Class Sql

Provide Entities from a SQL Server

The SqlDataSource DataSource is part of the Standard EAV Data Sources. It lets you use data from SQL databases as if they were entities.

How to use with the VisualQuery

When using the VisualQuery you can just drag it into your query. The Default out will contain the items from the DB:

We recommend that you rename it so you know what it's for:

You can then configure your connection to the DB and Query as you need it:

Understanding the Settings

Title & Notes

This is just for your notes, to remind you what this is for and to put notes about anything you wanted to remember.

Connection

There are two ways to connect to SQL databases: using a Connection Name (which points to a detailed connection string in the web.config) or using a detailed Connection String as you need it. We recommend to use connection names where possible. If you provide both, the connection name will be used:

The SQL-Query

The Query section has quite a lot of options, most of which are not required but are important for this to work:

Here's what you need to know

  • Content Type
    • all entities must have a type-name - so you can just enter something here - in most cases the exact name isn't important, because you usually don't refer back to this, unless further processing will try to filter this or something
  • EntityId and EntityTitle
    • when using entities in 2sxc / EAV, each entity must be able to supply a title and an ID which is an integer. This is important for internal data processing to work.
    • For this to work with SQL, the source needs to know what data-fields to use for this. By default it will use a field called EntityId and EntityTitle, but you can also use any other field - in which case you must supply the names in the following fields.

Using URL Parameters in Queries

The SQL DataSource can also use queries which use URL Parameters. It's safe and automatically prevent SQL Injection. For example, you can do the following:

SELECT TOP (1000) PortalId as EntityId, HomeDirectory as EntityTitle,PortalID,ExpiryDate,
AdministratorRoleId,GUID,HomeDirectory,
CreatedOnDate,PortalGroupID
  FROM [Portals]
  Where PortalId = [QueryString:Id]

This will automatically use the id parameter from the URL to filter the result.

Using Another Entity As SQL Parameter

You can of course use the In stream to provide entities which configure the SQL. The following example has a content-type SqlSetting with only one item (to make the example easier to understand). The App DataSource delivers this in the AppSetting stream, which also goes into the Sql as AppSetting and is then used as a token in the SQL:

Using A Value from a Module-Instance as SQL Parameter

This works like in the App-example: Provide the data from the ModuleDataSource as an In stream to the SqlDataSource, and use that to filter:

Programming With The SqlDataSource DataSource

We recommend to use the VisualQuery where possible, as it's easier to understand and is identical for C# and JavaScript. It's also better because it separates data-retrieval from visualization.

An example code

@{
  var sql = CreateSource<ToSic.Eav.DataSources.Sql>();
  sql.ConnectionString = "SiteSqlServer"; // use Dnn
  sql.SelectCommand = "Select ... From"; // your sql here
}
@foreach(var post in AsList(sql["Default"]))
{
  <div>@post.EntityTitle</div>
}

Important When Coding

Note that data sources only retrieve data once, and then ignore any further configuration. So you must set everything before accessing the data.

Read also

You should find some examples in this demo App

History

  1. Introduced in EAV 3.x, in 2sxc ?

API Documentation

Inheritance
System.Object
ToSic.Lib.Services.ServiceBase
ToSic.Lib.Services.ServiceBase<ToSic.Eav.DataSource.DataSourceBase.MyServices>
DataSourceBase
ToSic.Eav.DataSource.CustomDataSourceAdvanced
Sql
DnnSql
Inherited Members
Namespace: ToSic.Eav.DataSources
Assembly: ToSic.Eav.DataSources.dll
Syntax
[PublicApi_Stable_ForUseInYourCode]
[VisualQuery(NiceName = "SQL Data", UiHint = "Get data from a database using SQL", Icon = "dynamic_form", Type = DataSourceType.Source, NameId = "ToSic.Eav.DataSources.Sql, ToSic.Eav.DataSources", DynamicOut = false, ConfigurationType = "c76901b5-0345-4866-9fa3-6208de7f8543", NameIds = new string[]{"ToSic.Eav.DataSources.SqlDataSource, ToSic.Eav.DataSources"}, HelpLink = "https://r.2sxc.org/DsSql")]
public class Sql : CustomDataSourceAdvanced, IDataSource, IAppIdentity, IZoneIdentity, IAppIdentityLight, ICacheInfo, ICacheKey, ICacheExpiring, ITimestamped, ICanPurgeListCache, IHasLog, IDataTarget, IAppIdentitySync, IDataSourceLinkable
Remarks

Technically many things could just identify the app they belong to, and let the system look up the zone. But this would be inefficient, so for optimization, many items identify themselves with both the app and zone Ids

Properties

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ConnectionString

ConnectionString to the DB

Declaration
[Configuration]
public string ConnectionString { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.String
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ConnectionStringName

Name of the ConnectionString in the Application.Config to use

Declaration
[Configuration]
public string ConnectionStringName { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.String
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ContentType

Name of the ContentType which we'll pretend the items have.

Declaration
[Configuration(Fallback = "SqlData")]
public string ContentType { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.String
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EntityIdField

Name of the Column used as EntityId

Declaration
[Configuration(Fallback = "entityid")]
public string EntityIdField { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.String
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SelectCommand

SQL Command for selecting data.

Declaration
[Configuration]
public string SelectCommand { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.String
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TitleField

Name of the Title Attribute of the Source DataTable

Declaration
[Configuration(Field = "EntityTitleField", Fallback = "entitytitle")]
public string TitleField { get; set; }
Property Value
Type Description
System.String

Implements