How to read the value from SQL Server database table in Asp.net

Question

I am trying to fetch the data from a SQL Server database table through Asp.net. I have used the query to Select the first row of the table using below code

SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("Select top 1 * from Table1 Order by First_name", con);

How am I able to fetch the data from the first row of column named "attendance"?

I know it is something to do with the SqlDataReader, but I am not sure how to use it. My aim is to add two columns of the first row "attendance" and "Percentage" which is of type float. Thank you.

Answer 1

ADO.NET has lots of nuances and edge cases; while you can do this with ExecuteDataReader / ExecuteScalar, you might find it easier to defer all this stuff to a tool like "dapper". Then you can do things simply like:

class YourType {
    // properties that match your columns
    public string Name {get;set;}
    public double Attendance {get;set;}
}
...
var row = con.QuerySingleOrDefault<YourType>(
    "Select top 1 * from Table1 Order by First_name");

this also allows simple but correct parameterization, and a whole range of other features that frequently cause problems - with the library dealing with all the ugly implementation details of ADO.NET.