Question

I’m trying to do a search on a table in my database where it returns the top 50 rows with a firstname like the search term being passed to the function, but its always returning the same 50 results

My sql looks like this:

Select TOP(50) * 
FROM [database].[dbo].[records] 
WHERE (A_1STNAME LIKE '" + @searchTerm + "%') 
ORDER BY A_RECID

When I run this query in Visual Studios query window, it works as expected but when I run it through my ASP.NET application, it always returns the same 50 results, and only one of them has a first name close to the searchTerm I passed to it.

here is the page code that runs the function:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

        _migrated_data data = new _migrated_data();
        DataSet ds = data.Search(Request.QueryString.Get("query"), "A_RECID", 50);
        if (ds.Tables.Count > 0 && ds.Tables[0].Rows.Count > 0)
        {
            rpt_Data.DataSource = ds.Tables[0].DefaultView;
            rpt_Data.DataBind();
        }

}

and here is the search method of _migrated_data:

public DataSet Search(String @pSearchTerm, String @pSortBy, int @pRowCount)
{
    DataSet ds = new DataSet();
    OleDbConnection objOleDBConn;
    OleDbDataAdapter objOleDBDa;
    objOleDBConn = new OleDbConnection(ClearingHouse_OLEDDB);
    objOleDBConn.Open();
    string lSQL = "SELECT TOP(50) * FROM [database].[dbo].[records]";
    lSQL += " WHERE (A_1STNAME LIKE @searchTerm ) ORDER BY @sortBy";
    SqlCommand t = new SqlCommand(lSQL);

    if (pSearchTerm != null && pSearchTerm != "")
    {
        t.Parameters.AddWithValue("@searchTerm", @pSearchTerm + "%");
    }

    if (pSortBy != null && pSortBy != "")
    {
        t.Parameters.AddWithValue("@sortBy", @pSortBy);
    }
    else
    {
        t.Parameters.AddWithValue("@sortBy", "A_RECID");
    }
    objOleDBDa = new OleDbDataAdapter(t.CommandText, objOleDBConn);
    objOleDBDa.SelectCommand.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
    objOleDBDa.Fill(ds);
    objOleDBConn.Close();
    return ds;
}

Using locals to view the final CommandText of t, I get the sql results I gave above.

Any help is greatly appriciated 🙂

Answer 1

AS Rob Rodi said, first of all, to get the results begining with a value you will need % char at the end of the therm:

Select TOP(50) * 
FROM [database].[dbo].[records] 
WHERE (A_1STNAME LIKE '" + @searchTerm + "%') 
ORDER BY A_RECID

Second, probably your searchTerm is empty, so it’s grabbing always the same results.

Debug your app and watch the variable to see if it’s receiving some value.