Use C# to connect and run SQL commands on Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL
APPLIES TO:
Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL (powered by the Citus database
extension to PostgreSQL)
This quickstart shows you how to use C# code to connect to a cluster, and use SQL statements to create a table. You'll then insert, query, update, and delete data in the database. The steps in this article assume that you're familiar with C# development, and are new to working with Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL.
Install PostgreSQL library
The code examples in this article require the Npgsql library. You'll need to install Npgsql with your language package manager (such as NuGet in Visual Studio.)
Connect, create a table, and insert data
We'll connect to a cluster and load data using CREATE TABLE and INSERT INTO SQL statements. The code uses these NpgsqlCommand class methods:
- Open() to establish a connection to Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL
- CreateCommand() to set the CommandText property
- ExecuteNonQuery() to run database commands
Tip
The sample code below uses a connection pool to create and manage connections to PostgreSQL. Application-side connection pooling is strongly recommended because:
- It ensures that the application doesn't generate too many connections to the database, and so avoids exceeding connection limits.
- It can help drastically improve performance--both latency and throughput. The PostgreSQL server process must fork to handle each new connection, and reusing a connection avoids that overhead.
In the following code, replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your administrator password or Microsoft Entra ID token.
using System;
using Npgsql;
namespace Driver
{
public class AzurePostgresCreate
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your password:
var connStr = new NpgsqlConnectionStringBuilder("Server = c-<cluster>.<uniqueID>.postgres.cosmos.azure.com; Database = citus; Port = 5432; User Id = citus; Password = <password>; Ssl Mode = Require; Pooling = true; Minimum Pool Size=0; Maximum Pool Size =50 ");
connStr.TrustServerCertificate = true;
using (var conn = new NpgsqlConnection(connStr.ToString()))
{
Console.Out.WriteLine("Opening connection");
conn.Open();
using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS pharmacy;", conn))
{
command.ExecuteNonQuery();
Console.Out.WriteLine("Finished dropping table (if existed)");
}
using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand("CREATE TABLE pharmacy (pharmacy_id integer ,pharmacy_name text,city text,state text,zip_code integer);", conn))
{
command.ExecuteNonQuery();
Console.Out.WriteLine("Finished creating table");
}
using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand("CREATE INDEX idx_pharmacy_id ON pharmacy(pharmacy_id);", conn))
{
command.ExecuteNonQuery();
Console.Out.WriteLine("Finished creating index");
}
using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand("INSERT INTO pharmacy (pharmacy_id,pharmacy_name,city,state,zip_code) VALUES (@n1, @q1, @a, @b, @c)", conn))
{
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("n1", 0);
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("q1", "Target");
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("a", "Sunnyvale");
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("b", "California");
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("c", 94001);
int nRows = command.ExecuteNonQuery();
Console.Out.WriteLine(String.Format("Number of rows inserted={0}", nRows));
}
}
Console.WriteLine("Press RETURN to exit");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
Distribute tables
Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL gives you the super power of distributing tables across multiple nodes for scalability. Use the following code to distribute a table. You can learn more about create_distributed_table and the distribution column at Distribution column (also known as shard key).
Note
Distributing tables lets them grow across any worker nodes added to the cluster.
In the following code, replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your administrator password.
using System;
using Npgsql;
namespace Driver
{
public class AzurePostgresCreate
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your password:
var connStr = new NpgsqlConnectionStringBuilder("Server = c-<cluster>.<uniqueID>.postgres.cosmos.azure.com; Database = citus; Port = 5432; User Id = citus; Password = {your password}; Ssl Mode = Require; Pooling = true; Minimum Pool Size=0; Maximum Pool Size =50");
connStr.TrustServerCertificate = true;
using (var conn = new NpgsqlConnection(connStr.ToString()))
{
Console.Out.WriteLine("Opening connection");
conn.Open();
using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand("select create_distributed_table('pharmacy','pharmacy_id');", conn))
{
command.ExecuteNonQuery();
Console.Out.WriteLine("Finished distributing the table");
}
}
Console.WriteLine("Press RETURN to exit");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
Read data
Use the following code to connect and read the data by using a SELECT SQL statement. The code uses these NpgsqlCommand class methods:
- Open() to establish a connection to Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL.
- CreateCommand() and ExecuteReader() to run the database commands.
- Read() to advance to the record in the results.
- GetInt32() and GetString() to parse the values in the record.
In the following code, replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your administrator password.
using System;
using Npgsql;
namespace Driver
{
public class read
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your password:
var connStr = new NpgsqlConnectionStringBuilder("Server = c-<cluster>.<uniqueID>.postgres.cosmos.azure.com; Database = citus; Port = 5432; User Id = citus; Password = <password>; Ssl Mode = Require; Pooling = true; Minimum Pool Size=0; Maximum Pool Size =50 ");
connStr.TrustServerCertificate = true;
using (var conn = new NpgsqlConnection(connStr.ToString()))
{
Console.Out.WriteLine("Opening connection");
conn.Open();
using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand("SELECT * FROM pharmacy", conn))
{
var reader = command.ExecuteReader();
while (reader.Read())
{
Console.WriteLine(
string.Format(
"Reading from table=({0}, {1}, {2}, {3}, {4})",
reader.GetInt32(0).ToString(),
reader.GetString(1),
reader.GetString(2),
reader.GetString(3),
reader.GetInt32(4).ToString()
)
);
}
reader.Close();
}
}
Console.WriteLine("Press RETURN to exit");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
Update data
Use the following code to connect and update data by using an UPDATE SQL statement. In the code, replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your administrator password.
using System;
using Npgsql;
namespace Driver
{
public class AzurePostgresUpdate
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your password:
var connStr = new NpgsqlConnectionStringBuilder("Server = c-<cluster>.<uniqueID>.postgres.cosmos.azure.com; Database = citus; Port = 5432; User Id = citus; Password = <password>; Ssl Mode = Require; Pooling = true; Minimum Pool Size=0; Maximum Pool Size =50 ");
connStr.TrustServerCertificate = true;
using (var conn = new NpgsqlConnection(connStr.ToString()))
{
Console.Out.WriteLine("Opening connection");
conn.Open();
using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand("UPDATE pharmacy SET city = @q WHERE pharmacy_id = @n", conn))
{
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("n", 0);
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("q", "guntur");
int nRows = command.ExecuteNonQuery();
Console.Out.WriteLine(String.Format("Number of rows updated={0}", nRows));
}
}
Console.WriteLine("Press RETURN to exit");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
Delete data
Use the following code to connect and delete data by using a DELETE SQL statement. In the code, replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your administrator password.
using System;
using Npgsql;
namespace Driver
{
public class AzurePostgresDelete
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your password:
var connStr = new NpgsqlConnectionStringBuilder("Server = c-<cluster>.<uniqueID>.postgres.cosmos.azure.com; Database = citus; Port = 5432; User Id = citus; Password = {your password}; Ssl Mode = Require; Pooling = true; Minimum Pool Size=0; Maximum Pool Size =50 ");
connStr.TrustServerCertificate = true;
using (var conn = new NpgsqlConnection(connStr.ToString()))
{
Console.Out.WriteLine("Opening connection");
conn.Open();
using (var command = new NpgsqlCommand("DELETE FROM pharmacy WHERE pharmacy_id = @n", conn))
{
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("n", 0);
int nRows = command.ExecuteNonQuery();
Console.Out.WriteLine(String.Format("Number of rows deleted={0}", nRows));
}
}
Console.WriteLine("Press RETURN to exit");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
COPY command for fast ingestion
The COPY command can yield tremendous throughput while ingesting data into Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL. The COPY command can ingest data in files, or from micro-batches of data in memory for real-time ingestion.
COPY command to load data from a file
The following example code copies data from a CSV file to a database table.
The code sample requires the file pharmacies.csv to be in your Documents folder. In the code, replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your administrator password.
using Npgsql;
public class csvtotable
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
String sDestinationSchemaAndTableName = "pharmacy";
String sFromFilePath = "C:\\Users\\Documents\\pharmacies.csv";
// Replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your password:
var connStr = new NpgsqlConnectionStringBuilder("Server = c-<cluster>.<uniqueID>.postgres.cosmos.azure.com; Database = citus; Port = 5432; User Id = citus; Password = <password>; Ssl Mode = Require; Pooling = true; Minimum Pool Size=0; Maximum Pool Size =50 ");
connStr.TrustServerCertificate = true;
NpgsqlConnection conn = new NpgsqlConnection(connStr.ToString());
NpgsqlCommand cmd = new NpgsqlCommand();
conn.Open();
if (File.Exists(sFromFilePath))
{
using (var writer = conn.BeginTextImport("COPY " + sDestinationSchemaAndTableName + " FROM STDIN WITH(FORMAT CSV, HEADER true,NULL ''); "))
{
foreach (String sLine in File.ReadAllLines(sFromFilePath))
{
writer.WriteLine(sLine);
}
}
Console.WriteLine("csv file data copied sucessfully");
}
}
}
COPY command to load in-memory data
The following example code copies in-memory data to a table. In the code, replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your administrator password.
using Npgsql;
using NpgsqlTypes;
namespace Driver
{
public class InMemory
{
static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
// Replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your password:
var connStr = new NpgsqlConnectionStringBuilder("Server = c-<cluster>.<uniqueID>.postgres.cosmos.azure.com; Database = citus; Port = 5432; User Id = citus; Password = <password>; Ssl Mode = Require; Pooling = true; Minimum Pool Size=0; Maximum Pool Size =50 ");
connStr.TrustServerCertificate = true;
using (var conn = new NpgsqlConnection(connStr.ToString()))
{
conn.Open();
var text = new dynamic[] { 0, "Target", "Sunnyvale", "California", 94001 };
using (var writer = conn.BeginBinaryImport("COPY pharmacy FROM STDIN (FORMAT BINARY)"))
{
writer.StartRow();
foreach (var item in text)
{
writer.Write(item);
}
writer.Complete();
}
Console.WriteLine("in-memory data copied sucessfully");
}
}
}
}
App retry for database request failures
It's sometimes possible that database requests from your application fail. Such issues can happen under different scenarios, such as network failure between app and database, incorrect password, etc. Some issues may be transient, and resolve themselves in a few seconds to minutes. You can configure retry logic in your app to overcome the transient errors.
Configuring retry logic in your app helps improve the end user experience. Under failure scenarios, users will merely wait a bit longer for the application to serve requests, rather than experience errors.
The example below shows how to implement retry logic in your app. The sample code snippet tries a database request every 60 seconds (up to five times) until it succeeds. The number and frequency of retries can be configured based on your application's needs.
In this code, replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your administrator password.
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
using Npgsql;
namespace Driver
{
public class Reconnect
{
// Replace <cluster> with your cluster name and <password> with your password:
static string connStr = new NpgsqlConnectionStringBuilder("Server = c-<cluster>.<uniqueID>.postgres.cosmos.azure.com; Database = citus; Port = 5432; User Id = citus; Password = <password>; Ssl Mode = Require; Pooling = true; Minimum Pool Size=0; Maximum Pool Size =50;TrustServerCertificate = true").ToString();
static string executeRetry(string sql, int retryCount)
{
for (int i = 0; i < retryCount; i++)
{
try
{
using (var conn = new NpgsqlConnection(connStr))
{
conn.Open();
DataTable dt = new DataTable();
using (var _cmd = new NpgsqlCommand(sql, conn))
{
NpgsqlDataAdapter _dap = new NpgsqlDataAdapter(_cmd);
_dap.Fill(dt);
conn.Close();
if (dt != null)
{
if (dt.Rows.Count > 0)
{
int J = dt.Rows.Count;
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
for (int k = 0; k < dt.Rows.Count; k++)
{
for (int j = 0; j < dt.Columns.Count; j++)
{
sb.Append(dt.Rows[k][j] + ",");
}
sb.Remove(sb.Length - 1, 1);
sb.Append("\n");
}
return sb.ToString();
}
}
}
}
return null;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Thread.Sleep(60000);
Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
}
}
return null;
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string result = executeRetry("select 1",5);
Console.WriteLine(result);
}
}
}
Next steps
- See how the Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL API extends PostgreSQL, and try useful diagnostic queries
- Pick the best cluster size for your workload
- Monitor cluster performance