LIKE query on an Access database via C# always returns COUNT(*) of 0

Question

Please look into following code:

using (OleDbConnection openCon = new OleDbConnection(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings[\"AccessConnectioString\"]))
{
                


        

Answer 1

You are getting tripped up by the difference in LIKE wildcard characters between queries run in Access itself and queries run from an external application.

When running a query from within Access itself you need to use the asterisk as the wildcard character: LIKE 'RT*'.

When running a query from an external application (like your C# app) you need to use the percent sign as the wildcard character: LIKE 'RT%'.

Answer 2

Try ExecuteScalar() method

Replace This:

 OleDbDataReader dr1 = qtc.ExecuteReader();
 while (dr1.Read())
 {
    ttCnt = (int)dr1["Count"];
 }

With This:

 ttCnt = Convert.ToInt32(qtc.ExecuteScalar());