---
title: "Array Parameter Sample | Microsoft Docs"
ms.custom: ""
ms.date: "06/13/2017"
ms.prod: "sql-server-2014"
ms.reviewer: ""
ms.technology: "database-engine"
ms.topic: "reference"
ms.assetid: 5d7034ca-ce88-4a7e-8dd9-82f867479e7f
author: mashamsft
ms.author: mathoma
manager: craigg
---
# Array Parameter Sample
Sometimes it is useful to create, update, or delete a set of rows in a database. There are several approaches you could use to achieve that goal. One of them is to pass an array of information from a client to a common language runtime (CLR) integration stored procedure on the server by using a CLR integration user-defined data type. The nature of such user-defined data types limits the size of the data provided to the server to 8000 bytes. Therefore, this approach is not satisfactory for large or complex data. If the data that is being manipulated is small and simple, this approach can be much more efficient than calling a stored procedure for each row. By passing an array, the order of data is preserved for those applications where the order is significant.This sample contains the following:
1. The `ContactTypeNames` user-defined data type. This contains a list of desired contact type names.
2. The `usp_EnsureContactTypeNames` stored procedure implemented as a Microsoft Visual C# or Microsoft Visual Basic method. This accepts an instance of the `ContactTypeNames` user-defined data type and inserts new rows in the `Person.ContactType` table for any contact names that are contained in the user-defined data type instance which are not already present in the table.
3. The `TestArrayParameter` console application. This creates an instance of the `ContactTypeNames` user-defined data type based on the command line parameters passed in, and then invokes the `usp_EnsureContactTypeNames` stored procedure by passing the user-defined data type instance as a parameter.
## Prerequisites
To create and run this project the following the following software must be installed:
- [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)] or [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)] Express. You can obtain [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)] Express free of charge from the [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)] Express Documentation and Samples [Web site](https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=42299)
- The AdventureWorks database that is available at the [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)] Developer [Web site](https://archive.codeplex.com/?p=SqlServerSamples)
- .NET Framework SDK 2.0 or later or Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or later. You can obtain .NET Framework SDK free of charge.
- In addition, the following conditions must be met:
- The [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)] instance you are using must have CLR integration enabled.
- In order to enable CLR integration, perform the following steps:
#### Enabling CLR Integration
- Execute the following [!INCLUDE[tsql](../../includes/tsql-md.md)] commands:
`sp_configure 'clr enabled', 1`
`GO`
`RECONFIGURE`
`GO`
> [!NOTE]
> To enable CLR, you must have `ALTER SETTINGS` server level permission, which is implicitly held by members of the `sysadmin` and `serveradmin` fixed server roles.
- The AdventureWorks database must be installed on the [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)] instance you are using.
- If you are not an administrator for the [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)] instance you are using, you must have an administrator grant you **CreateAssembly** permission to complete the installation.
## Building the Sample
#### Create and run the sample by using the following instructions:
1. Open a Visual Studio or .NET Framework command prompt.
2. If necessary, create a directory for your sample. For this example, we will use C:\MySample.
3. In c:\MySample, create `ContactTypeNames.vb` (for the Visual Basic sample) or `ContactTypeNames.cs` (for the C# sample) and copy the appropriate Visual Basic or C# sample code (below) into the file.
4. Compile the sample code into the required assembly from the command line prompt by executing one of the following, depending on your choice of language.
- `Vbc /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Data.dll,C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll,C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Xml.dll /target:library ContactTypeNames.vb`
- `Csc /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Data.dll /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Xml.dll /target:library ContactTypeNames.cs`
5. In c:\MySample, create `Program.vb` (for the Visual Basic sample) or `Program.cs` (for the C# sample) and copy the appropriate Visual Basic or C# sample code (below) into the file.
6. Locate the appropriate line in the file Program (around line 24) and replace `XXX` with the name of your instance of [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)]
- `Dim connection As New SqlConnection("data source=XXX;initial catalog=AdventureWorks;Integrated Security=SSPI")`
- `using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection("data source=XXX;initial catalog=AdventureWorks;Integrated Security=SSPI"))`
7. Compile the sample code into the required executable from the command line prompt by executing one of the following, depending on your choice of language.
- `vbc /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Data.dll,C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Deployment.dll,C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll,C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Drawing.dll,C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Windows.Forms.dll,C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Xml.dll,C:\MySample\ContactTypeNames.dll /out:TestArrayParameter Program.vb`
- `Csc /reference:ContactTypeNames.dll /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Data.dll /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Xml.dll /out:TestArrayParameter.exe Program.cs`
8. Copy the [!INCLUDE[tsql](../../includes/tsql-md.md)] installation code into a file and save it as `Install.sql` in the sample directory.
9. If the sample is installed in a directory other then `C:\MySample\`, edit the file `Install.sql` as indicated to point to that location.
10. Deploy the assembly, stored procedure and functions by executing
- `sqlcmd -E -I -i install.sql`
11. Test the application by executing the following line at the command prompt:
- `TestArrayParameter "Executive Sales Representative" "Executive Sales Manager"`
12. Copy the [!INCLUDE[tsql](../../includes/tsql-md.md)] cleanup script into a file and save it as `cleanup.sql` in the sample directory.
13. Execute the script with the following command
- `sqlcmd -E -I -i cleanup.sql`
## Sample Code
The following are the code listings for this sample.
This is the code for the Library `ContactTypeNames.`
C#
```
#region Using directives
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.Sql;
using System.Data.SqlTypes;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Globalization;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Server;
#endregion
// This class is used to demonstrate passing an array of a fairly small number of reasonably small strings
// to a CLR integration based stored procedure on the server. Because a UDT is limited to 8000 bytes
// this approach will not work well for large numbers of strings or long strings. See the contact
// creation stored procedure in the AdventureWorks CLR integration sample for an alternative approach
// using XML which does not have these limitations.
[Serializable]
[Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlUserDefinedType(Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.Format.UserDefined, IsByteOrdered = true, MaxByteSize = 8000)]
public class ContactTypeNames : INullable, Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.IBinarySerialize
{
#region Constructors
private const int maxByteSize = 8000;
public ContactTypeNames()
{
}
public ContactTypeNames(string[] names)
{
int numberOfCharacters = 0;
foreach (string name in names)
{
if (name.Length == 0)
throw new ArgumentException("Zero length names are not allowed");
numberOfCharacters += name.Length;
}
int dataByteSize = numberOfCharacters*2 //UTF-16 characters take 2 bytes
+ names.Length*4 //Four byte header for each string
+ 4 //Four byte header for null string at end
+ 1; //One byte boolean for null flag
if (dataByteSize >= maxByteSize)
throw new ArgumentException(string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "Data provided occupies {0} bytes but only {1} bytes "
+ "are available", dataByteSize, maxByteSize));
this._names = names;
}
#endregion
#region Accessors
public string[] GetTypeNameArray()
{
//Don't let caller modify our copy of the array
return (string[])_names.Clone();
}
//This has an odd API because we can only define Transact-SQL functions on static methods.
[SqlFunctionAttribute(FillRowMethodName = "FillNameRow")]
public static IEnumerable GetContactTypeNames(ContactTypeNames names)
{
if (names == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("names");
return names.GetTypeNameArray();
}
public static void FillNameRow(object nameArrayElement, out string contactName)
{
contactName = (string)nameArrayElement;
}
#endregion
#region String Conversions
///
/// The string format for contact type names is a sequence of names separated by commas
///
/// a string containing contact type names separated by commas
/// An instance of contact type name containing the specified names
[Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlMethod(DataAccess = Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.DataAccessKind.None, IsDeterministic = false, IsMutator = false, IsPrecise = false,
SystemDataAccess = Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SystemDataAccessKind.None)]
public static ContactTypeNames Parse(SqlString s)
{
if (s.IsNull)
return Null;
return new ContactTypeNames(s.Value.Split(new char[] {','}));
}
///
/// Convert the contact type names to a string
///
/// The contact type names separated by commas
public override string ToString()
{
if (this.IsNull)
return null;
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
foreach (string name in _names)
{
if (sb.Length > 0) sb.Append(", ");
sb.Append(name);
}
return sb.ToString();
}
#endregion
#region INullable Members
public static ContactTypeNames Null
{
get
{
return new ContactTypeNames();
}
}
public bool IsNull
{
get
{
return _names == null;
}
}
#endregion
#region IBinarySerialize Members
//Format:
//Byte 1: Null flag (boolean) (true = null)
//Byte 2 - 7994: Strings with 4 byte length headers,
// last string is a zero length string.
//This format is in part dictated by how the BinaryWriter serializes strings. See
//the Microsoft .NET Framework documentation on System.IO.BinaryWriter for more details.
public void Read(System.IO.BinaryReader r)
{
if (r.ReadBoolean())
{
_names = null;
return;
}
List nameList = new List();
string name;
while ((name = r.ReadString()).Length != 0)
{
nameList.Add(name);
}
_names = new string[nameList.Count];
nameList.CopyTo(_names);
}
public void Write(System.IO.BinaryWriter w)
{
if (w == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("w");
w.Write(this.IsNull);
foreach (string name in _names)
{
w.Write(name);
}
w.Write(string.Empty);
}
#endregion
#region Private Implementation
private string[] _names;
#endregion
}
```
Visual Basic
```
#Region "Using directives"
Imports System
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.Sql
Imports System.Data.SqlTypes
Imports System.Collections
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Globalization
Imports Microsoft.SqlServer.Server
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
#End Region
' This class is used to demonstrate passing an array of a fairly small number of reasonably small strings
' to a CLR integration based stored procedure on the server. Because a UDT is limited to 8000 bytes
' this approach will not work well for large numbers of strings or long strings. See the contact
' creation stored procedure in the AdventureWorks CLR integration sample for an alternative approach
' using XML which does not have these limitations.
_
_
Public Class ContactTypeNames
Implements INullable, IBinarySerialize
#Region "Constructors"
Private Const maxByteSize As Integer = 8000
Public Sub New()
End Sub
Public Sub New(ByVal names() As String)
Dim numberOfCharacters As Integer = 0
For Each name As String In names
If name.Length = 0 Then
Throw New ArgumentException("Zero length names are not allowed")
End If
numberOfCharacters += name.Length
Next
'UTF-16 characters take 2 bytes
'Four byte header for each string
'Four byte header for null string at end
'One byte boolean for null flag
Dim dataByteSize As Integer = numberOfCharacters * 2 _
+ names.Length * 4 _
+ 4 _
+ 1
If dataByteSize >= maxByteSize Then
Throw New ArgumentException(String.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, _
"Data provided occupies {0} bytes but only {1} bytes are available", _
dataByteSize, maxByteSize))
End If
Me._names = names
End Sub
#End Region
#Region "Accessors"
Public Function GetTypeNameArray() As String()
'Don't let caller modify our copy of the array
Return CType(Me._names.Clone(), String())
End Function
'This has an odd API because we can only define Transact-SQL functions on static methods.
_
Public Shared Function GetContactTypeNames(ByVal names As ContactTypeNames) As IEnumerable
If names Is Nothing Then
Throw New ArgumentNullException("names")
End If
Return names.GetTypeNameArray()
End Function
Public Shared Sub FillNameRow(ByVal nameArrayElement As Object, ByRef contactName As String)
contactName = CStr(nameArrayElement)
End Sub
#End Region
#Region "String Conversions"
'''
''' The string format for contact type names is a sequence of names separated by commas
'''
''' a string containing contact type names separated by commas
''' An instance of contact type name containing the specified names
_
Public Shared Function Parse(ByVal s As SqlString) As ContactTypeNames
If s.IsNull Then
Return Nothing
End If
Return New ContactTypeNames(s.Value.Split(New Char() {","c}))
End Function
'''
''' Convert the contact type names to a string
'''
''' The contact type names separated by commas
Public Overrides Function ToString() As String
If Me.IsNull Then
Return Nothing
End If
Dim sb As New StringBuilder()
For Each name As String In Me._names
If sb.Length > 0 Then
sb.Append(", ")
End If
sb.Append(name)
Next name
Return sb.ToString()
End Function
#End Region
#Region "INullable Members"
Shared ReadOnly Property Null() As ContactTypeNames
Get
Return New ContactTypeNames()
End Get
End Property
Public ReadOnly Property IsNull() As Boolean Implements INullable.IsNull
Get
Return Me._names Is Nothing
End Get
End Property
#End Region
#Region "IBinarySerialize Members"
'Format:
'Byte 1: Null flag (boolean) (true = null)
'Byte 2 - 7994: Strings with 4 byte length headers,
' last string is a zero length string.
'This format is in part dictated by how the BinaryWriter serializes strings. See
'the Microsoft .NET Framework documentation on System.IO.BinaryWriter for more details.
Public Sub Read(ByVal r As System.IO.BinaryReader) Implements IBinarySerialize.Read
If r.ReadBoolean() Then
Me._names = Nothing
Return
End If
Dim nameList As New List(Of String)
Dim name As String = r.ReadString()
While name.Length <> 0
nameList.Add(name)
name = r.ReadString()
End While
Me._names = New String(nameList.Count - 1) {}
nameList.CopyTo(Me._names)
End Sub
Public Sub Write(ByVal w As System.IO.BinaryWriter) Implements IBinarySerialize.Write
If w Is Nothing Then
Throw New ArgumentNullException("w")
End If
w.Write(Me.IsNull)
For Each name As String In Me._names
w.Write(name)
Next
w.Write(String.Empty)
End Sub
#End Region
#Region "Private Implementation"
Private _names() As String
#End Region
End Class
```
This is the code for the test executable.
C#
```
#region Using directives
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.Sql;
using System.Data.SqlTypes;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
#endregion
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
if (args.Length == 0)
{
Console.WriteLine("Usage: TestArrayParameter contactTypeName1 "
+ "contactTypeName2 ... contactTypeNamen");
return;
}
using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection("data source=XXX;initial catalog=AdventureWorks;Integrated Security=SSPI"))
{
connection.Open();
ShowTypeNames(connection, "before any inserts");
SqlCommand command = connection.CreateCommand();
command.CommandText = "usp_EnsureContactTypeNames";
command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
SqlParameter namesParameter = new SqlParameter("@names", SqlDbType.Udt);
namesParameter.UdtTypeName = "ContactTypeNames";
namesParameter.Value = new ContactTypeNames(args);
command.Parameters.Add(namesParameter);
command.ExecuteNonQuery();
ShowTypeNames(connection, "after any inserts");
}
}
private static void ShowTypeNames(SqlConnection connection, string whenRan)
{
SqlCommand command = connection.CreateCommand();
command.CommandText = "SELECT Name FROM Person.ContactType ORDER BY Name";
using (SqlDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader())
{
Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.Blue;
Console.Write("Contact type names {0}: ", whenRan);
Console.ResetColor();
bool first = true;
while (reader.Read())
{
if (!first) Console.Write(", ");
Console.Write(reader[0].ToString());
first = false;
}
Console.WriteLine("");
Console.WriteLine("");
}
}
}
```
Visual Basic
```
#Region "Using directives"
Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Text
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.Sql
Imports System.Data.SqlTypes
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
#End Region
Class Program
Shared Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
If args.Length = 0 Then
Console.WriteLine("Usage: TestArrayParameter contactTypeName1 " _
+ "contactTypeName2 ... contactTypeNamen")
Return
End If
Dim connection As New SqlConnection("data source=XXX;initial catalog=AdventureWorks;Integrated Security=SSPI")
Try
connection.Open()
ShowTypeNames(connection, "Before any inserts")
Dim command As SqlCommand = connection.CreateCommand()
command.CommandText = "usp_EnsureContactTypeNames"
command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
Dim namesParameter As New SqlParameter("@names", SqlDbType.Udt)
namesParameter.UdtTypeName = "ContactTypeNames"
namesParameter.Value = New ContactTypeNames(args)
command.Parameters.Add(namesParameter)
command.ExecuteNonQuery()
ShowTypeNames(connection, "After any inserts")
Finally
connection.Dispose()
End Try
End Sub
Private Shared Sub ShowTypeNames(ByVal connection As SqlConnection, ByVal whenRan As String)
Dim command As SqlCommand = connection.CreateCommand()
command.CommandText = "SELECT [Name] FROM [Person].[ContactType] ORDER BY Name"
Dim reader As SqlDataReader = command.ExecuteReader()
Try
Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.Blue
Console.Write("Contact type names {0}: ", whenRan)
Console.ResetColor()
Dim first As Boolean = True
While reader.Read()
If Not first Then
Console.Write(", ")
End If
Console.Write(reader(0).ToString())
first = False
End While
Console.WriteLine("")
Console.WriteLine("")
Finally
reader.Dispose()
End Try
End Sub
End Class
```
This is the [!INCLUDE[tsql](../../includes/tsql-md.md)] installation script (`Install.sql`), which deploys the assembly and creates the stored procedure and functions in the database.
```
USE AdventureWorks
GO
-- Drop existing sprocs, type, and assemblies if any.
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.procedures WHERE [name] = 'usp_EnsureContactTypeNames')
DROP PROCEDURE usp_EnsureContactTypeNames;
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.objects WHERE [name] = N'GetContactTypeNames' and (type = 'FS' or type = 'FT'))
DROP FUNCTION [GetContactTypeNames];
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.types WHERE [name] = 'ContactTypeNames')
DROP TYPE ContactTypeNames;
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.assemblies WHERE [name] = 'ContactTypeNames')
DROP ASSEMBLY ContactTypeNames;
GO
-- Add assemblies, type, and sproc
DECLARE @SamplesPath nvarchar(1024)
-- You may need to modify the value of the this variable if you have installed the sample someplace other than the default location.
set @SamplesPath= 'C:\MySample\'
CREATE ASSEMBLY ContactTypeNames
FROM @SamplesPath + 'ContactTypeNames.dll'
WITH permission_set = Safe;
CREATE TYPE ContactTypeNames
EXTERNAL NAME ContactTypeNames.ContactTypeNames;
GO
CREATE FUNCTION GetContactTypeNames
(
@names dbo.ContactTypeNames
)
RETURNS TABLE
(
[Name] [Name]
)
AS EXTERNAL NAME [ContactTypeNames].[ContactTypeNames].[GetContactTypeNames];
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE usp_EnsureContactTypeNames
(
@names dbo.ContactTypeNames
)
AS
SET NOCOUNT ON;
INSERT Person.ContactType ([Name])
SELECT [Name] FROM GetContactTypeNames(@names) AS PotentialNames
WHERE [Name] NOT IN (SELECT [Name] FROM Person.ContactType);
GO
```
The following [!INCLUDE[tsql](../../includes/tsql-md.md)] removes the assembly and stored procedure from the database.
```
USE AdventureWorks
GO
DELETE Person.ContactType WHERE ContactTypeID > 20;
GO
-- Drop existing sprocs, type, and assemblies if any.
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.procedures WHERE [name] = 'usp_EnsureContactTypeNames')
DROP PROCEDURE usp_EnsureContactTypeNames;
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.objects WHERE [name] = N'GetContactTypeNames' and (type = 'FS' or type = 'FT'))
DROP FUNCTION [GetContactTypeNames];
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.types WHERE [name] = 'ContactTypeNames')
DROP TYPE ContactTypeNames;
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.assemblies WHERE [name] = 'ContactTypeNames')
DROP ASSEMBLY ContactTypeNames;
GO
```
## See Also
[Usage Scenarios and Examples for Common Language Runtime (CLR) Integration](../../../2014/database-engine/dev-guide/usage-scenarios-and-examples-for-common-language-runtime-clr-integration.md)