SqlCommand.ExecuteScalar Method

public override Object ExecuteScalar ()

public Object ExecuteScalar ()

public override function ExecuteScalar () : Object

Return Value

Use the ExecuteScalar method to retrieve a single value (for example, an aggregate value) from a database. This requires less code than using the ExecuteReader method, and then performing the operations that you need to generate the single value using the data returned by a SqlDataReader.

A typical ExecuteScalar query can be formatted as in the following C# example:

 cmd.CommandText = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM dbo.region";
 Int32 count = (Int32) cmd.ExecuteScalar();

The following example creates a SqlCommand and then executes it using ExecuteScalar. The example is passed a string representing a new value to be inserted into a table, and a string to use to connect to the data source. The function returns the new Identity column value if a new row was inserted, 0 on failure.

static public int AddProductCategory(string newName, string connString)
{
    Int32 newProdID = 0;
    string sql =
        "INSERT INTO Production.ProductCategory (Name) VALUES (@Name); "
        + "SELECT CAST(scope_identity() AS int)";
    using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(connString))
    {
        SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(sql, conn);
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@Name", SqlDbType.VarChar);
        cmd.Parameters["@name"].Value = newName;
        try
        {
            conn.Open();
            newProdID = (Int32)cmd.ExecuteScalar();
        
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
        
    
    return (int)newProdID;

Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows CE, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see System Requirements.

.NET Framework

.NET Compact Framework