Oracle Parameters in .net sql queries - ORA-00933: SQL command not properly ended - sql

Question

I am trying to do create a where clause to pass as a parameter to an Oracle command and it's proving to be more difficult than I thought. What I want to do is create a big where query based off user input from our application. That where query is to be the single parameter for the statement and will have multiple AND, OR conditions in it. This code here works however isn't exactly what I require:
string conStr = "User Id=testschema;Password=pass12341;Data Source=orapdex01";
Console.WriteLine("About to connect to Database with Connection String: " + conStr);
OracleConnection con = new OracleConnection(conStr);
con.Open();
Console.WriteLine("Connected to the Database..." + Environment.NewLine + "Press enter to continue");
Console.ReadLine();
// Assume the connection is correct because it works already without the parameterization
String block = "SELECT * FROM TEMP_VIEW WHERE NAME = :1";
// set command to create anonymous PL/SQL block
OracleCommand cmd = new OracleCommand();
cmd.CommandText = block;
cmd.Connection = con;
// since execurting anonymous pl/sql blcok, setting the command type
// as text instead of stored procedure
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.Text;
// Setting Oracle Parameter
// Bind the parameter as OracleDBType.Varchar2
OracleParameter param = cmd.Parameters.Add("whereTxt", OracleDbType.Varchar2);
param.Direction = ParameterDirection.Input;
param.Value = "MY VALUE";
// Get returned values from select statement
OracleDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader();
// Read the identifier for each result and display it
while (dr.Read())
{
Console.WriteLine(dr.GetValue(0));
}
Console.WriteLine("Selected successfully !");
Console.WriteLine("");
Console.WriteLine("***********************************************************");
Console.ReadKey();
If I change the lines below to be the type of result I want then I get an error "ORA-00933: SQL command not properly ended":
String block = "SELECT * FROM TEMP_VIEW :1";
...
...
param.Value = "WHERE NAME = 'MY VALUE' AND ID = 5929";
My question is how do I accomplish adding my big where query dynamically without causing this error?

Answer 1

Sadly there is no easy way to achieve this.
One thing you will need to understand with parameterised SQL in general is that bind parameters can only be used for values, such as strings, numbers or dates. You cannot put bits of SQL in them, such as column names or WHERE clauses.
Once the database has the SQL text, it will attempt to parse it and figure out whether it is valid, and it will do this without taking any look at the bind parameter values. It won't be able to execute the SQL without all of the values.
The SQL string SELECT * FROM TEMP_VIEW :1 can never be valid, as Oracle isn't expecting a value to immediately follow FROM TEMP_VIEW.
You will need to build up your SQL as a string and also build up the list of bind parameters at the same time. If you find that you need to add a condition on the column NAME, you add WHERE NAME = :1 to the SQL string and a parameter with name :1 and the value you wish to add. If you have a second condition to add, you append AND ID = :2 to the SQL string and a parameter with name :2.
Hopefully the following code should explain a little better:
// Initialise SQL string and parameter list.
String sql = "SELECT * FROM DUAL";
var oracleParams = new List<OracleParameter>();
// Build up SQL string and list of parameters.
// (There's only one in this somewhat simplistic example. If you have
// more than one parameter, it might be easier to start the query with
// "SELECT ... FROM some_table WHERE 1=1" and then append
// " AND some_column = :1" or similar. Don't forget to add spaces!)
sql += " WHERE DUMMY = :1";
oracleParams.Add(new OracleParameter(":1", OracleDbType.Varchar2, "X", ParameterDirection.Input));
using (var connection = new OracleConnection() { ConnectionString = "..."})
{
connection.Open();
// Create the command, setting the SQL text and the parameters.
var command = new OracleCommand(sql, connection);
command.Parameters.AddRange(oracleParams.ToArray());
using (OracleDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader())
{
while (reader.Read())
{
// Do stuff with the data read...
}
}
}