Question

Here is the code i came up with::

reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
reader.Read();
if (reader.Read())
    intQ = int.Parse(reader[0].ToString());
else
    intQ = 0;

txtblck.Text = intQ.ToString();
reader.Close();

But this causes it to always execute the else, and if i do this:

reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
if (reader.Read())
    intQ = int.Parse(reader[0].ToString());
else
    intQ = 0;

txtblck.Text = intQ.ToString();
reader.Close();

The if always return true, how should do this?

Answer 1

reader.Read() advances the reader to the next record, where the reader is initially set to before the first record. If calling reader.Read() returns false this means that it was unable to advance to the next record (i.e. the current record is the last record).

This means that if you wish to read the first record you need to call reader.Read() once, and if reader.Read() returns false it means there were no records – like so:

using (var reader = cmd.ExecuteReader())
{
    if (reader.Read())
    {
        intQ = int.Parse(reader[0].ToString());
    }
    else
    {
        intQ = 0;
    }
}
txtblck.Text = intQ.ToString();

FYI int.Parse will throw an exception if the first record is null – this is different from having zero rows. Perhaps you should check for null values, or use int.TryParse instead.