SqlCommand.ExecuteXmlReader Method

public:
 System::Xml::XmlReader ^ ExecuteXmlReader();

public System.Xml.XmlReader ExecuteXmlReader ();

member this.ExecuteXmlReader : unit -> System.Xml.XmlReader

Public Function ExecuteXmlReader () As XmlReader

Returns

An XmlReader object.

Exceptions

Examples

The following example creates a SqlCommand and then executes it using ExecuteXmlReader. The example is passed a string that is a Transact-SQL FOR XML SELECT statement, and a string to use to connect to the data source.

private static void CreateXMLReader(string queryString,
    string connectionString)
{
    using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(
               connectionString))
    {
        connection.Open();
        SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(queryString, connection);
        System.Xml.XmlReader reader = command.ExecuteXmlReader();
    }
}

Public Sub CreateXMLReader(ByVal queryString As String, _
    ByVal connectionString As String)

    Using connection As New SqlConnection(connectionString)
        connection.Open()

        Dim command As New SqlCommand(queryString, connection)
        Dim reader As System.Xml.XmlReader = command.ExecuteXmlReader
    End Using
End Sub

Remarks

The XmlReader returned by this method does not support asynchronous operations.

The CommandText property ordinarily specifies a Transact-SQL statement with a valid FOR XML clause. However, CommandText can also specify a statement that returns ntext or nvarchar data that contains valid XML, or the contents of a column defined with the xml data type.

A typical ExecuteXmlReader query can be formatted as in the following Microsoft Visual C# example:

SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM dbo.Customers FOR XML AUTO, XMLDATA", SqlConn);

This method can also be used to retrieve a single-row, single-column result set that contains XML data. In this case, if more than one row is returned, the ExecuteXmlReader method attaches the XmlReader to the value on the first row, and discards the rest of the result set.

The multiple active result set (MARS) feature allows for multiple actions using the same connection.

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.

Applies to

See also

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