Fetch Columns in SQL Server Native Client Using IRow::GetColumns (OLE DB)
Applies to: 
SQL Server
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Azure Synapse Analytics
Analytics Platform System (PDW)
The IRow interface allows direct access to columns of a single row in the result set. Thus, IRow is an efficient way to retrieve columns from a result set with one row.
A code sample is available that shows how to fetch a single row using IRow. In this sample, one column at a time is retrieved from the row. The sample shows:
How to fetch a group of columns (in sequence).
How to access a column twice. The first time the actual column width is obtained, and later the actual data is accessed. In the DBCOLUMNACCESS structure, if pData is NULL and cbMaxLen is 0, the call to IRow->GetColumns() returns only the actual column length. In this case, IRow->GetColumns() can be called again on the same column to retrieve the actual data.
Important
When possible, use Windows Authentication. If Windows Authentication is not available, prompt users to enter their credentials at run time. Avoid storing credentials in a file. If you must persist credentials, you should encrypt them with the Win32 crypto API.
To fetch columns using IRow::GetColumns
Establish a connection to the data source.
Execute the command (in the following example, ICommandExecute::Execute() is called with IID_IRow).
Execute IRow::GetColumns() to fetch one or more columns in the resulting row. If you want to find the actual column size before fetching data, set the pData in DBCOLUMNACCESS to NULL. The call to IRow::GetColumns() returns only the column width. Another call the IRow::GetColumns() will fetch the data.
Execute IRow::GetColumns() until all the columns you need are accessed. The columns must be accessed in sequence.
Example
This sample shows how to use the IRow interface to allow direct access to columns of a single row in the result set. The example shows:
How to fetch a group of columns in sequence.
How to access a column twice - the first time the actual column width is obtained and then later the actual data is accessed.
In the DBCOLUMNACCESS structure, if pData is NULL and cbMaxLen is 0, the call to IRow->GetColumns returns only the actual column length. In this case IRow->GetColumns can be called again on the same column to retrieve the actual data. This sample is not supported on IA64.
The Transact-SQL code samples in this article use the AdventureWorks2022 or AdventureWorksDW2022 sample database, which you can download from the Microsoft SQL Server Samples and Community Projects home page.
The first (Transact-SQL) code listing creates a table used by the sample.
Compile with ole32.lib oleaut32.lib and execute the second (C++) code listing. This application connects to your computer's default SQL Server instance. On some Windows operating systems, you will need to change (localhost) or (local) to the name of your SQL Server instance. To connect to a named instance, change the connection string from L"(local)" to L"(local)\\name", where name is the named instance. By default, SQL Server Express installs to a named instance. Make sure your INCLUDE environment variable includes the directory that contains sqlncli.h.
The third (Transact-SQL) code listing deletes the table used by the sample.
USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
if exists (select name from sysobjects where name = 'MyTable')
drop table MyTable
go
create table MyTable
(
col1 int,
col2 varchar(50),
col3 char(50),
col4 datetime,
col5 float,
col6 money,
col7 sql_variant,
col8 binary(50),
col9 text,
col10 image
)
go
insert into MyTable
values
(
10,
'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz',
'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ',
'11/1/1999 11:52 AM',
3.14,
99.95,
convert(nchar(50), N'AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz'),
0x123456789,
replicate('AAAAABBBBB', 500),
replicate(0x123456789, 500)
)
Go
// compile with: ole32.lib oleaut32.lib
#define DBINITCONSTANTS
#define OLEDBVER 0x0250 // to include correct interfaces
#include <stdio.h>
#include <windows.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <oledb.h>
#include <sqlncli.h>
using namespace std;
int InitializeAndEstablishConnection();
HRESULT GetColumnSize(IRow* pUnkRow, ULONG iCol);
ULONG PrintData(ULONG iCols, ULONG iStart, DBCOLUMNINFO* prgInfo, DBCOLUMNACCESS* prgColumns);
HRESULT GetColumns(IRow* pUnkRow, ULONG iStart, ULONG iEnd);
IDBInitialize* pIDBInitialize = NULL;
IDBProperties* pIDBProperties = NULL;
IDBCreateSession* pIDBCreateSession = NULL;
IDBCreateCommand* pIDBCreateCommand = NULL;
ICommandText* pICommandText = NULL;
IRow * pIRow = NULL;
DBCOLUMNINFO* pDBColumnInfo = NULL;
IAccessor* pIAccessor = NULL;
DBPROP InitProperties[4];
DBPROPSET rgInitPropSet[1];
ULONG i, j;
HRESULT hresult;
DBROWCOUNT cNumRows = 0;
ULONG lNumCols;
WCHAR* pStringsBuffer;
DBBINDING* pBindings;
ULONG ConsumerBufColOffset = 0;
HACCESSOR hAccessor;
ULONG lNumRowsRetrieved;
HROW hRows[10];
HROW* pRows = &hRows[0];
int main() {
ULONG iidx = 0;
WCHAR* wCmdString = OLESTR(" SELECT * FROM MyTable");
// Call a function to initialize and establish connection.
if (InitializeAndEstablishConnection() == -1) {
cout << "Failed to initialize and establish connection.\n";
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
// Create a session object.
if (FAILED(pIDBInitialize->QueryInterface (
IID_IDBCreateSession, (void**) &pIDBCreateSession))) {
cout << "Failed to obtain IDBCreateSession interface.\n";
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
if (FAILED(pIDBCreateSession->CreateSession( NULL, IID_IDBCreateCommand, (IUnknown**) &pIDBCreateCommand))) {
cout << "pIDBCreateSession->CreateSession failed.\n";
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
// Access the ICommandText interface.
if (FAILED(pIDBCreateCommand->CreateCommand( NULL, IID_ICommandText, (IUnknown**) &pICommandText))) {
cout << "Failed to access ICommand interface.\n";
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
// Use SetCommandText() to specify the command text.
if (FAILED(pICommandText->SetCommandText(DBGUID_DBSQL, wCmdString))) {
cout << "Failed to set command text.\n";
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
// Fetch columns 1-5 and then 6-10 and display the contents
if (FAILED(hresult = pICommandText->Execute(NULL, IID_IRow, NULL, &cNumRows, (IUnknown **) &pIRow))) {
cout << "Failed to execute command.\n";
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
hresult = GetColumns(pIRow, 1, 5);
hresult = GetColumns(pIRow, 6, 10);
hresult = pIRow->Release();
// Execute the command.
if (FAILED(hresult = pICommandText->Execute(NULL, IID_IRow, NULL, &cNumRows, (IUnknown **) &pIRow))) {
cout << "Failed to execute command.\n";
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
// Get columns
for ( iidx = 1 ; iidx <= 10 ; iidx++ ) {
if (FAILED(hresult = GetColumnSize(pIRow, iidx))) {
cout << "Failed to get column size.\n";
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
hresult = GetColumns(pIRow, iidx, iidx);
}
pIRow->Release();
// Release memory.
pICommandText->Release();
pIDBCreateCommand->Release();
pIDBCreateSession->Release();
if (FAILED(pIDBInitialize->Uninitialize())) {
// Uninitialize not required, but fails if an interface has not been released. Can be used for debugging.
cout << "Problem uninitializing.\n";
}
pIDBInitialize->Release();
// Release the COM library.
CoUninitialize();
return 0;
};
//--------------------------------------------------------------------
BOOL InitColumn(DBCOLUMNACCESS* pCol, DBCOLUMNINFO* pInfo) {
// If text or image column is being read,in which case the max possible length of a value is
// the column is hugh,we will limit that size to 512 bytes (for illustration purposes).
DBLENGTH ulSize = (pInfo->ulColumnSize < 0x7fffffff) ? pInfo->ulColumnSize : 512;
// Verify dta buffer is large enough.
if (pCol->cbMaxLen < (ulSize + 1)) {
if (pCol->pData) {
delete [] pCol->pData;
pCol->pData = NULL;
}
// Allocate data buffer
void * p = pCol->pData = new WCHAR[ulSize + 1];
if (!(p /* pCol->pData = new WCHAR[ulSize + 1] */ ))
return FALSE;
// set the max length of caller-initialized memory.
pCol->cbMaxLen = sizeof(WCHAR) * (ulSize + 1);
// In the above 2 steps, pData is pointing to memory (it is not NULL) and cbMaxLen has a value
// (not 0), so next call to IRow->GetData() will read the data from the column.
}
// Clear memory buffer
ZeroMemory((void*) pCol->pData, pCol->cbMaxLen);
// Set properties.
pCol->wType = DBTYPE_WSTR;
pCol->columnid = pInfo->columnid;
pCol->cbDataLen = 0;
pCol->dwStatus = 0;
pCol->dwReserved = 0;
pCol->bPrecision = 0;
pCol->bScale = 0;
return TRUE;
}
//--------------------------------------------------------------------
HRESULT GetColumns(IRow* pUnkRow, ULONG iStart, ULONG iEnd) {
// Start and end are same. Thus, get only one column.
HRESULT hr;
ULONG iidx; // loop counter
DBORDINAL cColumns; // Count of columns
ULONG cUserCols; // Count of user columns
DBCOLUMNINFO* prgInfo; // Column of info. array
OLECHAR* pColNames; // Array of column names
DBCOLUMNACCESS* prgColumns; // Ptr to column access structures array
DBCOLUMNINFO* pCurrInfo;
DBCOLUMNACCESS* pCurrCol;
IColumnsInfo* pIColumnsInfo = NULL;
// Initialize
cColumns = 0;
prgInfo = NULL;
pColNames = NULL;
prgColumns = NULL;
printf("Retrieving data\n");
// Get column info to build column access array
hr = pUnkRow->QueryInterface(IID_IColumnsInfo, (void**)&pIColumnsInfo);
if (FAILED(hr))
goto CLEANUP;
hr = pIColumnsInfo->GetColumnInfo(&cColumns, &prgInfo, &pColNames);
if (FAILED(hr))
goto CLEANUP;
printf("In GetColumns(), Columns= %d\n", cColumns);
// Determine no. of columns to retrieve. Since iEnd and iStart is same, this is redundent step.
// cUserCols will always be 1.
cUserCols = iEnd - iStart + 1;
// Walk list of columns and setup a DBCOLUMNACCESS structure
if (!(prgColumns= new DBCOLUMNACCESS[cUserCols])) { // cUserCols is only 1
hr = E_FAIL;
goto CLEANUP;
}
ZeroMemory((void*) prgColumns, sizeof(DBCOLUMNACCESS) * cUserCols);
for ( iidx = 0 ; iidx < cUserCols ; iidx++ ) {
pCurrInfo = prgInfo + iidx + iStart - 1;
pCurrCol = prgColumns + iidx;
// Here the values of DBCOLUMNACCESS elements is set (pData and cbMaxLen)Thus IRow->GetColumns()
// will return actual data.
if (InitColumn(pCurrCol, pCurrInfo) == FALSE)
goto CLEANUP;
}
hr = pUnkRow->GetColumns(cUserCols, prgColumns); // cUserCols = 1
if (FAILED(hr))
printf("Error occurred\n");
// Show data.
PrintData(cUserCols, iStart, prgInfo, prgColumns);
CLEANUP:
if (pIColumnsInfo)
pIColumnsInfo->Release();
if (prgColumns)
delete [] prgColumns;
return hr;
}
// This function returns the actual width of the data in the column (not the columnwidth in
// DBCOLUMNFO structure which is the width of the column)
HRESULT GetColumnSize(IRow* pUnkRow, ULONG iCol) {
HRESULT hr = NOERROR;
DBORDINAL cColumns = 0; // Count the columns
DBCOLUMNINFO* prgInfo; // Column info array
OLECHAR* pColNames;
DBCOLUMNACCESS column;
DBCOLUMNINFO* pCurrInfo;
IColumnsInfo* pIColumnsInfo = NULL;
// Initialize
prgInfo = NULL;
pColNames = NULL;
printf("Checking column size\n");
// Get column info to build column access array
hr = pUnkRow->QueryInterface(IID_IColumnsInfo, (void**) &pIColumnsInfo);
if (FAILED(hr))
goto CLEANUP;
hr = pIColumnsInfo->GetColumnInfo(&cColumns, &prgInfo, &pColNames);
if (FAILED(hr))
goto CLEANUP;
printf("Value of cColumns is %d\n", cColumns);
// Setup a DBCOLUMNACCESS structure: Here pData is set to NULL and cbMaxLen is set to 0. Thus
// IRow->GetColumns() returns only the actual column length in cbDataLen member of DBCOLUMNACCESS
// structure. In this case you can call IRow->GetColumns() again for the same column to retrieve
// actual data in the second call.
ZeroMemory((void*) &column, sizeof(DBCOLUMNACCESS));
column.pData = NULL;
pCurrInfo = prgInfo + iCol - 1;
// Get the column id in DBCOLUMNACCESS structure. It is then used in GetColumn().
column.columnid = pCurrInfo->columnid;
printf("column.columnid value is %d\n", column.columnid);
// We know which column to get. The column.columnid gives the column no.
hr = pUnkRow->GetColumns(1, &column);
if (FAILED(hr))
printf("Errors occurred\n");
// Show data
PrintData(1, iCol, prgInfo, &column);
CLEANUP:
if (pIColumnsInfo)
pIColumnsInfo->Release();
return hr;
}
BOOL GetStatus(DWORD dwStatus, WCHAR* pwszStatus) {
switch (dwStatus) {
case DBSTATUS_S_OK:
wcscpy_s(pwszStatus, 255, L"DBSTATUS_S_OK");
break;
case DBSTATUS_E_UNAVAILABLE:
wcscpy_s(pwszStatus, 255, L"DBSTATUS_E_UNAVAILABLE");
break;
case DBSTATUS_S_TRUNCATED:
wcscpy_s(pwszStatus, 255, L"DBSTATUS_S_TRUNCATED");
break;
}
return TRUE;
}
ULONG PrintData(ULONG iCols, ULONG iStart, DBCOLUMNINFO* prgInfo, DBCOLUMNACCESS* prgColumns) {
WCHAR wszStatus[255];
DBCOLUMNINFO* pCurrInfo;
DBCOLUMNACCESS* pCurrCol;
ULONG iidx;
printf("No. Name Status Length Max Data\n");
for ( iidx = 0 ; iidx < iCols ; iidx++ ) {
pCurrInfo = prgInfo + iidx + iStart - 1;
pCurrCol = prgColumns + iidx;
GetStatus(pCurrCol->dwStatus, wszStatus);
// was the data successfully retrieved?
wprintf(L"%-3d %-*s %-20s %-3d %-3d %-20s\n", iStart+iidx,
10,
pCurrInfo->pwszName,
wszStatus,
pCurrCol->cbDataLen,
pCurrCol->cbMaxLen,
(WCHAR*) pCurrCol->pData);
}
wprintf(L"\n");
return iidx;
}
int InitializeAndEstablishConnection() {
// Initialize the COM library.
CoInitialize(NULL);
// Obtain access to the SQLNCLI provider.
hresult = CoCreateInstance(CLSID_SQLNCLI11,
NULL,
CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
IID_IDBInitialize,
(void **) &pIDBInitialize);
if (FAILED(hresult)) {
printf("Failed to get IDBInitialize interface.\n");
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
// Initialize the property values needed to establish the connection.
for ( i = 0 ; i < 4 ; i++ )
VariantInit(&InitProperties[i].vValue);
// Server name.
InitProperties[0].dwPropertyID = DBPROP_INIT_DATASOURCE;
InitProperties[0].vValue.vt = VT_BSTR;
InitProperties[0].vValue.bstrVal= SysAllocString(L"(local)");
InitProperties[0].dwOptions = DBPROPOPTIONS_REQUIRED;
InitProperties[0].colid = DB_NULLID;
// Database.
InitProperties[1].dwPropertyID = DBPROP_INIT_CATALOG;
InitProperties[1].vValue.vt = VT_BSTR;
InitProperties[1].vValue.bstrVal= SysAllocString(L"AdventureWorks");
InitProperties[1].dwOptions = DBPROPOPTIONS_REQUIRED;
InitProperties[1].colid = DB_NULLID;
InitProperties[2].dwPropertyID = DBPROP_AUTH_INTEGRATED;
InitProperties[2].vValue.vt = VT_BSTR;
InitProperties[2].vValue.bstrVal= SysAllocString(L"SSPI");
InitProperties[2].dwOptions = DBPROPOPTIONS_REQUIRED;
InitProperties[2].colid = DB_NULLID;
// Now that the properties are set, construct the DBPROPSET structure (rgInitPropSet). The DBPROPSET
// structure is used to pass an array of DBPROP structures (InitProperties) to the SetProperties method.
rgInitPropSet[0].guidPropertySet= DBPROPSET_DBINIT;
rgInitPropSet[0].cProperties = 4;
rgInitPropSet[0].rgProperties = InitProperties;
// Set initialization properties.
hresult = pIDBInitialize->QueryInterface(IID_IDBProperties, (void **)&pIDBProperties);
if (FAILED(hresult)) {
cout << "Failed to get IDBProperties interface.\n";
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
hresult = pIDBProperties->SetProperties(1, rgInitPropSet);
if (FAILED(hresult)) {
cout << "Failed to set initialization properties.\n";
// Insert your code for cleanup and error handling.
return -1;
}
pIDBProperties->Release();
// Now establish the connection to the data source.
if (FAILED(pIDBInitialize->Initialize()))
cout << "Problem establishing connection to the data source.\n";
return 0;
}
USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
if exists (select name from sysobjects where name = 'MyTable')
drop table MyTable
go