Using Parameters

You can use parameters to execute similar SQL statements repeatedly and efficiently.

Using Parameters

VerticaParameters are an extension of the System.Data.DbParameter base class in ADO.NET and are used to set parameters in commands sent to the server. Use Parameters in all queries (SELECT/INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE) for which the values in the WHERE clause are not static; that is for all queries that have a known set of columns, but whose filter criteria is set dynamically by an application or end user. Using parameters in this way greatly decreases the chances of a SQL injection issue that can occur when simply creating a SQL query from a number of variables.

Parameters require that a valid DbType, VerticaDbType, or System type be assigned to the parameter. See SQL Data Types and ADO.NET Data Types for a mapping of System, Vertica, and DbTypes.

To create a parameter placeholder, place either the at sign (@) or a colon (:) character in front of the parameter name in the actual query string. Do not insert any spaces between the placeholder indicator (@ or :) and the placeholder.

For example, the following typical query uses the string 'MA' as a filter.

SELECT customer_name, customer_address, customer_city, customer_state
FROM customer_dimension WHERE customer_state = 'MA';

Instead, the query can be written to use a parameter. In the following example, the string MA is replaced by the parameter placeholder @STATE.

SELECT customer_name, customer_address, customer_city, customer_state
FROM customer_dimension WHERE customer_state = @STATE;

For example, the ADO.net code for the prior example would be written as:

VerticaCommand command = _conn.CreateCommand();
command.CommandText = “SELECT customer_name, customer_address, customer_city, customer_state 
	FROM customer_dimension WHERE customer_state = @STATE”;
command.Parameters.Add(new VerticaParameter( “STATE”, VerticaType.VarChar));
command.Parameters["STATE"].Value = "MA";