How do I find out if a column exists in a VB.Net DataRow

Question

I am reading an XML file into a DataSet and need to get the data out of the DataSet. Since it is a user-editable config file the fields may or may not be there. To handle missing fields well I'd like to make sure each column in the DataRow exists and is not DBNull.

I already check for DBNull but I don't know how to make sure the column exists without having it throw an exception or using a function that loops over all the column names. What is the best method to do this?

Answer 1

You can encapsulate your block of code with a try ... catch statement, and when you run your code, if the column doesn't exist it will throw an exception. You can then figure out what specific exception it throws and have it handle that specific exception in a different way if you so desire, such as returning "Column Not Found".

Answer 2

You can use DataSet.Tables(0).Columns.Contains(name) to check whether the DataTable contains a column with a particular name.

Answer 3

DataRow's are nice in the way that they have their underlying table linked to them. With the underlying table you can verify that a specific row has a specific column in it.

    If DataRow.Table.Columns.Contains("column") Then
        MsgBox("YAY")
    End If

Answer 4

John Chuckran placed a perfect answer.

thanks