If I'm updating a DataRow, do I lock the entire DataTable or just the DataRow?

Question

Suppose I'm accessing a DataTable from multiple threads. If I want to access a particular row, I suspect I need to lock that operation (I could be mistaken about this, but at least I know this way I'm safe):

// this is a strongly-typed table
OrdersRow row = null;
lock (orderTable.Rows.SyncRoot) {
    row = orderTable.FindByOrderId(myOrderId);
}

But then, if I want to update that row, should I lock the table (or rather, the table's Rows.SyncRoot object) again, or can I simply lock the row?

Answer 1

Actually, just performing a lock in one place on the DataTable or DataRow doesn't actually do anything. An important aspect to remember in using Monitor locks (which is what a lock block is) is that locking an object doesn't do anything to it; that's one reason that some advocate using dedicated locking objects rather than locking the resource itself, since it forces you to realize that you have to perform the lock (and on the same object) whenever you're dealing with the resource.

That being said, it's a better idea to lock the entire DataTable, as the data storage itself is there (the DataRow objects internally only contain an offset into the DataTable as to where to retrieve the data). Because of this, even if you synchronize access to individual rows, updating two different rows simultaneously will cause you to update the same data storage mechanism in a non-synchronized manner.

There's a conflict here between viewing internal types as a "black box" and locking only what you need to (which, in this case, would lead you to a faulty conclusion of only locking the row) and trying to gain insight into the internal workings of the type and relying on implementation details that could change.

The upshot is that, right now, you should lock the entire DataTable to avoid updating the internal data storage system in a non-synchronized manner.

Answer 2

you don't need to lock for reads - just for writes / updates. lock the smallest amount that you can, to ensure data consistency... usually just the one row that you are updating. if you are updating parent / child relationships between tables, you'll need to lock each row in each table.

Answer 3

The datatable is only safe for multi threaded read operations:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.data.datatable.aspx

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/netfxbcl/thread/11b69e1a-ad6c-48d5-8e14-264af5b0692e

On reading about the datatable there is conflicting information concerning the ability to lock the table and allow you to safely update data in a row. According to the second link you can lock the table and update the row. Being this is from a MS MVP, I would say that you probably can lock the table and be ok.