How do I get around this common SQL problem - sql

Question

Haven't come across this in ages and when I searched for the solution I couldn't find one. I think its called overloading in SQL. Basically when I have "" (an empty string) for any parameter in this SQL I don't want to set a value in the database...
NOTE: I want to do it at a SQL level not do it at a C# level because its sloppy that way.
string Sql = "IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM tbl_FileSystemReferences) "
+ "INSERT INTO tbl_FileSystemReferences (UploadDir) VALUES (null) "
+ "UPDATE tbl_FileSystemReferences SET "
+ "UploadDir=#UploadDir, "
+ "ThumbnailDir=#ThumbnailDir, "
+ "ArchiveDir=#ArchiveDir, "
+ "RealDir=#RealDir, "
+ "FlashDir=#FlashDir, "
+ "AssociatedFilesDir=#AssociatedFilesDir, "
+ "EnableArchiving=#EnableArchiving, "
+ "AppWideDir=#AppWideDir, "
+ "FFmpegDir=#FFmpegDir, "
+ "InstallationDir=#InstallationDir ";
SqlCommand Command = new SqlCommand(Sql);
Command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#UploadDir", f.UploadDir);
Command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#ThumbnailDir", f.ThumbnailDir);
Command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#ArchiveDir", f.ArchiveDir);
Command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#RealDir", f.RealDir);
Command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#FlashDir", f.FlashDir);
Command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#AssociatedFilesDir", f.AssociatedFilesDir);
Command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#EnableArchiving", f.EnableArchiving);
Command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#AppWideDir", f.AppWideDir);
Command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#FFmpegDir", f.FFmpegDir);
Command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#InstallationDir", f.InstallationDir);
ExecuteNonQuery(Command);
I know there is a way I used to do this with stored procedure I just cant remember how (I think it's called overloading)....
Cheers,

Answer 1

Can you create a stored procedure rather than passing the command as text?
That way you can break each of the lines like "UploadDir=#UploadDir," into its own variable and only add it to the command if it is not null or not empty string

Answer 2

one way would be on a stored procedure, where you would receive all those parameters, then before the query either:
you allow to pass null
you convert each parameter to null if they are empty as:
select #UploadDir = null where #UploadDir = ''
you would do that for all your parameters, then on update query:
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM tbl_FileSystemReferences)
INSERT INTO tbl_FileSystemReferences (UploadDir) VALUES (null)
UPDATE tbl_FileSystemReferences SET
UploadDir=coalesce(#UploadDir, UploadDir),
ThumbnailDir=coalesce(#ThumbnailDir, ThumbnailDir),
ArchiveDir=coalesce(#ArchiveDir, ArchiveDir),
RealDir=coalesce(#RealDir, RealDir),
FlashDir=coalesce(#FlashDir, FlashDir),
AssociatedFilesDir=coalesce(#AssociatedFilesDir, AssociatedFilesDir),
EnableArchiving=coalesce(#EnableArchiving, EnableArchiving),
AppWideDir=coalesce(#AppWideDir, AppWideDir),
FFmpegDir=coalesce(#FFmpegDir, FFmpegDir),
InstallationDir=coalesce(#InstallationDir, InstallationDir)