Can you get the column names from a SqlDataReader?

After connecting to the database, can I get the name of all the columns that were returned in my SqlDataReader?

var reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();

var columns = new List<string>();

for(int i=0;i<reader.FieldCount;i++)
{
   columns.Add(reader.GetName(i));
}

or

var columns = Enumerable.Range(0, reader.FieldCount).Select(reader.GetName).ToList();

There is a GetName function on the SqlDataReader which accepts the column index and returns the name of the column.

Conversely, there is a GetOrdinal which takes in a column name and returns the column index.

You can get the column names from a DataReader.

Here is the important part:

  for (int col = 0; col < SqlReader.FieldCount; col++)
  {
    Console.Write(SqlReader.GetName(col).ToString());         // Gets the column name
    Console.Write(SqlReader.GetFieldType(col).ToString());    // Gets the column type
    Console.Write(SqlReader.GetDataTypeName(col).ToString()); // Gets the column database type
  }

Already mentioned. Just a LINQ answer:

var columns = reader.GetSchemaTable().Rows
                                     .Cast<DataRow>()
                                     .Select(r => (string)r["ColumnName"])
                                     .ToList();

//Or

var columns = Enumerable.Range(0, reader.FieldCount)
                        .Select(reader.GetName)
                        .ToList();

The second one is cleaner and much faster. Even if you cache GetSchemaTable in the first approach, the querying is going to be very slow.

If you want the column names only, you can do:

List<string> columns = new List<string>();
using (SqlDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.SchemaOnly))
{
    DataTable dt = reader.GetSchemaTable();
    foreach (DataRow row in dt.Rows)
    {
        columns.Add(row.Field<String>("ColumnName"));
    }
}

But if you only need one row, I like my AdoHelper addition. This addition is great if you have a single line query and you don't want to deal with data table in you code. It's returning a case insensitive dictionary of column names and values.

public static Dictionary<string, string> ExecuteCaseInsensitiveDictionary(string query, string connectionString, Dictionary<string, string> queryParams = null)
{
    Dictionary<string, string> CaseInsensitiveDictionary = new Dictionary<string, string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
    try
    {
        using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
        {
            conn.Open();
            using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand())
            {
                cmd.Connection = conn;
                cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
                cmd.CommandText = query;

                // Add the parameters for the SelectCommand.
                if (queryParams != null)
                    foreach (var param in queryParams)
                        cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue(param.Key, param.Value);

                using (SqlDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader())
                {
                    DataTable dt = new DataTable();
                    dt.Load(reader);
                    foreach (DataRow row in dt.Rows)
                    {
                        foreach (DataColumn column in dt.Columns)
                        {
                            CaseInsensitiveDictionary.Add(column.ColumnName, row[column].ToString());
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            conn.Close();
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        throw ex;
    }
    return CaseInsensitiveDictionary;
}

Use an extension method:

    public static List<string> ColumnList(this IDataReader dataReader)
    {
        var columns = new List<string>();
        for (int i = 0; i < dataReader.FieldCount; i++)
        {
            columns.Add(dataReader.GetName(i));
        }
        return columns;
    }

For me, I would write an extension method like this:

public static string[] GetFieldNames(this SqlDataReader reader)
{
     return Enumerable.Range(0, reader.FieldCount).Select(x => reader.GetName(x)).ToArray();
}

I use the GetSchemaTable method, which is exposed via the IDataReader interface.

You sure can.

protected void GetColumNames_DataReader()
{
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection SqlCon = new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection("server=localhost;database=northwind;trusted_connection=true");
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand SqlCmd = new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Products", SqlCon);




SqlCon.Open();




System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader SqlReader = SqlCmd.ExecuteReader();
System.Int32 _columncount = SqlReader.FieldCount;




System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("SqlDataReader Columns");
System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(" ");




for ( System.Int32 iCol = 0; iCol < _columncount; iCol ++ )
{
System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write("Column " + iCol.ToString() + ": ");
System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(SqlReader.GetName( iCol ).ToString());
System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Write(" ");
}




}
}

This is originally from: [http://www.dotnetjunkies.ddj.com/Article/B82A22D1-8437-4C7A-B6AA-C6C9BE9DB8A6.dcik][1]

[1]: http://www.dotnetjunkies.ddj.com/Article/B82A22D1-8437-4C7A-B6AA-C6C9BE9DB8A6.dcik "How To Retrieve Column Names Using A DataReader and DataSet"

It is easier to achieve it in SQL

var columnsList = dbContext.Database.SqlQuery<string>("SELECT COLUMN_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = 'SCHEMA_OF_YOUE_TABLE' AND TABLE_NAME = 'YOUR_TABLE_NAME'").ToList();