How to Ignore SQL Error? - C#

Question

I am making an insert on a unique column and the system is returning an error saying I can't insert duplicate rows. How can I ignore this error in C#?

Edit Without using try/catch

See this question for why I want to ignore the error.

Answer 1

Use Try/Catch and on the catch do nothing.

Of course this means that the record won't be inserted, nor does it resolve the underlying problem as @recursive mentions but it would ignore the error.

If you want to insert a new row then get rid of the property value(s) that cause this to happen like an Id field or something.

Edit

If it's a hit count then you want to do an update query which i think is where you are coming from. You don't want to do a check and then either an insert / update right?

I think you might be better off using a data repository and keeping the objects in memory. if there is an id assigned to the object then you do an update on the counter, if not then an insert and you store the id with the object.

What about something like Google Analytics to check for hit counts on pages? Lot's easier, mostly free and nearly no code. is that something that might be viable?

Answer 2

If you want to ignore it, catch a SqlException and swallow it...

  try 
  {

      // code that calls the database insert
  }
  catch(SqlException) { /* swallow */ }

If you can switch to using a stored proc, then simply nest the insert inside of a conditional block, which checks for dupes first...

If Not Exists (Select * From Table
               Where PK = @PkValue)
    Insert Table (ColNames here) 
    Values(input parameters here, including PKvalue)

Answer 3

Use:

try {
  ...sql statement execution...
} catch (SqlException ex) { 
  ..do stuff here...
}

Answer 4

There really is no way w/out doing an initial select or doing a try catch...

If you're using a DB that supports stored procedures, you could greatly reduce the overhead of an initial by doing the select in the stored proc and then only inserting if there are no records.

There was also a recommendation on the article you linked to that may be worth trying where you write your insert with a where clause that may work. I'm not sure if the syntax is quite right, but may be worth a shot.

    Insert TableName ([column list])
Select Distinct @PK, @valueA, @ValueB, etc. -- list all values to be inserted
From TableName
Where Not Exists 
    (Select * From TableName
     Where PK == @PK)