in my program i need to check if a record in the database already exists in the table using the if statement.
using c# i am trying to do this through an sql con
If you want to check if the user exists, you have to change your sql and use COUNT or EXISTS:
So instead of
SELECT * from users where user_name like 'Adam' AND password like '123456'
this
SELECT COUNT(*) from users where user_name like 'Adam' AND password like '123456'
Now you can use ExecuteScalar to retrieve the count of users with this username and password:
int userCount = (int) sqlCommand.ExecuteScalar();
if(userCount > 0)
// user exists ....
Note that you should use sql-parameters to prevent sql-injection:
using (SqlCommand sqlCommand = new SqlCommand("SELECT COUNT(*) from users where user_name like @username AND password like @password", sqlConnection))
{
sqlConnection.Open();
sqlCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("@username", userName);
sqlCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("@password", passWord);
int userCount = (int) sqlCommand.ExecuteScalar();
...
}