Background is I’m making a SQL connection that takes a .csv file and imports it into a SQL Server database table.
The problem I’m running into is, I’m having trouble with the query syntax because there is no unique identifier for a row in the .csv file I’m importing. It takes 3 fields combined to makes a row unique/distinct.
Rough example of the .csv files’ data, the first three of the .csv columns can be considered together to make unique rows:
Order_Id Product_Id Date Other (etc )
1 1a 1/9 q
1 2a 1/9 q
1 2a 1/10 e
2 1a 1/9 e
2 2a 1/10 e
This is my query syntax simplified in Visual Studios, (I’m importing 25 or so columns in reality from the .csv file, and so to keep things straight/simple I made the columns names the exact same in both the .csv file and the SQL-Server table), but the basic syntax looks like this:
private void SaveImportDataToDatabase(DataTable importData)
{
using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection("Server=localhost;Database=my_Database;Trusted_Connection=True;"))
{
conn.Open();
foreach (DataRow importRow in importData.Rows)
{
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("IF EXISTS(SELECT DISTINCT Order_id, Product_Id, Date FROM Sales WHERE Order_id = @Order_id AND Product_Id = @Product_Id AND Date = @Date) UPDATE SQL_Sales SET Order_id = @Order_id WHERE Order_id = @Order_id ELSE INSERT INTO SQL_Sales (order_id, Product_Id, Date)" +
"VALUES (@order_id, @Product_Id, @Date);", conn);
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Order_id", importRow["Order_id"]);
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Product_Id", importRow["Product_Id"]);
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Date", importRow["Date"]);
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}
}
}
Once imported I see a few problems in the SQL Server table,
- The order_id field will be null
- It’s only importing a very small amount of the data, about 50 of 2000 records
- If I re-import the data with a change in the .csv file, say with a single new row, I get 100 of 2000 records
I’m not sure if what I’m trying to do is possible or worth it. Should I be breaking this down a lot more instead of doing it all in one query? I’m not necessarily new to coding but I don’t code very often/I’m rusty and this is my first C# project so lend me some patience if possible.
Just wanted to add more code in response to @casey crookston, it’s possible problems 2 and 3 are related to my loop
private void btnImport_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor;
DataTable importData = GetDataFromFile();
if (importData == null) return;
SaveImportDataToDatabase(importData);
MessageBox.Show("Import Successful");
txtFileName.Text = string.Empty;
Cursor = Cursors.Default;
}
private DataTable GetDataFromFile()
{
DataTable importedData = new DataTable();
try
{
using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(txtFileName.Text))
{
string header = sr.ReadLine();
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(header))
{
MessageBox.Show("No File Data");
return null;
}
string[] headerColumns = header.Split(',');
foreach (string headerColumn in headerColumns)
{
importedData.Columns.Add(headerColumn);
}
while (!sr.EndOfStream)
{
string line = sr.ReadLine();
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(line)) continue;
string[] fields = line.Split(',');
DataRow importedRow = importedData.NewRow();
for(int i = 1; i < fields.Count(); i++)
{
importedRow[i] = fields[i];
}
importedData.Rows.Add(importedRow);
}
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("The file could not be read:");
Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
}
return importedData;
}
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Answer
This looks like a good spot to use SQL Server’s MERGE
syntax:
merge sales s
using (values(@product_id, @order_id, @date, @other_1, @other_2))
as p(order_id, product_id, date, other_1, other_2)
on (s.product_id = p.product_id and s.order_id = p.order_id and s.date = p.date)
when matched then
update set s.other_1 = p.other_1, s.other_2 = p.other_2
when not matched by target then
insert(order_id, product_id, date, other_1, other_2)
values(p.order_id, p.product_id, p.date, p.other_1, p.other_2)
This uses the first 3 columns as primary key; when a tuple already exists, then colums other_1
and other_2
are updated with the values that would have been otherwise inserted.