PocoDataSet.SqlServerDataAdapter 1.0.32

PocoDataSet

The POCO DataSet documentation is published in the "POCO DataSet" section of businessprocessprogramming.net website.

PocoDataSet is a lightweight, in-memory DataSet / DataTable / DataRow model built around simple POCOs and interfaces.

It is designed to be:

• UI-friendly – works well with Blazor, WPF, WinUI, etc.
• POCO-based – data is represented as plain C# objects, not tied to any specific framework.
• Extensible – core contracts live in PocoDataSet.IData, with implementations and helpers in separate projects.

Project structure

The solution contains the following projects:

• PocoDataSet.IData
  Interfaces and contracts only:

  • IDataSet, IDataTable, IDataRow
  • IColumnMetadata, IDataRelation, IForeignKeyData
  • IDataSetValidator, IMergeOptions
  • IValueConverter (for pluggable value conversion)

  Interfaces and contracts for the merge infrastructure:

  • IDataSetMergeEngine – orchestrates DataSet / DataTable / DataRow merge
  • IDataSetMergeConfiguration – provides merge policies and handlers
  • ITableMergeHandler – table-level merge behavior
  • IRowMergeHandler – row-level merge behavior

• PocoDataSet.Data
  Concrete implementations of the interfaces:

  • DataSet – holds a dictionary of named tables and relations
  • DataTable – holds columns and rows
  • DataRow – a dictionary-backed row with helper methods and state (RowState, Selected)
  • ColumnMetadata, DataRelation, ForeignKeyData

• PocoDataSet.Extensions
  Convenience extension methods and helpers:

  • DataSetExtensions
    • AddTable, AddNewTable, AddRow, RemoveRow, RemoveTable
    • GetTable, GetRequiredTable, TryGetTable, GetFieldValue<T>
    • MergeWith and related merge helpers
  • DataTableExtensions
    • AddColumn, AddColumns
    • AddColumnsFromInterface (build schema from a .NET interface)
  • DataRowExtensions
    • CreateRowFromColumns, CreateRowFromColumnsWithDefaultValues
    • GetDataFieldValue<T> (with friendly conversion)
    • CopyFromPoco, ToPoco, MergeWith
  • DataSetFactory
    • CreateDataSet() – simple factory for IDataSet
  • Internal helpers (data type names, default value helpers, type info, etc.)

  Default implementation of the merge infrastructure:

  • DataSetMergeEngine – handler-based merge engine
  • DataSetMergeConfiguration – default configuration and wiring
  • DefaultTableMergeHandler – primary-key based table merge
  • DefaultRowMergeHandler – value-level row merge
  • DataTypeDefaultValueProvider – default metadata-to-value mapping

• PocoDataSet.IObservableData
  Interfaces and contracts for the observable layer (UI reactivity support):

  • IObservableDataSet, IObservableDataTable, IObservableDataRow, IObservableDataView
  • Event args such as RowsChangedEventArgs and DataFieldValueChangedEventArgs

  This project contains contracts only and has no runtime dependencies on UI frameworks.

• PocoDataSet.ObservableData
  Concrete implementations of the observable contracts:

  • ObservableDataSet – wraps an IDataSet and bubbles table / row events
  • ObservableDataTable – wraps an IDataTable and tracks observable rows
  • ObservableDataRow – wraps an IDataRow and raises DataFieldValueChanged
  • ObservableDataView – per-control view over a table (filter/sort) with deterministic disposal

  Notes:

  • ObservableDataSet owns created views and disposes them when the source table is removed.
  • ObservableDataView subscribes to table events and maintains its own row list; it unsubscribes on dispose.

• PocoDataSet.ObservableExtensions
  Convenience extension methods to bridge POCO DataSet and the observable layer:

  • Create observable wrappers from IDataSet / IDataTable
  • Helpers for common UI scenarios (one view per control instance, etc.)

• PocoDataSet.Serializer
  JSON serialization helpers using System.Text.Json:

  • DataSetSerializer.FromJsonString(string? json) : IDataSet?
  • DataSetSerializer.ToJsonString(IDataSet dataSet) : string

• PocoDataSet.SqlServerDataAdapter
  The PocoDataSet.SqlServerDataAdapter project provides a lightweight SQL Server adapter that fills PocoDataSet in-memory IDataSet/IDataTable structures from T-SQL queries. It is intended as an example/utility that demonstrates reading schema, primary key and foreign key information and populating PocoDataSet.Data model objects.

Purpose

• Execute queries against SQL Server and populate IDataSet/IDataTable/IDataRow.
• Preserve table/column metadata (column names, data types, max length, primary keys, foreign keys, nullability).
• Provide an async-friendly FillAsync API that accepts parameter dictionaries to avoid inline concatenation and reduce risk of SQL injection.

Key types

• PocoDataSet.SqlServerDataAdapter.SqlDataAdapter — main adapter class used to execute queries and return an IDataSet.
• PocoDataSet.SqlServerDataAdapter.DataTableCreator — internal helper used by the adapter to create DataTable instances with columns, primary keys and rows.
• PocoDataSet.SqlServerDataAdapter.ForeignKeyData — holds foreign key mapping information used when building ColumnMetadata.

Notable behaviors

• DataTableCreator reads column schema from SqlDataReader.GetSchemaTable() and populates ColumnMetadata fields such as ColumnName, DataType, MaxLength, and (when implemented) IsNullable. The project also supports loading primary key information and populating DataTable.PrimaryKey.
• The adapter supports a parameter dictionary passed into FillAsync, e.g. IDictionary<string, object?> to map command parameters.

Integration notes

• The adapter uses Microsoft.Data.SqlClient. Ensure your application has the package referenced.
• FillAsync supports parameter dictionaries; keys should match the parameter names used in the SQL (including the @ if you use it in your code).
• DataTableCreator exposes an event (LoadDataTableKeysInformationRequest) so callers can supply primary key and foreign-key lookup data before columns/rows are finalized. This allows key population logic to run before rows are added.

Recommended improvements (already implemented or easy to add)

• Populate ColumnMetadata.IsNullable from GetSchemaTable() (AllowDBNull / IsNullable) when available.
• Populate DataTable.PrimaryKey from key discovery (the adapter already provides hooks to fetch primary key information — call these before finalizing the DataTable).
• Ensure the adapter infers nullability conservatively when the provider schema does not include it (for example, treat CLR non-nullable value types as non-nullable).

Where to find it in the solution

• Project folder: PocoDataSet.SqlServerDataAdapter
• Key files:
  • SqlDataAdapter.cs — public adapter API
  • DataTableCreator/*.cs — schema / row building helpers
  • ForeignKeyData.cs — FK metadata model

• PocoDataSet.EfCoreBridge
  Optional bridge between Entity Framework Core and PocoDataSet. It provides convenience helpers to materialize EF Core queries (sync/async) and project results into a PocoDataSet IDataTable.

  Purpose

  • Convert IQueryable<TEntity> results into IDataTable using explicit schema (List<IColumnMetadata>).
  • Support both synchronous and asynchronous query execution (ToDataTable(...) / ToDataTableAsync(...)).
  • Keep UI layers dataset-driven while allowing EF Core as the persistence/query model.

  Key types / extension methods

  • QueryableExtensions.ToDataTable(...)
  • QueryableExtensions.ToDataTableAsync(...)

  Notable behaviors

  • Schema is provided explicitly via listOfColumnMetadata to keep deterministic columns and avoid accidentally including navigation/complex properties.
  • Internally, the bridge composes existing PocoDataSet extensions:
    • IDataSet.PocoListToDataTable<T>(...)
    • IDataTable.CopyFromPocoList<T>(...)
    • IDataRow.CopyFromPoco(...) / IDataRow.CopyToPoco(...)
    • IDataRow.ToPoco<T>()

  Where to find it in the solution

  • Project folder: PocoDataSet.EfCoreBridge

Getting started

1. Add the projects to your solution

If you cloned this repo standalone:

• Open PocoDataSetSolution.sln in Visual Studio or dotnet CLI.
• Or reference the projects from your own solution:

<ItemGroup> <ProjectReference Include="..\PocoDataSet.IData\PocoDataSet.IData.csproj" /> <ProjectReference Include="..\PocoDataSet.Data\PocoDataSet.Data.csproj" /> <ProjectReference Include="..\PocoDataSet.Extensions\PocoDataSet.Extensions.csproj" /> <ProjectReference Include="..\PocoDataSet.IObservableData\PocoDataSet.IObservableData.csproj" /> <ProjectReference Include="..\PocoDataSet.ObservableData\PocoDataSet.ObservableData.csproj" /> <ProjectReference Include="..\PocoDataSet.ObservableExtensions\PocoDataSet.ObservableExtensions.csproj" /> <ProjectReference Include="..\PocoDataSet.Serializer\PocoDataSet.Serializer.csproj" /> <ProjectReference Include="..\PocoDataSet.SqlServerDataAdapter\PocoDataSet.SqlServerDataAdapter.csproj" /> </ItemGroup>

Observable layer (UI reactivity)

If you are building a UI (Blazor/WPF/WinUI/etc.) and want event-driven updates, use the observable layer:

• Contracts: PocoDataSet.IObservableData
• Implementations: PocoDataSet.ObservableData
• Helpers: PocoDataSet.ObservableExtensions

Recommended usage pattern (one view per control instance):

• Call ObservableDataSet.GetObservableDataView(tableName, filter, caseSensitive, sort, requestorName)
• Ensure requestorName is unique per control instance (the observable layer enforces this)
• Dispose the view (or remove the table) to unsubscribe event handlers deterministically

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.
See the LICENSE file for details.

Installation

The easiest way to get started is to install the meta-package:

dotnet add package PocoDataSet

This will bring in: PocoDataSet.IData PocoDataSet.Data PocoDataSet.Extensions PocoDataSet.Serializer PocoDataSet.SqlServerDataAdapter