Using commands to modify data

Applies to: .NET Framework .NET .NET Standard

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Using the Microsoft SqlClient Data Provider for SQL Server, you can execute stored procedures or data definition language statements (for example, CREATE TABLE and ALTER COLUMN) to perform schema manipulation on a database or catalog. These commands do not return rows as a query would, so the SqlCommand object provides an ExecuteNonQuery to process them.

In addition to using ExecuteNonQuery to modify schema, you can also use this method to process SQL statements that modify data but that do not return rows, such as INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE.

Although rows are not returned by the ExecuteNonQuery method, input and output parameters and return values can be passed and returned via the Parameters collection of the Command object.

In this section

Updating data in a data source
Describes how to execute commands or stored procedures that modify data in a database.

Performing catalog operations
Describes how to execute commands that modify database schema.

See also

• Retrieving and modifying data in ADO.NET
• Commands and parameters
• Microsoft ADO.NET for SQL Server