[ Team LiB ] Recipe 2.19 ReplacingNullValuesin a StronglyTypedDataSet Problem When a column ina database has anull value, you want the value in the DataSet to be a string indicating that no value is available. Solution Use annotations in the XML schema to control the handling of null values. The sample uses one XSD file: CategoriesDS_AnnotatedNull.xsd The schema used to generate the stronglytyped DataSet. The schema is annotated so the null Description values are replaced with the string "- no description available -". The annotations are marked in bold in Example 2-25 . Example 2-25. File: TypedDataSets\CategoriesDS_AnnotatedNull.xsd <?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes" ?> <xs:schema id="CategoriesDS_AnnotatedNull" targetNamespace= "http://www.tempuri.org/CategoriesDS_AnnotatedNull.xsd" xmlns:mstns="http://www.tempuri.org/CategoriesDS_AnnotatedNull.xsd" xmlns="http://www.tempuri.org/CategoriesDS_AnnotatedNull.xsd" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata" xmlns:codegen="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msprop" attributeFormDefault="qualified" elementFormDefault="qualified"> <xs:element name="CategoriesDS_AnnotatedNull" msdata:IsDataSet="true"> <xs:complexType> <xs:choice maxOccurs="unbounded"> <xs:element name="Categories"> <xs:complexType> <xs:sequence> <xs:element name="CategoryID" msdata:ReadOnly="true" msdata:AutoIncrement="true" type="xs:int" /> <xs:element name="CategoryName" type="xs:string" /> <xs:element name="Description" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" codegen:nullValue= "- no description available -" /> </xs:sequence> </xs:complexType> </xs:element> </xs:choice> </xs:complexType> <xs:unique name="Constraint1" msdata:PrimaryKey="true"> <xs:selector xpath=".//mstns:Categories" /> <xs:field xpath="mstns:CategoryID" /> </xs:unique> </xs:element> </xs:schema> The sample code creates a stronglytypedDataSet based on the Categories table in Northwind. The user specifies whether the one based on the default or annotated schema file is used. In either case, data is loaded into the DataSet. A row is added to the Categories table with a Description value of null. The data in the table is written to the text box on the form to demonstrate the effect of the schema annotation on null column values. The C# code is shown in Example 2-26 . Example 2-26. File: TypedDataSetNullsForm.cs // Namespaces, variables, and constants using System; using System.Configuration; using System.Text; using System.Data; using System.Data.SqlClient; // Table name constants private const String CATEGORIES_TABLE = "Categories"; // . . . StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder( ); // Create the DataAdapter. SqlDataAdapter da = new SqlDataAdapter("SELECT * FROM Categories", ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["Sql_ConnectString"]); if (annotatedRadioButton.Checked) { // Create the typedDataSet without null annotation. CategoriesDS_AnnotatedNull ds = new CategoriesDS_AnnotatedNull( ); // Fill the Categories table within DataSet. da.Fill(ds, CATEGORIES_TABLE); // Add a row with anull Description. ds.Categories.AddCategoriesRow("New Category", null); result.Append("Annotated Nulls" + Environment.NewLine + Environment.NewLine); // Iterate over the rows collection and display columns. foreach(CategoriesDS_AnnotatedNull.CategoriesRow row in ds.Categories) { // Get the Description. String description = row.Description; // Note that the null Description is replaced. result.Append(row.CategoryID + "\t" + row.CategoryName + "\t" + description + Environment.NewLine); } } else { // Create the typedDataSet annotated for nulls. CategoriesDS ds = new CategoriesDS( ); da.Fill(ds, CATEGORIES_TABLE); // Add a row with anull Description. ds.Categories.AddCategoriesRow("New Category", null); result.Append("Default" + Environment.NewLine + Environment.NewLine); // Iterate over the rows collection and display columns. foreach(CategoriesDS.CategoriesRow row in ds.Categories) { // Use Is<field>Null method or StrongTypingException will // result when null row.Description is accessed. String description = row.IsDescriptionNull( ) ? "NULL" : row.Description; // Note that the null Description is not replaced. result.Append(row.CategoryID + "\t" + row.CategoryName + "\t" + description + Environment.NewLine); } } resultTextBox.Text = result.ToString( ); Discussion Annotations to XSD schemas used to generate stronglytypedDataSet objects are discussed in detail in Recipe 2.18 . [ Team LiB ] . [ Team LiB ] Recipe 2.19 Replacing Null Values in a Strongly Typed DataSet Problem When a column in a database has a null value, you want the value in the. DataSet to be a string indicating that no value is available. Solution Use annotations in the XML schema to control the handling of null values. The sample