Pass Array Parameter in SqlCommand

Question

I am trying to pass array parameter to SQL commnd in C# like below, but it does not work. Does anyone meet it before?

string sqlCommand = \"SELECT * from Ta         


        

Answer 1

I wanted to expand on the answer that Brian contributed to make this easily usable in other places.

/// 

/// This will add an array of parameters to a SqlCommand. This is used for an IN statement.
/// Use the returned value for the IN part of your SQL call. (i.e. SELECT * FROM table WHERE field IN (returnValue))
/// 
/// The SqlCommand object to add parameters to.
/// The array of strings that need to be added as parameters.
/// What the parameter should be named.
protected string AddArrayParameters(SqlCommand sqlCommand, string[] array, string paramName)
{
    /* An array cannot be simply added as a parameter to a SqlCommand so we need to loop through things and add it manually. 
     * Each item in the array will end up being it's own SqlParameter so the return value for this must be used as part of the
     * IN statement in the CommandText.
     */
    var parameters = new string[array.Length];
    for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
    {
        parameters[i] = string.Format("@{0}{1}", paramName, i);
        sqlCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue(parameters[i], array[i]);
    }

    return string.Join(", ", parameters);
}

You can use this new function as follows:

SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand();

string ageParameters = AddArrayParameters(cmd, agesArray, "Age");
sql = string.Format("SELECT * FROM TableA WHERE Age IN ({0})", ageParameters);

cmd.CommandText = sql;

---

Edit: Here is a generic variation that works with an array of values of any type and is usable as an extension method:

public static class Extensions
{
    public static void AddArrayParameters(this SqlCommand cmd, string name, IEnumerable values) 
    { 
        name = name.StartsWith("@") ? name : "@" + name;
        var names = string.Join(", ", values.Select((value, i) => { 
            var paramName = name + i; 
            cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue(paramName, value); 
            return paramName; 
        })); 
        cmd.CommandText = cmd.CommandText.Replace(name, names); 
    }
}

You can then use this extension method as follows:

var ageList = new List { 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 };
var cmd = new SqlCommand();
cmd.CommandText = "SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE Age IN (@Age)";    
cmd.AddArrayParameters("Age", ageList);

Make sure you set the CommandText before calling AddArrayParameters.

Also make sure your parameter name won't partially match anything else in your statement (i.e. @AgeOfChild)