Is there a difference between DataTable.Clear and DataTable.Rows.Clear?

Question

I recall there is a difference between some methods/properties called directly on the DataTable class, and the identically named methods/properties on the DataTable.Rows pro

Answer 1

In .Net 1.1, DataRowCollection.Clear calls DataTable.Clear

However, in .Net 2.0, there is a difference. If I understand the source correctly, DataTable.Clear will clear unattached rows (created using DataTable.NewRow) whereas DataRowCollection.Clear won't.

The difference is in RecordManager.Clear (source below, from the .Net Reference Source for v3.5 SP 0); clearAll is true only when called from DataTable.Clear.

    internal void Clear(bool clearAll) { 
        if (clearAll) {
            for(int record = 0; record < recordCapacity; ++record) { 
                rows[record] = null;
            }
            int count = table.columnCollection.Count;
            for(int i = 0; i < count; ++i) { 
                //

                DataColumn column = table.columnCollection[i]; 
                for(int record = 0; record < recordCapacity; ++record) {
                    column.FreeRecord(record); 
                }
            }
            lastFreeRecord = 0;
            freeRecordList.Clear(); 
        }
        else { // just clear attached rows 
            freeRecordList.Capacity = freeRecordList.Count + table.Rows.Count; 
            for(int record = 0; record < recordCapacity; ++record) {
                if (rows[record]!= null && rows[record].rowID != -1) { 
                    int tempRecord = record;
                    FreeRecord(ref tempRecord);
                }
            } 
        }
    }