StarThrower.DataUtilities 2.0.0

StarThrower.DataUtilities

Data manipulation helpers with provider-agnostic database reader extensions supporting both legacy OleDb and modern DbDataReader APIs.

StarThrower.DataUtilities provides DataUtil, a static class of "safe getter" methods for reading typed values out of DataRow and DbDataReader objects — handling null/DBNull values, type conversion, and optional default values, so calling code doesn't need repetitive is DBNull checks scattered throughout.

Installation

dotnet add package StarThrower.DataUtilities

Platform note: This package depends on the System.Data.OleDb NuGet package (for the obsolete OleDbDataReader overloads described below), which is Windows-only. If you only use the DataRow and DbDataReader overloads, the rest of the library has no platform restrictions, but the package as a whole currently requires Windows.

DataUtil

Field Existence

Typed Field Getters

For each supported type, three overload families are provided, all following the same pattern:

• DataRow overloads — operate on DataRow[fieldName].
• DbDataReader overloads — the modern, provider-agnostic API; operate on dr[field].
• OleDbDataReader overloads — [Obsolete]; thin wrappers that cast to DbDataReader and delegate to the DbDataReader overload. Retained for backward compatibility; new code should use the DbDataReader overloads directly.

Each getter has a "default" overload (returns a built-in default — 0, false, string.Empty, DateTime.Now, etc. — if the field is null/DBNull) and an overload accepting an explicit defaultValue. Several also have a Nullable<T>-returning variant (GetNullable*Field) that returns null instead of a default.

using StarThrower.DataUtilities;

// DbDataReader (recommended)
while (reader.Read())
{
    string name = DataUtil.GetStringField(reader, "Name");
    int? age = DataUtil.GetNullableIntField(reader, "Age");
    DateTime created = DataUtil.GetDateTimeField(reader, "CreatedDate", DateTime.UtcNow);
}

// DataRow
foreach (DataRow row in table.Rows)
{
    bool active = DataUtil.GetBoolField(row, "IsActive");
}

DTNull

public static readonly DateTime DTNull = DateTime.MinValue;

A sentinel value used elsewhere in StarThrower.Utilities to represent a "null" date.

SQL DATETIME / TimeSpan Conversion

Migrating from OleDbDataReader

If your code currently calls an OleDbDataReader overload (e.g. DataUtil.GetIntField(oleDbReader, "Count")), it will continue to work but is marked [Obsolete]. Since OleDbDataReader derives from DbDataReader, the fix is typically a no-op — the existing call resolves to the DbDataReader overload once the obsolete overload is removed from consideration, or you can pass the reader as DbDataReader explicitly.

Dependencies

• System.Data.OleDb — required for the obsolete OleDbDataReader overloads (Windows-only).

License

Copyright © 2026 Stephen Elmer. Licensed under the MIT License.