Dispose datatable object which i need to return from my method

Question

DataTable dt= new Datatable();
try {
    SqlCommand Cmd = new SqlCommand("sp_getData",SqlCon);
    SqlCommand.CommandType= CommandType.StroedProcedure;
    SqlCon.Open();
    sqlDataReader dr=  cmd.ExecuteReader();
    dt.Load(dr);
    SqlCon.Close();
}
catch(Exception ex) {
}
finally{
    dt.Dispose() //
}

return dt;

Is this code legitimate ?... My method is returning that datatable object , so after calling dispose will that retain the value ??.. please explain..

Answer 1

this will give you what you want:

    public DataTable getDataTable()
    {
        using (SqlConnection sqlCon = new SqlConnection("connectionString"))
        using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("sp_getData", sqlCon))
        {
            try
            {
                cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
                sqlCon.Open();
                using (SqlDataReader dr = cmd.ExecuteReader())
                {
                    DataTable dt = new DataTable();
                    dt.Load(dr);
                    return dt;
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
            }
            return null;
        }
    }

Answer 2

No. You will be returning an already-disposed object.

If you are returning an IDisposable it is perfectly normal to expect it to be the caller's responsibility to dispose of the object when they are through with it. Therefore, you should return the DataTable object as is, undisposed, and let the calling code dispose of it.

Normally this would be done with a using block. For example:

class MyDisposableObject : IDisposable { /*...*/ }

public MyDisposableObject MakeMeAnObject() { return new MyDisposableObject(); }

public void Main()
{
    using(var o = MakeMeAnObject())
    {
        o.Foo = 1;
        o.Bar = 2;
        o.FooBar();
    }
}

---

Note I do see some local IDisposable objects in your snippet that you are not disposing but should be. You are also swallowing exceptions.

Answer 3

This will return a disposed object which isn't what you want.

One thing you can do is pass a delegate, which will allow you to work on the DataTablr without returning it, and still dispose within your original data method.

Pseudo-code:

public void GetSomeData(Action<DataTable> processDataTableAction)
{
    try
    { 
        ... ( get the data )
        processDataTableAction(dt);
    }
    catch
    {
        // handle exceptions
    }
    finally
    {
        dt.Dispose();
    }
}

Then to call the function elsewhere in code:

GetSomeData(dt => {
    // do stuff with dt
});