Question

I am new to writing Stored Procedure. So I wrote one with output parameters and want to access the output value, hot to do it.

My Stored Procedure:

ALTER PROCEDURE selQuery
    (
        @id int, @code varchar(50) OUTPUT
    )
AS
    SELECT RecItemCode = @code, RecUsername from Receipt where RecTransaction = @id
    RETURN @code

If trying to set “@code=RecItemCode” getting error as : “A SELECT statement that assigns a value to a variable must not be combined with Data Retrieval operations.”

And I am using the Stored Procedure as:

con.Open();
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@id", textBox1.Text);
SqlParameter code = new SqlParameter("@code", SqlDbType.Int);
code.Direction = ParameterDirection.Output;
cmd.Parameters.Add(code);
SqlDataReader sdr = cmd.ExecuteReader();
MessageBox.Show(cmd.Parameters["@code"].Value.ToString()); // getting error
con.Close();

Error : “Object reference not set to an instance of an object.”
I want to get the value of output parameter. How to get that?

Thanks.

Answer 1

The SQL in your SP is wrong. You probably want

Select @code = RecItemCode from Receipt where RecTransaction = @id

In your statement, you are not setting @code, you are trying to use it for the value of RecItemCode. This would explain your NullReferenceException when you try to use the output parameter, because a value is never assigned to it and you’re getting a default null.

The other issue is that your SQL statement if rewritten as

Select @code = RecItemCode, RecUsername from Receipt where RecTransaction = @id

It is mixing variable assignment and data retrieval. This highlights a couple of points. If you need the data that is driving @code in addition to other parts of the data, forget the output parameter and just select the data.

Select RecItemCode, RecUsername from Receipt where RecTransaction = @id

If you just need the code, use the first SQL statement I showed you. On the offhand chance you actually need the output and the data, use two different statements

Select @code = RecItemCode from Receipt where RecTransaction = @id
Select RecItemCode, RecUsername from Receipt where RecTransaction = @id

This should assign your value to the output parameter as well as return two columns of data in a row. However, this strikes me as terribly redundant.

If you write your SP as I have shown at the very top, simply invoke cmd.ExecuteNonQuery(); and then read the output parameter value.

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Another issue with your SP and code. In your SP, you have declared @code as varchar. In your code, you specify the parameter type as Int. Either change your SP or your code to make the types consistent.

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Also note: If all you are doing is returning a single value, there’s another way to do it that does not involve output parameters at all. You could write

 Select RecItemCode from Receipt where RecTransaction = @id

And then use object obj = cmd.ExecuteScalar(); to get the result, no need for an output parameter in the SP or in your code.