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SqlParameter - Setting to DEFAULT Value


How do I set a SqlParameter's value to the equivalent of a SQL INSERT statement's DEFAULT keyword?

MSDN documentation says to "use null or do not set Value to use the default value for the parameter." However, doing either results in a SqlException complaining that an expected parameter was not supplied. I also tried setting the parameter to DBNull.Value but that results in a complaint about null values not being allowed.

What's the correct way to do this?

-- table schema
CREATE TABLE SomeTable (Field INT NOT NULL DEFAULT(1));


using (var command = this.conn.CreateCommand())
{
    command.CommandText = "INSERT [dbo].[SomeTable] ([Field]) VALUES (@p0);";

    var param = new SqlParameter();
    param.ParameterName = "@p0";
    //param.Value = ??;
    command.Parameters.Add(param);

    command.ExecuteNonQuery();
}

Solution

  • According to the information I've found, the trick with assigning the null to the value works, but when used for stored procedure parameters.

    I guess You want to use the code You've posted to insert some custom values to the table as well as the default. If so, I suppose the easiest way to make Your code work is to call a different query when the value is not specified:

    ...
    int? myValue = null; // I assumed You use a nullable int to pass the value to the method
    ...
    if (!myValue.HasValue)
    {
        command.CommandText = "INSERT [dbo].[SomeTable] ([Field]) VALUES (DEFAULT);";
    }
    else
    {
        command.CommandText = "INSERT [dbo].[SomeTable] ([Field]) VALUES (@p0);";
    
        var param = new SqlParameter();
        param.ParameterName = "@p0";
        param.Value = myValue.Value;
        param.DbType = System.Data.DbType.Int32;
        command.Parameters.Add(param);
    }
    
    command.ExecuteNonQuery();
    

    This should allow You to handle both default and non-default cases.