Question

We have created a custom dataset and populating it with some data.

Before adding data, we are adding columns in the data set as follows

DataSet archiveDataset = new DataSet("Archive");
DataTable dsTable = archiveDataset.Tables.Add("Data");
dsTable.Columns.Add("Id", typeof(int));
dsTable.Columns.Add("Name", typeof(string));
dsTable.Columns.Add("LastOperationBy", typeof(int));
dsTable.Columns.Add("Time", typeof(DateTime))

Once the Dataset is create, we are filling values as follows

 DataRow dataRow = dsTable.NewRow();
 dataRow["Id"] = source.Id;
 dataRow["Name"] = source.Name;
 dataRow["LastOperationBy"] = source.LastOperationBy;
 dataRow["Time"] = source.LaunchTime;

Is there any better and managed way of doing this. can I make the code more easy to write using enum or anything else to reduce the efforts?

Answer 1

You could try using a Typed Dataset.

This should get rid of the ["<column_name>"] ugliness.

If the dataset has a structure similar to tables in a database, then Visual Studio makes it really easy to create one: just click Add -> New Item somewhere in the solution and choose DataSet. VS will show a designer where you can drag tables from your server explorer.

Update (after response to Simon’s comment):
A typed dataset is in fact an XSD (XML Schema Definition).
What I did in a similar case was:

• created an empty DataSet (using Add -> New Item -> DataSet)
• opened the newly created file with a text editor (by dafault, in VS it shows the XSD designer)
• paste the XSD that I had created manually

You could also choose to use the designer to create the schema.