code,
        // you can retrieve it from a configuration file.

        // If you have not included "Asynchronous Processing=true" in the
        // connection string, the command is not able
        // to execute asynchronously.
        return "Data Source=(local);Integrated Security=true;" +
            "Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks; Asynchronous Processing=true";
    }
}

Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        ' This is a simple example that demonstrates the usage of the 
        ' BeginExecuteReader functionality.
        ' The WAITFOR statement simply adds enough time to prove the 
        ' asynchronous nature of the command.
        Dim commandText As String = _
         "WAITFOR DELAY '00:00:03';" & _
         "SELECT LastName, FirstName FROM Person.Contact " & _
         "WHERE LastName LIKE 'M%'"

        RunCommandAsynchronously(commandText, GetConnectionString())

        Console.WriteLine("Press ENTER to continue.")
        Console.ReadLine()
    End Sub

    Private Sub RunCommandAsynchronously( _
     ByVal commandText As String, ByVal connectionString As String)

        ' Given command text and connection string, asynchronously execute
        ' the specified command against the connection. For this example,
        ' the code displays an indicator as it is working, verifying the 
        ' asynchronous behavior. 
        Using connection As New SqlConnection(connectionString)
            Try
                Dim command As New SqlCommand(commandText, connection)

                connection.Open()
                Dim result As IAsyncResult = command.BeginExecuteReader()

                ' Although it is not necessary, the following procedure
                ' displays a counter in the console window, indicating that 
                ' the main thread is not blocked while awaiting the command 
                ' results.
                Dim count As Integer
                While Not result.IsCompleted
                    count += 1
                    Console.WriteLine("Waiting ({0})", count)
                    ' Wait for 1/10 second, so the counter
                    ' does not consume all available resources 
                    ' on the main thread.
                    Threading.Thread.Sleep(100)
                End While

                ' Once the IAsyncResult object signals that it is done
                ' waiting for results, you can retrieve the results.
                Using reader As SqlDataReader = command.EndExecuteReader(result)
                    DisplayResults(reader)
                End Using
            Catch ex As SqlException
                Console.WriteLine("Error ({0}): {1}", ex.Number, ex.Message)
            Catch ex As InvalidOperationException
                Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.Message)
            Catch ex As Exception
                ' You might want to pass these errors
                ' back out to the caller.
                Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.Message)
            End Try
        End Using
    End Sub

    Private Sub DisplayResults(ByVal reader As SqlDataReader)
        ' Display the data within the reader.
        While reader.Read()
            ' Display all the columns.
            For i As Integer = 0 To reader.FieldCount - 1
                Console.Write("{0} ", reader.GetValue(i))
            Next
            Console.WriteLine()
        End While
    End Sub

    Private Function GetConnectionString() As String
        ' To avoid storing the connection string in your code, 
        ' you can retrieve it from a configuration file. 

        ' If you have not included "Asynchronous Processing=true" in the
        ' connection string, the command is not able
        ' to execute asynchronously.
        Return "Data Source=(local);Integrated Security=true;" & _
          "Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks; Asynchronous Processing=true"
    End Function
End Module

Remarks

The BeginExecuteReader method starts the process of asynchronously executing a Transact-SQL statement or stored procedure that returns rows, so that other tasks can run concurrently while the statement is executing. When the statement has completed, developers must call the EndExecuteReader method to finish the operation and retrieve the SqlDataReader returned by the command. The BeginExecuteReader method returns immediately, but until the code executes the corresponding EndExecuteReader method call, it must not execute any other calls that start a synchronous or asynchronous execution against the same SqlCommand object. Calling the EndExecuteReader before the command's execution is completed causes the SqlCommand object to block until the execution is finished.

Note that the command text and parameters are sent to the server synchronously. If a large command or many parameters are sent, this method may block during writes. After the command is sent, the method returns immediately without waiting for an answer from the server--that is, reads are asynchronous. Although command execution is asynchronous, value fetching is still synchronous. This means that calls to Read may block if more data is required and the underlying network's read operation blocks.

Because this overload does not support a callback procedure, developers must either poll to determine whether the command has completed, using the IsCompleted property of the IAsyncResult returned by the BeginExecuteReader method; or wait for the completion of one or more commands using the AsyncWaitHandle property of the returned IAsyncResult.

If you use ExecuteReader or BeginExecuteReader to access XML data, SQL Server will return any XML results greater than 2,033 characters in length in multiple rows of 2,033 characters each. To avoid this behavior, use ExecuteXmlReader or BeginExecuteXmlReader to read FOR XML queries.

This method ignores the CommandTimeout property.

See also

• Connecting and Retrieving Data in ADO.NET
• Using the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server
• ADO.NET Overview

public:
 IAsyncResult ^ BeginExecuteReader(System::Data::CommandBehavior behavior);

public IAsyncResult BeginExecuteReader (System.Data.CommandBehavior behavior);

member this.BeginExecuteReader : System.Data.CommandBehavior -> IAsyncResult

Public Function BeginExecuteReader (behavior As CommandBehavior) As IAsyncResult

Parameters

Returns

An IAsyncResult that can be used to poll, wait for results, or both; this value is also needed when invoking EndExecuteReader(IAsyncResult), which returns a SqlDataReader instance that can be used to retrieve the returned rows.

Exceptions

Examples

The following console application starts the process of retrieving a data reader asynchronously. While waiting for the results, this simple application sits in a loop, investigating the IsCompleted property value. Once the process has completed, the code retrieves the SqlDataReader and displays its contents.

This example also passes the CommandBehavior.CloseConnection and CommandBehavior.SingleRow values in the behavior parameter, causing the connection to be closed with the returned SqlDataReader is closed, and to optimize for a single row result.

using System.Data.SqlClient;
class Class1
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // This example is not terribly useful, but it proves a point.
        // The WAITFOR statement simply adds enough time to prove the
        // asynchronous nature of the command.
        string commandText = "WAITFOR DELAY '00:00:03';" +
            "SELECT ProductID, Name FROM Production.Product WHERE ListPrice < 100";

        RunCommandAsynchronously(commandText, GetConnectionString());

        Console.WriteLine("Press ENTER to continue.");
        Console.ReadLine();
    }

    private static void RunCommandAsynchronously(
        string commandText, string connectionString)
    {
        // Given command text and connection string, asynchronously execute
        // the specified command against the connection. For this example,
        // the code displays an indicator as it is working, verifying the
        // asynchronous behavior.

        try
        {
            // The code does not need to handle closing the connection explicitly--
            // the use of the CommandBehavior.CloseConnection option takes care
            // of that for you.
            SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);
            SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(commandText, connection);

            connection.Open();
            IAsyncResult result = command.BeginExecuteReader(
                CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);

            // Although it is not necessary, the following code
            // displays a counter in the console window, indicating that
            // the main thread is not blocked while awaiting the command
            // results.
            int count = 0;
            while (!result.IsCompleted)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Waiting ({0})", count++);
                // Wait for 1/10 second, so the counter
                // does not consume all available resources
                // on the main thread.
                System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(100);
            }

            using (SqlDataReader reader = command.EndExecuteReader(result))
            {
                DisplayResults(reader);
            }
        }
        catch (SqlException ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Error ({0}): {1}", ex.Number, ex.Message);
        }
        catch (InvalidOperationException ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.Message);
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            // You might want to pass these errors
            // back out to the caller.
            Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.Message);
        }
    }

    private static void DisplayResults(SqlDataReader reader)
    {
        // Display the data within the reader.
        while (reader.Read())
        {
            // Display all the columns.
            for (int i = 0; i < reader.FieldCount; i++)
            {
                Console.Write("{0}\t", reader.GetValue(i));
            }
            Console.WriteLine();
        }
    }

    private static string GetConnectionString()
    {
        // To avoid storing the connection string in your code,
        // you can retrieve it from a configuration file.

        // If you have not included "Asynchronous Processing=true" in the
        // connection string, the command is not able
        // to execute asynchronously.
        return "Data Source=(local);Integrated Security=true;" +
            "Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks; Asynchronous Processing=true";
    }
}

Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        ' This example is not terribly useful, but it proves a point.
        ' The WAITFOR statement simply adds enough time to prove the 
        ' asynchronous nature of the command.
        Dim commandText As String = _
         "WAITFOR DELAY '00:00:03';" & _
         "SELECT ProductID, Name FROM Production.Product WHERE ListPrice < 100"

        RunCommandAsynchronously(commandText, GetConnectionString())

        Console.WriteLine("Press ENTER to continue.")
        Console.ReadLine()
    End Sub

    Private Sub RunCommandAsynchronously( _
     ByVal commandText As String, ByVal connectionString As String)

        ' Given command text and connection string, asynchronously execute
        ' the specified command against the connection. For this example,
        ' the code displays an indicator as it is working, verifying the 
        ' asynchronous behavior. 
        Try
            ' The code does not need to handle closing the connection explicitly--
            ' the use of the CommandBehavior.CloseConnection option takes care
            ' of that for you. 
            Dim connection As New SqlConnection(connectionString)
            Dim command As New SqlCommand(commandText, connection)

            connection.Open()
            Dim result As IAsyncResult = _
              command.BeginExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection)

            ' Although it is not necessary, the following code
            ' displays a counter in the console window, indicating that 
            ' the main thread is not blocked while awaiting the command 
            ' results.
            Dim count As Integer = 0
            While Not result.IsCompleted
                count += 1
                Console.WriteLine("Waiting ({0})", count)
                ' Wait for 1/10 second, so the counter
                ' does not consume all available resources 
                ' on the main thread.
                Threading.Thread.Sleep(100)
            End While

            ' The "using" statement closes the SqlDataReader when it is 
            ' done executing.
            Using reader As SqlDataReader = command.EndExecuteReader(result)
                DisplayResults(reader)
            End Using
        Catch ex As SqlException
            Console.WriteLine("Error ({0}): {1}", ex.Number, ex.Message)
        Catch ex As InvalidOperationException
            Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.Message)
        Catch ex As Exception
            ' You might want to pass these errors
            ' back out to the caller.
            Console.WriteLine("Error: {0}", ex.Message)
        End Try
    End Sub

    Private Sub DisplayResults(ByVal reader As SqlDataReader)
        ' Display the data within the reader.
        While reader.Read()
            ' Display all the columns. 
            For i As Integer = 0 To reader.FieldCount - 1
                Console.Write("{0} ", reader.GetValue(i))
            Next
            Console.WriteLine()
        End While
    End Sub

    Private Function GetConnectionString() As String
        ' To avoid storing the connection string in your code,            
        ' you can retrieve it from a configuration file. 

        ' If you have not included "Asynchronous Processing=true" in the
        ' connection string, the command is not able
        ' to execute asynchronously.
        Return "Data Source=(local);Integrated Security=true;" & _
          "Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks; Asynchronous Processing=true"
    End Function
End Module

Remarks

The BeginExecuteReader method starts the process of asynchronously executing a Transact-SQL statement or stored procedure that returns rows, so that other tasks can run concurrently while the statement is executing. When the statement has completed, developers must call the EndExecuteReader method to finish the operation and retrieve the SqlDataReader returned by the command. The BeginExecuteReader method returns immediately, but until the code executes the corresponding EndExecuteReader method call, it must not execute any other calls that start a synchronous or asynchronous execution against the same SqlCommand object. Calling the EndExecuteReader before the command's execution is completed causes the SqlCommand object to block until the execution is finished.

The behavior parameter lets you specify options that control the behavior of the command and its connection. These values can be combined together (using the programming language's OR operator); generally, developers use the CommandBehavior.CloseConnection value to make sure that the connection is closed by the runtime when the SqlDataReader is closed.

Note that the command text and parameters are sent to the server synchronously. If a large command or many parameters are sent, this method may block during writes. After the command is sent, the method returns immediately without waiting for an answer from the server--that is, reads are asynchronous. Although command execution is asynchronous, value fetching is still synchronous. This means that calls to Read may block if more data is required and the underlying network's read operation blocks.

Because this overload does not support a callback procedure, developers must either poll to determine whether the command has completed, using the IsCompleted property of the IAsyncResult returned by the BeginExecuteNonQuery method; or wait for the completion of one or more commands using the AsyncWaitHandle property of the returned IAsyncResult.

If you use ExecuteReader or BeginExecuteReader to access XML data, SQL Server returns any XML results greater than 2,033 characters in length in multiple rows of 2,033 characters each. To avoid this behavior, use ExecuteXmlReader or BeginExecuteXmlReader to read FOR XML queries.

This method ignores the CommandTimeout property.

See also

• Connecting and Retrieving Data in ADO.NET
• Using the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server
• ADO.NET Overview

public:
 IAsyncResult ^ BeginExecuteReader(AsyncCallback ^ callback, System::Object ^ stateObject);

public IAsyncResult BeginExecuteReader (AsyncCallback callback, object stateObject);

member this.BeginExecuteReader : AsyncCallback * obj -> IAsyncResult

Public Function BeginExecuteReader (callback As AsyncCallback, stateObject As Object) As IAsyncResult

Parameters

Returns

An IAsyncResult that can be used to poll, wait for results, or both; this value is also needed when invoking EndExecuteReader(IAsyncResult), which returns a SqlDataReader instance which can be used to retrieve the returned rows.

Exceptions

Examples

The following Windows application demonstrates the use of the BeginExecuteReader method, executing a Transact-SQL statement that includes a delay of a few seconds (emulating a long-running command). Because the sample executes the command asynchronously, the form remains responsive while awaiting the results. This example passes the executing SqlCommand object as the stateObject parameter; doing so makes it simple to retrieve the SqlCommand object from within the callback procedure, so that the code can call the EndExecuteReader method corresponding to the initial call to BeginExecuteReader.

This example demonstrates many important techniques. This includes calling a method that interacts with the form from a separate thread. In addition, this example demonstrates how you must block users from executing a command multiple times concurrently, and how you must make sure that the form does not close before the callback procedure is called.

To set up this example, create a new Windows application. Put a Button control, a DataGridView control, and a Label control on the form (accepting the default name for each control). Add the following code to the form's class, modifying the connection string as needed for your environment.

using System.Data.SqlClient;

namespace Microsoft.AdoDotNet.CodeSamples
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        // Hook up the form's Load event handler (you can double-click on
        // the form's design surface in Visual Studio), and then add
        // this code to the form's class:

        // You need this delegate in order to fill the grid from
        // a thread other than the form's thread. See the HandleCallback
        // procedure for more information.
        private delegate void FillGridDelegate(SqlDataReader reader);

        // You need this delegate to update the status bar.
        private delegate void DisplayStatusDelegate(string Text);

        // This flag ensures that the user does not attempt
        // to restart the command or close the form while the
        // asynchronous command is executing.
        private bool isExecuting = false;

        // Because the overloaded version of BeginExecuteReader
        // demonstrated here does not allow you to have the connection
        // closed automatically, this example maintains the
        // connection object externally, so that it is available for closing.
        private SqlConnection connection = null;

        private void DisplayStatus(string Text)
        {
            this.label1.Text = Text;
        }

        private void FillGrid(SqlDataReader reader)
        {
            try
            {
                DataTable table = new DataTable();
                table.Load(reader);
                this.dataGridView1.DataSource = table;
                DisplayStatus("Ready");
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                // Because you are guaranteed this procedure
                // is running from within the form's thread,
                // it can directly interact with members of the form.
                DisplayStatus(string.Format("Ready (last attempt failed: {0})",
                    ex.Message));
            }
            finally
            {
                // Do not forget to close the connection, as well.
                if (reader != null)
                {
                    reader.Close();
                }
                if (connection != null)
                {
                    connection.Close();
                }
            }
        }

        private void HandleCallback(IAsyncResult result)
        {
            try
            {
                // Retrieve the original command object, passed
                // to this procedure in the AsyncState property
                // of the IAsyncResult parameter.
                SqlCommand command = (SqlCommand)result.AsyncState;
                SqlDataReader reader = command.EndExecuteReader(result);
                // You may not interact with the form and its contents
                // from a different thread, and this callback procedure
                // is all but guaranteed to be running from a different thread
                // than the form. Therefore you cannot simply call code that
                // fills the grid, like this:
                // FillGrid(reader);
                // Instead, you must call the procedure from the form's thread.
                // One simple way to accomplish this is to call the Invoke
                // method of the form, which calls the delegate you supply
                // from the form's thread.
                FillGridDelegate del = new FillGridDelegate(FillGrid);
                this.Invoke(del, reader);
                // Do not close the reader here, because it is being used in
                // a separate thread. Instead, have the procedure you have
                // called close the reader once it is done with it.
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                // Because you are now running code in a separate thread,
                // if you do not handle the exception here, none of your other
                // code catches the exception. Because there is none of
                // your code on the call stack in this thread, there is nothing
                // higher up the stack to catch the exception if you do not
                // handle it here. You can either log the exception or
                // invoke a delegate (as in the non-error case in this
                // example) to display the error on the form. In no case
                // can you simply display the error without executing a delegate
                // as in the try block here.
                // You can create the delegate instance as you
                // invoke it, like this:
                this.Invoke(new DisplayStatusDelegate(DisplayStatus),
                    "Error: " + ex.Message);
            }
            finally
            {
                isExecuting = false;
            }
        }

        private string GetConnectionString()
        {
            // To avoid storing the connection string in your code,
            // you can retrieve it from a configuration file.

            // If you do not include the Asynchronous Processing=true name/value pair,
            // you wo not be able to execute the command asynchronously.
            return "Data Source=(local);Integrated Security=true;" +
                "Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks; Asynchronous Processing=true";
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            if (isExecuting)
            {
                MessageBox.Show(this,
                    "Already executing. Please wait until the current query " +
                    "has completed.");
            }
            else
            {
                SqlCommand command = null;
                try
                {
                    DisplayStatus("Connecting...");
                    connection = new SqlConnection(GetConnectionString());
                    // To emulate a long-running query, wait for
                    // a few seconds before retrieving the real data.
                    command = new SqlCommand("WAITFOR DELAY '0:0:5';" +
                        "SELECT ProductID, Name, ListPrice, Weight FROM Production.Product",
                        connection);
                    connection.Open();

                    DisplayStatus("Executing...");
                    isExecuting = true;
                    // Although it is not required that you pass the
                    // SqlCommand object as the second parameter in the
                    // BeginExecuteReader call, doing so makes it easier
                    // to call EndExecuteReader in the callback procedure.
                    AsyncCallback callback = new AsyncCallback(HandleCallback);
                    command.BeginExecuteReader(callback, command);
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    DisplayStatus("Error: " + ex.Message);
                    if (connection != null)
                    {
                        connection.Close();
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            this.button1.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button1_Click);
            this.FormClosing += new FormClosingEventHandler(Form1_FormClosing);
        }

        void Form1_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
        {
            if (isExecuting)
            {
                MessageBox.Show(this, "Cannot close the form until " +
                    "the pending asynchronous command has completed. Please wait...");
                e.Cancel = true;
            }
        }
    }
}

Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Public Class Form1
    ' Add this code to the form's class:
    ' You need this delegate in order to fill the grid from
    ' a thread other than the form's thread. See the HandleCallback
    ' procedure for more information.
    Private Delegate Sub FillGridDelegate(ByVal reader As SqlDataReader)

    ' You need this delegate to update the status bar.
    Private Delegate Sub DisplayStatusDelegate(ByVal Text As String)

    ' This flag ensures that the user does not attempt
    ' to restart the command or close the form while the 
    ' asynchronous command is executing.
    Private isExecuting As Boolean

    ' Because the overloaded version of BeginExecuteReader
    ' demonstrated here does not allow you to have the connection
    ' closed automatically, this example maintains the 
    ' connection object externally, so that it is available for closing.
    Private connection As SqlConnection

    Private Sub DisplayStatus(ByVal Text As String)
        Me.Label1.Text = Text
    End Sub

    Private Sub FillGrid(ByVal reader As SqlDataReader)
        Try
            Dim table As New DataTable
            table.Load(reader)
            Me.DataGridView1.DataSource = table
            DisplayStatus("Ready")

        Catch ex As Exception
            ' Because you are guaranteed this procedure
            ' is running from within the form's thread,
            ' it can directly interact with members of the form.
            DisplayStatus(String.Format("Ready (last attempt failed: {0})", ex.Message))
        Finally
            ' Do not forget to close the connection, as well.
            If Not reader Is Nothing Then
                reader.Close()
            End If
            If Not connection Is Nothing Then
                connection.Close()
            End If
        End Try
    End Sub

    Private Sub HandleCallback(ByVal result As IAsyncResult)
        Try
            ' Retrieve the original command object, passed
            ' to this procedure in the AsyncState property
            ' of the IAsyncResult parameter.
            Dim command As SqlCommand = CType(result.AsyncState, SqlCommand)
            Dim reader As SqlDataReader = command.EndExecuteReader(result)

            ' You may not interact with the form and its contents
            ' from a different thread, and this callback procedure
            ' is all but guaranteed to be running from a different thread
            ' than the form. Therefore you cannot simply call code that 
            ' fills the grid, like this:
            ' FillGrid(reader)

            ' Instead, you must call the procedure from the form's thread.
            ' One simple way to accomplish this is to call the Invoke
            ' method of the form, which calls the delegate you supply
            ' from the form's thread. 
            Dim del As New FillGridDelegate(AddressOf FillGrid)
            Me.Invoke(del, reader)
            ' Do not close the reader here, because it is being used in 
            ' a separate thread. Instead, have the procedure you have
            ' called close the reader once it is done with it.

        Catch ex As Exception
            ' Because you are now running code in a separate thread, 
            ' if you do not handle the exception here, none of your other
            ' code catches the exception. Because there is none of 
            ' your code on the call stack in this thread, there is nothing
            ' higher up the stack to catch the exception if you do not 
            ' handle it here. You can either log the exception or 
            ' invoke a delegate (as in the non-error case in this 
            ' example) to display the error on the form. In no case
            ' can you simply display the error without executing a delegate
            ' as in the Try block here. 

            ' You can create the delegate instance as you 
            ' invoke it, like this:
            Me.Invoke(New DisplayStatusDelegate(AddressOf DisplayStatus), _
             "Error: " & ex.Message)
        Finally
            isExecuting = False
        End Try
    End Sub

    Private Function GetConnectionString() As String
        ' To avoid storing the connection string in your code,
        ' you can retrieve it from a configuration file. 

        ' If you do not include the Asynchronous Processing=true name/value pair,
        ' you wo not be able to execute the command asynchronously.

        Return "Data Source=(local);Integrated Security=true;" & _
        "Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks; Asynchronous Processing=true"
    End Function

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
        ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        If isExecuting Then
            MessageBox.Show(Me, _
                "Already executing. Please wait until the current query " & _
                "has completed.")
        Else
            Dim command As SqlCommand
            Try
                DisplayStatus("Connecting...")
                connection = New SqlConnection(GetConnectionString())
                ' To emulate a long-running query, wait for 
                ' a few seconds before retrieving the real data.
                command = New SqlCommand( _
                 "WAITFOR DELAY '0:0:5';" & _
                 "SELECT ProductID, Name, ListPrice, Weight FROM Production.Product", _
                 connection)
                connection.Open()

                DisplayStatus("Executing...")
                isExecuting = True
                ' Although it is not required that you pass the 
                ' SqlCommand object as the second parameter in the 
                ' BeginExecuteReader call, doing so makes it easier
                ' to call EndExecuteReader in the callback procedure.
                Dim callback As New AsyncCallback(AddressOf HandleCallback)
                command.BeginExecuteReader(callback, command)

            Catch ex As Exception
                DisplayStatus("Error: " & ex.Message)
                If connection IsNot Nothing Then
                    connection.Close()
                End If
            End Try
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub Form1_FormClosing(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.FormClosingEventArgs) _
        Handles Me.FormClosing
        If isExecuting Then
            MessageBox.Show(Me, "Cannot close the form until " & _
              "the pending asynchronous command has completed. Please wait...")
            e.Cancel = True
        End If
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

The BeginExecuteReader method starts the process of asynchronously executing a Transact-SQL statement or stored procedure that returns rows, so that other tasks can run concurrently while the statement is executing. When the statement has completed, developers must call the EndExecuteReader method to finish the operation and retrieve the SqlDataReader returned by the command. The BeginExecuteReader method returns immediately, but until the code executes the corresponding EndExecuteReader method call, it must not execute any other calls that start a synchronous or asynchronous execution against the same SqlCommand object. Calling the EndExecuteReader before the command's execution is completed cause the SqlCommand object to block until the execution is finished.

The callback parameter lets you specify an AsyncCallback delegate that is called when the statement has completed. You can call the EndExecuteReader method from within this delegate procedure, or from any other location within your application. In addition, you can pass any object in the stateObject parameter, and your callback procedure can retrieve this information using the AsyncState property.

Note that the command text and parameters are sent to the server synchronously. If a large command or many parameters are sent, this method may block during writes. After the command is sent, the method returns immediately without waiting for an answer from the server--that is, reads are asynchronous. Although command execution is asynchronous, value fetching is still synchronous. This means that calls to Read may block if more data is required and the underlying network's read operation blocks.

Because the callback procedure executes from within a background thread supplied by the Microsoft .NET runtime, it is very important that you take a rigorous approach to handling cross-thread interactions from within your applications. For example, you must not interact with a form's contents from within your callback procedure; should you have to update the form, you must switch back to the form's thread in order to do your work. The example in this topic demonstrates this behavior.

All errors that occur during the execution of the operation are thrown as exceptions in the callback procedure. You must handle the exception in the callback procedure, not in the main application. See the example in this topic for additional information on handling exceptions in the callback procedure.

If you use ExecuteReader or BeginExecuteReader to access XML data, SQL Server returns any XML results greater than 2,033 characters in length in multiple rows of 2,033 characters each. To avoid this behavior, use ExecuteXmlReader or BeginExecuteXmlReader to read FOR XML queries.

This method ignores the CommandTimeout property.

See also

• Connecting and Retrieving Data in ADO.NET
• Using the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server
• ADO.NET Overview

public:
 IAsyncResult ^ BeginExecuteReader(AsyncCallback ^ callback, System::Object ^ stateObject, System::Data::CommandBehavior behavior);

public IAsyncResult BeginExecuteReader (AsyncCallback callback, object stateObject, System.Data.CommandBehavior behavior);

member this.BeginExecuteReader : AsyncCallback * obj * System.Data.CommandBehavior -> IAsyncResult

Public Function BeginExecuteReader (callback As AsyncCallback, stateObject As Object, behavior As CommandBehavior) As IAsyncResult

Parameters

Returns

An IAsyncResult that can be used to poll or wait for results, or both; this value is also needed when invoking EndExecuteReader(IAsyncResult), which returns a SqlDataReader instance which can be used to retrieve the returned rows.

Exceptions

Examples

The following Windows application demonstrates the use of the BeginExecuteReader method, executing a Transact-SQL statement that includes a delay of a few seconds (emulating a long-running command). Because the sample executes the command asynchronously, the form remains responsive while awaiting the results. This example passes the executing SqlCommand object as the stateObject parameter; doing so makes it simple to retrieve the SqlCommand object from within the callback procedure, so that the code can call the EndExecuteReader method corresponding to the initial call to BeginExecuteReader.

This example demonstrates many important techniques. This includes calling a method that interacts with the form from a separate thread. In addition, this example demonstrates how you must block users from executing a command multiple times concurrently, and how you must make sure that the form does not close before the callback procedure is called.

To set up this example, create a new Windows application. Put a Button control, a DataGridView control, and a Label control on the form (accepting the default name for each control). Add the following code to the form's class, modifying the connection string as needed for your environment.

This example passes the CommandBehavior.CloseConnection value in the behavior parameter, causing the returned SqlDataReader to automatically close its connection when it is closed.

using System.Data.SqlClient;

namespace Microsoft.AdoDotNet.CodeSamples
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
        // Hook up the form's Load event handler (you can double-click on
        // the form's design surface in Visual Studio), and then add
        // this code to the form's class:
        // You need this delegate in order to fill the grid from
        // a thread other than the form's thread. See the HandleCallback
        // procedure for more information.
        private delegate void FillGridDelegate(SqlDataReader reader);

        // You need this delegate to update the status bar.
        private delegate void DisplayStatusDelegate(string Text);

        // This flag ensures that the user does not attempt
        // to restart the command or close the form while the
        // asynchronous command is executing.
        private bool isExecuting;

        private void DisplayStatus(string Text)
        {
            this.label1.Text = Text;
        }

        private void FillGrid(SqlDataReader reader)
        {
            try
            {
                DataTable table = new DataTable();
                table.Load(reader);
                this.dataGridView1.DataSource = table;
                DisplayStatus("Ready");
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                // Because you are guaranteed this procedure
                // is running from within the form's thread,
                // it can directly interact with members of the form.
                DisplayStatus(string.Format("Ready (last attempt failed: {0})",
                    ex.Message));
            }
            finally
            {
                // Closing the reader also closes the connection,
                // because this reader was created using the
                // CommandBehavior.CloseConnection value.
                if (reader != null)
                {
                    reader.Close();
                }
            }
        }

        private void HandleCallback(IAsyncResult result)
        {
            try
            {
                // Retrieve the original command object, passed
                // to this procedure in the AsyncState property
                // of the IAsyncResult parameter.
                SqlCommand command = (SqlCommand)result.AsyncState;
                SqlDataReader reader = command.EndExecuteReader(result);
                // You may not interact with the form and its contents
                // from a different thread, and this callback procedure
                // is all but guaranteed to be running from a different thread
                // than the form. Therefore you cannot simply call code that
                // fills the grid, like this:
                // FillGrid(reader);
                // Instead, you must call the procedure from the form's thread.
                // One simple way to accomplish this is to call the Invoke
                // method of the form, which calls the delegate you supply
                // from the form's thread.
                FillGridDelegate del = new FillGridDelegate(FillGrid);
                this.Invoke(del, reader);
                // Do not close the reader here, because it is being used in
                // a separate thread. Instead, have the procedure you have
                // called close the reader once it is done with it.
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                // Because you are now running code in a separate thread,
                // if you do not handle the exception here, none of your other
                // code catches the exception. Because there is none of
                // your code on the call stack in this thread, there is nothing
                // higher up the stack to catch the exception if you do not
                // handle it here. You can either log the exception or
                // invoke a delegate (as in the non-error case in this
                // example) to display the error on the form. In no case
                // can you simply display the error without executing a delegate
                // as in the try block here.
                // You can create the delegate instance as you
                // invoke it, like this:
                this.Invoke(new DisplayStatusDelegate(DisplayStatus), "Error: " +
                    ex.Message);
            }
            finally
            {
                isExecuting = false;
            }
        }

        private string GetConnectionString()
        {
            // To avoid storing the connection string in your code,
            // you can retrieve it from a configuration file.

            // If you do not include the Asynchronous Processing=true name/value pair,
            // you wo not be able to execute the command asynchronously.
            return "Data Source=(local);Integrated Security=true;" +
                "Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks; Asynchronous Processing=true";
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            if (isExecuting)
            {
                MessageBox.Show(this,
                    "Already executing. Please wait until the current query " +
                    "has completed.");
            }
            else
            {
                SqlCommand command = null;
                SqlConnection connection = null;
                try
                {
                    DisplayStatus("Connecting...");
                    connection = new SqlConnection(GetConnectionString());
                    // To emulate a long-running query, wait for
                    // a few seconds before retrieving the real data.
                    command = new SqlCommand("WAITFOR DELAY '0:0:5';" +
                        "SELECT ProductID, Name, ListPrice, Weight FROM Production.Product",
                        connection);
                    connection.Open();

                    DisplayStatus("Executing...");
                    isExecuting = true;
                    // Although it is not required that you pass the
                    // SqlCommand object as the second parameter in the
                    // BeginExecuteReader call, doing so makes it easier
                    // to call EndExecuteReader in the callback procedure.
                    AsyncCallback callback = new AsyncCallback(HandleCallback);
                    command.BeginExecuteReader(callback, command,
                        CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    DisplayStatus("Error: " + ex.Message);
                    if (connection != null)
                    {
                        connection.Close();
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            this.button1.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button1_Click);
            this.FormClosing += new FormClosingEventHandler(Form1_FormClosing);
        }

        void Form1_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
        {
            if (isExecuting)
            {
                MessageBox.Show(this, "Cannot close the form until " +
                    "the pending asynchronous command has completed. Please wait...");
                e.Cancel = true;
            }
        }
    }
}

Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Public Class Form1
    ' Add this code to the form's class:
    ' You this delegate in order to fill the grid from
    ' a thread other than the form's thread. See the HandleCallback
    ' procedure for more information.
    Private Delegate Sub FillGridDelegate(ByVal reader As SqlDataReader)

    ' You need this delegate to update the status bar.
    Private Delegate Sub DisplayStatusDelegate(ByVal Text As String)

    ' This flag ensures that the user does not attempt
    ' to restart the command or close the form while the 
    ' asynchronous command is executing.
    Private isExecuting As Boolean

    Private Sub DisplayStatus(ByVal Text As String)
        Me.Label1.Text = Text
    End Sub

    Private Sub FillGrid(ByVal reader As SqlDataReader)
        Try
            Dim table As New DataTable
            table.Load(reader)
            Me.DataGridView1.DataSource = table
            DisplayStatus("Ready")

        Catch ex As Exception
            ' Because you are guaranteed this procedure
            ' is running from within the form's thread,
            ' it can directly interact with members of the form.
            DisplayStatus(String.Format("Ready (last attempt failed: {0})", ex.Message))
        Finally
            ' Closing the reader also closes the connection,
            ' because this reader was created using the 
            ' CommandBehavior.CloseConnection value.
            If reader IsNot Nothing Then
                reader.Close()
            End If
        End Try
    End Sub

    Private Sub HandleCallback(ByVal result As IAsyncResult)
        Try
            ' Retrieve the original command object, passed
            ' to this procedure in the AsyncState property
            ' of the IAsyncResult parameter.
            Dim command As SqlCommand = CType(result.AsyncState, SqlCommand)
            Dim reader As SqlDataReader = command.EndExecuteReader(result)

            ' You may not interact with the form and its contents
            ' from a different thread, and this callback procedure
            ' is all but guaranteed to be running from a different thread
            ' than the form. Therefore you cannot simply call code that 
            ' fills the grid, like this:
            ' FillGrid(reader)

            ' Instead, you must call the procedure from the form's thread.
            ' One simple way to accomplish this is to call the Invoke
            ' method of the form, which calls the delegate you supply
            ' from the form's thread. 
            Dim del As New FillGridDelegate(AddressOf FillGrid)
            Me.Invoke(del, reader)

            ' Do not close the reader here, because it is being used in 
            ' a separate thread. Instead, have the procedure you have
            ' called close the reader once it is done with it.

        Catch ex As Exception
            ' Because you are now running code in a separate thread, 
            ' if you do not handle the exception here, none of your other
            ' code catches the exception. Because there is none of 
            ' your code on the call stack in this thread, there is nothing
            ' higher up the stack to catch the exception if you do not 
            ' handle it here. You can either log the exception or 
            ' invoke a delegate (as in the non-error case in this 
            ' example) to display the error on the form. In no case
            ' can you simply display the error without executing a delegate
            ' as in the Try block here. 

            ' You can create the delegate instance as you 
            ' invoke it, like this:
            Me.Invoke(New DisplayStatusDelegate(AddressOf DisplayStatus), _
             "Error: " & ex.Message)
        Finally
            isExecuting = False
        End Try
    End Sub

    Private Function GetConnectionString() As String
        ' To avoid storing the connection string in your code,
        ' you can retrieve it from a configuration file. 

        ' If you do not include the Asynchronous Processing=true name/value pair,
        ' you wo not be able to execute the command asynchronously.

        Return "Data Source=(local);Integrated Security=true;" & _
        "Initial Catalog=AdventureWorks; Asynchronous Processing=true"
    End Function

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
        ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        If isExecuting Then
            MessageBox.Show(Me, "Already executing. Please wait until the current query " & _
             "has completed.")
        Else
            Dim connection As SqlConnection
            Dim command As SqlCommand
            Try
                DisplayStatus("Connecting...")
                connection = New SqlConnection(GetConnectionString())
                ' To emulate a long-running query, wait for 
                ' a few seconds before retrieving the real data.
                command = New SqlCommand( _
                 "WAITFOR DELAY '0:0:5';" & _
                 "SELECT ProductID, Name, ListPrice, Weight FROM Production.Product", _
                 connection)
                connection.Open()

                DisplayStatus("Executing...")
                isExecuting = True
                ' Although it is not required that you pass the 
                ' SqlCommand object as the second parameter in the 
                ' BeginExecuteReader call, doing so makes it easier
                ' to call EndExecuteReader in the callback procedure.
                Dim callback As New AsyncCallback(AddressOf HandleCallback)
                command.BeginExecuteReader(callback, command, _
                  CommandBehavior.CloseConnection)

            Catch ex As Exception
                DisplayStatus("Error: " & ex.Message)
                If connection IsNot Nothing Then
                    connection.Close()
                End If
            End Try
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub Form1_FormClosing(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.FormClosingEventArgs) Handles Me.FormClosing
        If isExecuting Then
            MessageBox.Show(Me, "Cannot close the form until " & _
             "the pending asynchronous command has completed. Please wait...")
            e.Cancel = True
        End If
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

The BeginExecuteReader method starts the process of asynchronously executing a Transact-SQL statement or stored procedure that returns rows, so that other tasks can run concurrently while the statement is executing. When the statement has completed, developers must call the EndExecuteReader method to finish the operation and retrieve the SqlDataReader returned by the command. The BeginExecuteReader method returns immediately, but until the code executes the corresponding EndExecuteReader method call, it must not execute any other calls that start a synchronous or asynchronous execution against the same SqlCommand object. Calling the EndExecuteReader before the command's execution is completed causes the SqlCommand object to block until the execution is finished.

The callback parameter lets you specify an AsyncCallback delegate that is called when the statement has completed. You can call the EndExecuteReader method from within this delegate procedure, or from any other location within your application. In addition, you can pass any object in the stateObject parameter, and your callback procedure can retrieve this information using the AsyncState property.

The behavior parameter lets you specify options that control the behavior of the command and its connection. These values can be combined together (using the programming language's Or operator); generally, developers use the CloseConnection value to make sure that the connection is closed by the runtime when the SqlDataReader is closed. Developers can also optimize the behavior of the SqlDataReader by specifying the SingleRow value when it is known in advance that the Transact-SQL statement or stored procedure only returns a single row.

Note that the command text and parameters are sent to the server synchronously. If a large command or many parameters are sent, this method may block during writes. After the command is sent, the method returns immediately without waiting for an answer from the server--that is, reads are asynchronous. Although command execution is asynchronous, value fetching is still synchronous. This means that calls to Read may block if more data is required and the underlying network's read operation blocks.

Because the callback procedure executes from within a background thread supplied by the Microsoft .NET common language runtime, it is very important that you take a rigorous approach to handling cross-thread interactions from within your applications. For example, you must not interact with a form's contents from within your callback procedure--should you have to update the form, you must switch back to the form's thread in order to do your work. The example in this topic demonstrates this behavior.

All errors that occur during the execution of the operation are thrown as exceptions in the callback procedure. You must handle the exception in the callback procedure, not in the main application. See the example in this topic for additional information on handling exceptions in the callback procedure.

If you use ExecuteReader or BeginExecuteReader to access XML data, SQL Server will return any XML results greater than 2,033 characters in length in multiple rows of 2,033 characters each. To avoid this behavior, use ExecuteXmlReader or BeginExecuteXmlReader to read FOR XML queries.

This method ignores the CommandTimeout property.

See also

• Connecting and Retrieving Data in ADO.NET
• Using the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server
• ADO.NET Overview