Returning a single row

Question

I\'m trying to return a single row from a database:

using (connection = new SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings[\"connection\"]))
{
    using (command         


        

Answer 1

reader["col_1"] returns object.

You want something like reader.GetString(reader.GetOrdinal("col_1")).

Edit -> I just wanted to add a note here that, in addition to the concerns others have raised, a SELECT TOP without an ORDER BY can give you random results based on schema changes and/or merry-go-round scans.