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Part 68 - Optional parameters in sql server stored procedures

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Parameters of a sql server stored procedure can be made optional by specifying default values.

We wil be using table tblEmployee for this Demo.
CREATE TABLE tblEmployee
(
Id int IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY,
Name nvarchar(50),
Email nvarchar(50),
Age int,
Gender nvarchar(50),
HireDate date,
)



Insert into tblEmployee values
('Sara Nan','Sara.Nan@test.com',35,'Female','1999-04-04')
Insert into tblEmployee values
('James Histo','James.Histo@test.com',33,'Male','2008-07-13')
Insert into tblEmployee values
('Mary Jane','Mary.Jane@test.com',28,'Female','2005-11-11')
Insert into tblEmployee values
('Paul Sensit','Paul.Sensit@test.com',29,'Male','2007-10-23')

Name, Email, Age and Gender parameters of spSearchEmployees stored procedure are optional. Notice that, we have set defaults for all the parameters, and in the "WHERE" clause we are checking if the respective parameter IS NULL.
Create Proc spSearchEmployees
@Name nvarchar(50) = NULL,
@Email nvarchar(50) = NULL,
@Age int = NULL,
@Gender nvarchar(50) = NULL
as
Begin
Select * from tblEmployee where
(Name = @Name OR @Name IS NULL) AND
(Email = @Email OR @Email IS NULLAND
(Age = @Age OR @Age IS NULLAND
(Gender = @Gender OR @Gender IS NULL
End

Testing the stored procedure
1. Execute spSearchEmployees -- This command will return all the rows
2. Execute spSearchEmployees @Gender = 'Male' -- Retruns only Male employees
3. Execute spSearchEmployees @Gender = 'Male', @Age = 29 -- Retruns Male employees whose age is 29

This stored procedure can be used by a search page that looks as shown below.
sql server stored procedure optional parameters

WebForm1.aspx:
<table style="font-family:Arial; border:1px solid black">
    <tr>
        <td colspan="4" style="border-bottom: 1px solid black">
            <b>Search Employees</b>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>
            <b>Name</b>
        </td>
        <td>
            <asp:TextBox ID="txtName" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
        </td>
        <td>
            <b>Email</b>
        </td>
        <td>
            <asp:TextBox ID="txtEmail" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>
            <b>Age</b>
        </td>
        <td>
            <asp:TextBox ID="txtAge" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
        </td>
        <td>
            <b>Gender</b>
        </td>
        <td>
            <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlGender" runat="server">
                <asp:ListItem Text="Any Gender" Value="-1"></asp:ListItem>
                <asp:ListItem Text="Male" Value="Male"></asp:ListItem>
                <asp:ListItem Text="Female" Value="Female"></asp:ListItem>
            </asp:DropDownList>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td colspan="4">
            <asp:Button ID="btnSerach" runat="server" Text="Search" 
                onclick="btnSerach_Click" />
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td colspan="4">
            <asp:GridView ID="gvEmployees" runat="server">
            </asp:GridView>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table>

WebForm1.aspx.cs:
public partial class WebForm1 : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (!IsPostBack)
        {
            GetData();
        }
    }

    protected void btnSerach_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        GetData();
    }

    private void GetData()
    {
        string cs = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["DBCS"].ConnectionString;
        using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(cs))
        {
            SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("spSearchEmployees", con);
            cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;

            AttachParameter(cmd, "@Name", txtName);
            AttachParameter(cmd, "@Email", txtEmail);
            AttachParameter(cmd, "@Age", txtAge);
            AttachParameter(cmd, "@Gender", ddlGender);

            con.Open();
            gvEmployees.DataSource = cmd.ExecuteReader();
            gvEmployees.DataBind();
        }
    }

    private void AttachParameter(SqlCommand command, string parameterName, Control control)
    {
        if (control is TextBox && ((TextBox)control).Text != string.Empty)
        {
            SqlParameter parameter = new SqlParameter(parameterName, ((TextBox)control).Text);
            command.Parameters.Add(parameter);
        }
        else if (control is DropDownList && ((DropDownList)control).SelectedValue != "-1")
        {
            SqlParameter parameter = new SqlParameter parameterName, ((DropDownList)control).SelectedValue);
            command.Parameters.Add(parameter);
        }
    }
}

Make sure you have the following using statements in your code-behind page
using System;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Configuration;

6 comments:

  1. Create Proc spSearchEmployees
    @Name nvarchar(50) = NULL,
    @Email nvarchar(50) = NULL,
    @Age int = NULL,
    @Gender nvarchar(50) = NULL
    as
    Begin
    Select * from tblEmployee where
    Name=ISNULL(@Name,Name)
    AND Email=ISNULL(@Email ,Email)
    AND Age =ISNULL(@Age ,Age )
    AND Gender =ISNULL(@Gender,Gender)
    End

    or You can replace isnull by coalesce its work same
    but personally i use isnull for better performance

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Create Proc spSearchEmployees
      @Name nvarchar(50),
      @Email nvarchar(50),
      @Age int,
      @Gender nvarchar(50)
      as
      Begin
      Select * from tblEmployee where
      Name=ISNULL(@Name,Name)
      AND Email=ISNULL(@Email ,Email)
      AND Age =ISNULL(@Age ,Age )
      AND Gender =ISNULL(@Gender,Gender)
      End

      --CALLING SP
      exec spSearchEmployees NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL

      without optional parameters also it works

      what is the difference?

      Delete
  2. Thank you sir for such a good article. I have the same kind of work and came across one problem. It is a cascaded drop down list like country, state and city. The app works fine for name, age and country search with and without values but not for state and city. I could not figure out the problem. Any solution?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, how to use optional where clause if it has Date range "Between" clause??

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm having a doubt that if we are passing null in where clause then how it's returning all the results?

    ReplyDelete
  5. When I try to run the ASP.NET program, I get:
    HTTP Error 403.14 - Forbidden
    The Web server is configured to not list the contents of this directory.
    Most likely causes:

    A default document is not configured for the requested URL, and directory browsing is not enabled on the server.

    How do you enable directory browsing?

    ReplyDelete

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