How to query from a database in ASP.NET?

Question

I'm still somewhat new to ASP.NET and VB, and I found out that it's vastly different from the ASP I learned where I used Recordset to extract data from the database. Can someone give me some pointers on how to extract data from a database? Here is what I used to at least connect:

Dim conn As OdbcConnection
conn = New OdbcConnection("DSN=southwind")
Dim mystring as String = "SELECT GroupName FROM Group"
Dim cmd As OdbcCommand = New OdbcCommand(mystring, conn)

conn.Open()
Dim reader As OdbcDataReader = cmd.ExecuteReader()

The last line gives me an error saying:

Exception Details: System.Data.Odbc.OdbcException: ERROR [42000] [Microsoft][SQL Server Native Client 11.0][SQL Server]Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'Group'.

But since I don't quite understand ASP.NET completely, not too sure what it means even though the syntax looks fine. Removing that line runs the code just fine. How would I display all the contents from the GroupName column in table Group?

EDIT: Thanks everyone, I completely forgot that Group was reserved in SQL.

I have edited your title. Please see, "Should questions include “tags” in their titles?", where the consensus is "no, they should not". — John Saunders
– John Saunders, Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 18:11
GROUP is a reserved word, part of the GROUP BY clause. That same query would not have worked with classic ASP either. — John Saunders
– John Saunders, Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 18:14
Looks like you're trying to connect to SQL Server. You might want to use the System.Data.Sql library instead of the ODBC stuff. — mason
– mason, Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 18:15
You really ought to change the name of the Group column if you can. You're colliding with a reserved word... — Tim
– Tim, Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 18:16
Is there an advantage to using System.Data.Sql over ODBC? And is there an example I can follow? — Leon
– Leon, Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 18:25

Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-26 18:15:14Z

3

Group is a keyword in SQL, you need to wrap it in square brackets like this,

SELECT GroupName FROM [Group]

This would assume the Group to be a name of the table, instead of a key word; of GROUP BY clause.

answered Mar 26, 2015 at 18:15

Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan

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jrummell · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-26 18:17:25Z

1

Group is a keyword in SQL. If your table name or column names referenced in your query are keywords, you can enclose them in brackets.

Dim mystring as String = "SELECT GroupName FROM [Group]"

edited Mar 26, 2015 at 18:17

jrummell

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answered Mar 26, 2015 at 18:15

David Thompson

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