93

I am trying to call a stored procedure from my C# windows application. The stored procedure is running on a local instance of SQL Server 2008. I am able to call the stored procedure but I am not able to retrieve the value back from the stored procedure. This stored procedure is supposed to return the next number in the sequence. I have done research online and all the sites I've seen have pointed to this solution working.

Stored procedure code:

ALTER procedure [dbo].[usp_GetNewSeqVal]
      @SeqName nvarchar(255)
as
begin
      declare @NewSeqVal int
      set NOCOUNT ON
      update AllSequences
      set @NewSeqVal = CurrVal = CurrVal+Incr
      where SeqName = @SeqName

      if @@rowcount = 0 begin
print 'Sequence does not exist'
            return
      end

      return @NewSeqVal
end

Code calling the stored procedure:

SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(getConnectionString());
conn.Open();

SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(parameterStatement.getQuery(), conn);
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;

SqlParameter param = new SqlParameter();

param = cmd.Parameters.Add("@SeqName", SqlDbType.NVarChar);
param.Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;
param.Value = "SeqName";

SqlDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();

I have also tried using a DataSet to retrieve the return value with the same result. What am I missing to get the return value from my stored procedure? If more information is needed, please let me know.

abatishchev
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Wesley
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9 Answers9

190

You need to add a ReturnValue-direction parameter to the command:

using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(getConnectionString()))
using (SqlCommand cmd = conn.CreateCommand())
{
    cmd.CommandText = parameterStatement.getQuery();
    cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
    cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("SeqName", "SeqNameValue");

    // @ReturnVal could be any name
    var returnParameter = cmd.Parameters.Add("@ReturnVal", SqlDbType.Int);
    returnParameter.Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue;

    conn.Open();
    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
    var result = returnParameter.Value;
}

Setting the parameter's direction to ParameterDirection.ReturnValue instructs the SqlCommand to declare it as a variable and assign the stored procedure's return value to it (exec @ReturnValue = spMyProcedure...), exactly like you would write it in SQL.

Paul-Sebastian Manole
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Alex Aza
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    Do you have to add `@ReturnVal` to the Stored Procedure as well? – muttley91 Feb 03 '14 at 19:42
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    No, you don't have to add to the sp (the return statement triggers filling the parameter marked with ReturnValue) – ufosnowcat Dec 10 '14 at 09:27
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    Doesn't matter what you name the return val parameter, btw. – Clay Apr 28 '16 at 13:58
  • thanks a lot, I was looking for a way to properly get return value, this really worked for me. awesome! – Oswaldo Zapata Aug 23 '17 at 22:57
  • Looking through SqlDbType enumeration, all the types are for returning only a single value. How do you define that a table of data is being returned? – tony09uk Nov 16 '17 at 08:28
  • @tony09uk I don't think ReturnValue supports that. But you can simply not use return in your procedure and instead end the procedure with `SELECT * FROM tableToReturn`. In your programm, use an `SqlDataAdapter` to get the table from the select statement in your stored procedure just like you would get get the result of a normal SQL statement. – Manuel Hoffmann Jan 19 '18 at 08:23
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    The stored procedure return value should be used only to indicate success (zero) or failure/warning (non-zero), not return data. Use an `OUTPUT` parameter or result set for that purpose. – Dan Guzman Aug 12 '18 at 13:07
7

I know this is old, but i stumbled on it with Google.

If you have a return value in your stored procedure say "Return 1" - not using output parameters.

You can do the following - "@RETURN_VALUE" is silently added to every command object. NO NEED TO EXPLICITLY ADD

    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
    rtn = (int)cmd.Parameters["@RETURN_VALUE"].Value;
Gary
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    Hi Gary. Do you happen to have a citation? – Michael Nov 10 '14 at 18:05
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    I dont believe that the cmd instance will have a parameter named in RETURN_VALUE in the SqlParameterCollection unless it is added explicitly. Therefore, if you are considering taking the approach above by Gary, then ensure you have added cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@RETURN_VALUE", SqlDbType.Int)); cmd.Parameters["@RETURN_VALUE"].Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue; However, I do believe that you DO NOT have to add the @RETURN_VALUE to the stored procedure definition. Perhaps that is what Gary meant. – Judy007 Aug 19 '16 at 22:22
  • I have some source code that runs SqlCommandBuilder.DeriveParameters and it seems to automatically create its first parameter as @RETURN_VALUE (unless I missed something else causing that to happen). DeriveParameters is slower than manually creating the parameters. I use it once and cache the results. – Mafu Josh Dec 12 '22 at 22:55
5

The version of EnterpriseLibrary on my machine had other parameters. This was working:

        SqlParameter retval = new SqlParameter("@ReturnValue", System.Data.SqlDbType.Int);
        retval.Direction = System.Data.ParameterDirection.ReturnValue;
        cmd.Parameters.Add(retval);
        db.ExecuteNonQuery(cmd);
        object o = cmd.Parameters["@ReturnValue"].Value;
RaSor
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3

I had a similar problem with the SP call returning an error that an expected parameter was not included. My code was as follows.
Stored Procedure:

@Result int OUTPUT

And C#:

            SqlParameter result = cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@Result", DbType.Int32));
            result.Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue;

In troubleshooting, I realized that the stored procedure was ACTUALLY looking for a direction of "InputOutput" so the following change fixed the problem.

            r

Result.Direction = ParameterDirection.InputOutput;

Paul
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    "Output parameters" are not the same thing as Stored Procedure return-values, btw. – Dai Aug 28 '20 at 03:18
3

ExecuteScalar(); will work, but an output parameter would be a superior solution.

Hasan Fathi
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Justin Dearing
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3

This is a very short sample of returning a single value from a procedure:

SQL:

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[MakeDouble] @InpVal int AS BEGIN 
SELECT @InpVal * 2; RETURN 0; 
END

C#-code:

int inpVal = 11;
string retVal = "?";
using (var sqlCon = new SqlConnection(
    "Data Source = . ; Initial Catalog = SampleDb; Integrated Security = True;"))
{
    sqlCon.Open();
    retVal = new SqlCommand("Exec dbo.MakeDouble " + inpVal + ";", 
        sqlCon).ExecuteScalar().ToString();
    sqlCon.Close();
}
Debug.Print(inpVal + " * 2 = " + retVal); 
//> 11 * 2 = 22
2

You can try using an output parameter. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms378108.aspx

Aravind
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1

Or if you're using EnterpriseLibrary rather than standard ADO.NET...

Database db = DatabaseFactory.CreateDatabase();
using (DbCommand cmd = db.GetStoredProcCommand("usp_GetNewSeqVal"))
{
    db.AddInParameter(cmd, "SeqName", DbType.String, "SeqNameValue");
    db.AddParameter(cmd, "RetVal", DbType.Int32, ParameterDirection.ReturnValue, null, DataRowVersion.Default, null);

    db.ExecuteNonQuery(cmd);

    var result = (int)cmd.Parameters["RetVal"].Value;
}
Nattrass
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Dunc
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-10

I see the other one is closed. So basically here's the rough of my code. I think you are missing the string cmd comment. For example if my store procedure is call:DBO.Test. I would need to write cmd="DBO.test". Then do command type equal to store procedure, and blah blah blah

Connection.open();
String cmd="DBO.test"; //the command
Sqlcommand mycommand;
Rain
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