SQL Server Compact Code Snippet of the Week #17 : using wildcards with a parameterized query

This “week”’s code snippet simply demonstrates how to use a parameterized query with LIKE and a search string containing wildcards. The simple solution is basically to add the wildcard character (% or ?) directly to the search string.

public static List<string> GetCompletionList(string prefixText = "%orch%")
        {
            //TODO Add error handling
            List<string> Names = new List<string>();
            using (SqlCeConnection con = new SqlCeConnection(@"Data Source=C:\projects\Chinook\Chinook40.sdf"))
            {
                con.Open();
                using (SqlCeCommand cmd = new SqlCeCommand("SELECT Name FROM Artist WHERE Name LIKE @Name", con))
                {
                    cmd.Parameters.Add("@Name", SqlDbType.NVarChar, 120).Value = prefixText;
                    using (SqlCeDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader())
                    {
                        while (reader.Read())
                        {
                            Names.Add(reader[0].ToString());                            
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            return Names;
        }