GetSchema (string collectionName, string[] restrictions)

This method returns schema information for the data source of the OracleConnection using the specified string for the collection name and the specified string array for the restriction values.

Declaration

// C#
public override DataTable GetSchema (string collectionName, 
    string[] restrictions);

Parameters

collectionName

The name of the collection of metadata being retrieved.
restrictions

An array of restrictions that apply to the metadata being retrieved.

Return Value

A DataTable object.

Exception

ArgumentException – The requested collection is not defined.
InvalidOperationException – One of the following conditions exist:
- The connection is closed.
- The requested collection is not supported by the current version of Oracle database.
- More restrictions were provided than the requested collection supports.
- No population string is specified for requested collection.

Remarks

This method takes the name of a metadata collection and an array of String values that specify the restrictions for filtering the rows in the returned DataTable. This returns a DataTable that contains only rows from the specified metadata collection that match the specified restrictions.

For example, if the Columns collection has three restrictions (owner, tablename, and columnname), to retrieve all the columns for the EMP table regardless of schema, the GetSchema method must pass in at least these values: null, EMP.

If no restriction value is passed in, default values are used for that restriction, which is the same as passing in null. This differs from passing in an empty string for the parameter value. In this case, the empty string ("") is considered the value for the specified parameter.

collectionName is not case-sensitive, but restrictions (string values) are.

Example

// C#
 
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.Common;
using Oracle.DataAccess.Client;
 
class GetSchemaSample
{
  static void Main(string[] args)
  {
    string constr = "User Id=scott; Password=tiger; Data Source=oracle;";
    string ProviderName = "Oracle.DataAccess.Client";
 
    DbProviderFactory factory = DbProviderFactories.GetFactory(ProviderName);
 
    using (DbConnection conn = factory.CreateConnection())
    {
      try
      {
        conn.ConnectionString = constr;
        conn.Open();
 
        //Get Restrictions
        DataTable dtRestrictions =
          conn.GetSchema(DbMetaDataCollectionNames.Restrictions);
        
        DataView dv = dtRestrictions.DefaultView;
 
        dv.RowFilter = "CollectionName = 'Columns'";
        dv.Sort = "RestrictionNumber";
 
        for (int i = 0; i < dv.Count; i++)
          Console.WriteLine("{0} (default) {1}" , 
                            dtRestrictions.Rows[i]["RestrictionName"], 
                            dtRestrictions.Rows[i]["RestrictionDefault"]);
 
        //Set restriction string array
        string[] restrictions = new string[3];
 
        //Get all columns from all tables owned by "SCOTT"
        restrictions[0] = "SCOTT";
        DataTable dtAllScottCols = conn.GetSchema("Columns", restrictions);
 
        // clear collection
        for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
          restrictions[i] = null;
 
        //Get all columns from all tables named "EMP" owned by any 
        //owner/schema
        restrictions[1] = "EMP";
        DataTable dtAllEmpCols = conn.GetSchema("Columns", restrictions);
 
        // clear collection
        for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
          restrictions[i] = null;
 
        //Get columns named "EMPNO" from tables named "EMP", 
        //owned by any owner/schema
        restrictions[1] = "EMP";
        restrictions[2] = "EMPNO";
        DataTable dtAllScottEmpCols = conn.GetSchema("Columns", restrictions);
 
        // clear collection
        for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
          restrictions[i] = null;
 
        //Get columns named "EMPNO" from all
        //tables, owned by any owner/schema
        restrictions[2] = "EMPNO";
        DataTable dtAllEmpNoCols = conn.GetSchema("Columns", restrictions);
      }
      catch (Exception ex)
      {
        Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
        Console.WriteLine(ex.Source);
      }
    }
  }
}