DataTable Compute Method

Compute is one of the methods of DataTable class. This method computes an expression on the current rows that pass the filter criteria.

Syntax

Object DataTable.Compute(string expression , string filter)

Expression – The expression to compute.

Filter – The filter to limit the rows that evaluate in the expression.

This method’s return type is System.Object. So, you have to cast it with appropriate data type.

The following operations can be passed through as expression parameter.

Sum -> Sum

Average -> Avg

Minimum -> Min

Maximum -> Max

Count -> Count

Statistical standard deviation ->StDev

Statistical variance -> Var

Example:

DataTable dtTotal = new DataTable();

Suppose your DataTable dtTotal contain two columns as

Name Price

x 20

y 50

z 30

u 10

x 25

y 15

x 35

u 20

If you want to count the total price of distinct names, then you can use compute method like below statement.

int total = dtTotal.Compute(“Sum ( Price ) “, “Name = ‘x'”);

Output – 80

This method looks pretty simple, but sometimes its SQL like Aggregate Function functionality solves complex calculations.

Priyanka Dash , Dot Net Developer, Mindfire Solutions.

Related Tags: ADO.NET, NET

Author : Priyanka Dash