Setting Up a Simple Dataset
Go Up to Using a Simple Dataset
Setting up a simple dataset requires two essential steps. Set up:
- The connection information.
- The dataset information.
The following steps describe setting up a simple dataset in more detail.
To use TSimpleDataSet:
- Place the TSimpleDataSet component in a data module or on a form. Set its Name property to a unique value appropriate to your application.
- Identify the database server that contains the data. There are two ways to do this:
- If you have a named connection in the connections file, expand the Connection property and specify the ConnectionName value.
- For greater control over connection properties, transaction support, login support, and the ability to use a single connection for more than one dataset, use a separate TSQLConnection component instead. Specify the TSQLConnection component as the value of the TSimpleDataSet's Connection property.
- To indicate what data you want to fetch from the server, expand the DataSet property and set the appropriate values. There are three ways to fetch data from the server:
- Set CommandType to ctQuery and set CommandText to an SQL statement you want to execute on the server. This statement is typically a SELECT statement. Supply the values for any parameters using the Params property.
- Set CommandType to ctStoredProc and set CommandText to the name of the stored procedure you want to execute. Supply the values for any input parameters using the Params property.
- Set CommandType to ctTable and set CommandText to the name of the database tables whose records you want to use.
- If the data is to be used with visual data controls, add a data source component to the form or data module, and set its DataSet property to the TSimpleDataSet object. The data source component forwards the data in the client dataset's in-memory cache to data-aware components for display. Connect data-aware components to the data source using their DataSource and DataField properties.
- Activate the dataset by setting the Active property to true (or, at run time, calling the Open method).
- If you executed a stored procedure, use the Params property to retrieve any output parameters.
- When the user has edited the data in the simple dataset, you can apply those edits back to the database server by calling the Updating records.