Pass Array Parameter in SqlCommand

Question

You will need to add the values in the array one at a time.

var parameters = new string[items.Length];
var cmd = new SqlCommand();
for (int i = 0; i < items.Length; i++)
{
    parameters[i] = string.Format("@Age{0}", i);
    cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue(parameters[i], items[i]);
}

cmd.CommandText = string.Format("SELECT * from TableA WHERE Age IN ({0})", string.Join(", ", parameters));
cmd.Connection = new SqlConnection(connStr);

UPDATE: Here is an extended and reusable solution that uses Adam's answer along with his suggested edit. I improved it a bit and made it an extension method to make it even easier to call.

public static class SqlCommandExt
{

    /// <summary>
    /// This will add an array of parameters to a SqlCommand. This is used for an IN statement.
    /// Use the returned value for the IN part of your SQL call. (i.e. SELECT * FROM table WHERE field IN ({paramNameRoot}))
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="cmd">The SqlCommand object to add parameters to.</param>
    /// <param name="paramNameRoot">What the parameter should be named followed by a unique value for each value. This value surrounded by {} in the CommandText will be replaced.</param>
    /// <param name="values">The array of strings that need to be added as parameters.</param>
    /// <param name="dbType">One of the System.Data.SqlDbType values. If null, determines type based on T.</param>
    /// <param name="size">The maximum size, in bytes, of the data within the column. The default value is inferred from the parameter value.</param>
    public static SqlParameter[] AddArrayParameters<T>(this SqlCommand cmd, string paramNameRoot, IEnumerable<T> values, SqlDbType? dbType = null, int? size = null)
    {
        /* An array cannot be simply added as a parameter to a SqlCommand so we need to loop through things and add it manually. 
         * Each item in the array will end up being it's own SqlParameter so the return value for this must be used as part of the
         * IN statement in the CommandText.
         */
        var parameters = new List<SqlParameter>();
        var parameterNames = new List<string>();
        var paramNbr = 1;
        foreach (var value in values)
        {
            var paramName = string.Format("@{0}{1}", paramNameRoot, paramNbr++);
            parameterNames.Add(paramName);
            SqlParameter p = new SqlParameter(paramName, value);
            if (dbType.HasValue)
                p.SqlDbType = dbType.Value;
            if (size.HasValue)
                p.Size = size.Value;
            cmd.Parameters.Add(p);
            parameters.Add(p);
        }

        cmd.CommandText = cmd.CommandText.Replace("{" + paramNameRoot + "}", string.Join(",", parameterNames));

        return parameters.ToArray();
    }

}

It is called like this...

var cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT * FROM TableA WHERE Age IN ({Age})");
cmd.AddArrayParameters("Age", new int[] { 1, 2, 3 });

Notice the "{Age}" in the sql statement is the same as the parameter name we are sending to AddArrayParameters. AddArrayParameters will replace the value with the correct parameters.

I wanted to expand on the answer that Brian contributed to make this easily usable in other places.

/// <summary>
/// This will add an array of parameters to a SqlCommand. This is used for an IN statement.
/// Use the returned value for the IN part of your SQL call. (i.e. SELECT * FROM table WHERE field IN (returnValue))
/// </summary>
/// <param name="sqlCommand">The SqlCommand object to add parameters to.</param>
/// <param name="array">The array of strings that need to be added as parameters.</param>
/// <param name="paramName">What the parameter should be named.</param>
protected string AddArrayParameters(SqlCommand sqlCommand, string[] array, string paramName)
{
    /* An array cannot be simply added as a parameter to a SqlCommand so we need to loop through things and add it manually. 
     * Each item in the array will end up being it's own SqlParameter so the return value for this must be used as part of the
     * IN statement in the CommandText.
     */
    var parameters = new string[array.Length];
    for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
    {
        parameters[i] = string.Format("@{0}{1}", paramName, i);
        sqlCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue(parameters[i], array[i]);
    }

    return string.Join(", ", parameters);
}

You can use this new function as follows:

SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand();

string ageParameters = AddArrayParameters(cmd, agesArray, "Age");
sql = string.Format("SELECT * FROM TableA WHERE Age IN ({0})", ageParameters);

cmd.CommandText = sql;

---

Edit: Here is a generic variation that works with an array of values of any type and is usable as an extension method:

public static class Extensions
{
    public static void AddArrayParameters<T>(this SqlCommand cmd, string name, IEnumerable<T> values) 
    { 
        name = name.StartsWith("@") ? name : "@" + name;
        var names = string.Join(", ", values.Select((value, i) => { 
            var paramName = name + i; 
            cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue(paramName, value); 
            return paramName; 
        })); 
        cmd.CommandText = cmd.CommandText.Replace(name, names); 
    }
}

You can then use this extension method as follows:

var ageList = new List<int> { 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 };
var cmd = new SqlCommand();
cmd.CommandText = "SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE Age IN (@Age)";    
cmd.AddArrayParameters("Age", ageList);

Make sure you set the CommandText before calling AddArrayParameters.

Also make sure your parameter name won't partially match anything else in your statement (i.e. @AgeOfChild)

If you can use a tool like "dapper", this can be simply:

int[] ages = { 20, 21, 22 }; // could be any common list-like type
var rows = connection.Query<YourType>("SELECT * from TableA WHERE Age IN @ages",
          new { ages }).ToList();

Dapper will handle unwrapping this to individual parameters for you.

If you are using MS SQL Server 2008 and above you can use table-valued parameters like described here http://www.sommarskog.se/arrays-in-sql-2008.html.

1. Create a table type for each parameter type you will be using

The following command creates a table type for integers:

create type int32_id_list as table (id int not null primary key)

2. Implement helper methods

public static SqlCommand AddParameter<T>(this SqlCommand command, string name, IEnumerable<T> ids)
{
  var parameter = command.CreateParameter();      

  parameter.ParameterName = name;
  parameter.TypeName = typeof(T).Name.ToLowerInvariant() + "_id_list";
  parameter.SqlDbType = SqlDbType.Structured;
  parameter.Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;

  parameter.Value = CreateIdList(ids);

  command.Parameters.Add(parameter);
  return command;
}

private static DataTable CreateIdList<T>(IEnumerable<T> ids)
{
  var table = new DataTable();
  table.Columns.Add("id", typeof (T));

  foreach (var id in ids)
  {
    table.Rows.Add(id);
  }

  return table;
}

3. Use it like this

cmd.CommandText = "select * from TableA where Age in (select id from @age)"; 
cmd.AddParameter("@age", new [] {1,2,3,4,5});