Get column default values with ADO.NET

Question

I want to get the default values of all columns of a table so I can display them in the data-entry form, is there a way to do this using ADO.NET ? I know I can query the information_schema database for this info, I'm just wondering if there's a built-in way to do this in ADO.NET

Answer 1

Nope, you'll have to query the database schema, or hard code the values yourself.

Answer 2

You can use DbConnection.GetSchema to get the default column values:

DbConnection conn = SqlClientFactory.Instance.CreateConnection("server=.\\SQLEXPRESS;database=northwind;integrated security=true");
conn.Open();

DataTable schema;

try {

   schema = conn.GetSchema("Columns", new string[4] { conn.Database, null, "products", null });

   foreach (DataRow row in schema.Rows) {
      Console.WriteLine("Name: {0}, Default: {1}", row["COLUMN_NAME"], row["COLUMN_DEFAULT"]);
   }

} finally {
   if (conn.State != ConnectionState.Closed)
      conn.Close();
}