C#

Automated password expiration notice for Active Directory users

bullpit — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:44:33 GMT

When passwords are set to expire after a certain number of days in Active Directory, the remote users suffer because they do not get a notification like the local users do that their password is going to expire.

Eventually, it becomes too late for them to change their passwords and they get locked out. I found this out recently and did not believe that there was no built in support for this. I started researching and indeed, there was no built in support. The solution was to email the users, either through a script or manually before their passwords expire.

There are simple VB Scripts out there, which do this kind of stuff.

Here’s one of them: http://windowsitpro.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=46819&cpage=1

I created a C# Console Application which emails users if their password is going to expire, and also emails the report to the administrator. You can schedule it run every day as a Windows Scheduled Task. It will start emailing users when 15 (default) days are left for their passwords to expire.

There are a few things you will need:
1. config.xml file
2. EmailBody.txt file
3. A reference to Active DS Type Library
4. SettingsProvider.cs class

config.xml settings:

AdministratorEmail: To send reports
MailServer: The mail server used to send emails
Countdown: Used as a threshold to start emailing users

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

- <config>

<AdministratorEmail>Administrator@YourCompany.com</AdministratorEmail>

<MailServer>YourMailServer</MailServer>

</config>

The SettingsProvider.cs class is used to read values from the config.xml file.

SettingsProvider.cs

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Linq;

using System.Text;

using System.Xml;

using System.IO;

namespace PasswordNotification

{

class SettingsProvider

{

private const string CONFIG_FILE = "config.xml";

private static XmlDocument _xmlDoc = null;

private static string ConfigPath

{

get { return Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + @"\" + CONFIG_FILE; }

}

public static void Save(string key, string value)

{

XmlNode node = _xmlDoc.SelectSingleNode("./config/" + key);

if (node != null)

{

node.InnerText = value;

Save();

}

else

{

// XML node doesnt exist thus create a new one

Get(key, value);

}

///<summary>

/// Gets a value of the settings. If the setting does not exist, defaultValue is returned.

///</summary>

public static string Get(string key, string defaultValue)

{

if (_xmlDoc == null)

{

_xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();

// Load config.xml

string fullPath = SettingsProvider.ConfigPath;

if (!File.Exists(fullPath))

{

// Xml declaration

XmlDeclaration declaration = _xmlDoc.CreateXmlDeclaration("1.0", null, null);

_xmlDoc.AppendChild(declaration);

// Root node <config>

XmlElement rootNode = _xmlDoc.CreateElement("config");

_xmlDoc.AppendChild(rootNode);

Save();

}

else

{

_xmlDoc.Load(fullPath);

}

XmlNode node = _xmlDoc.SelectSingleNode("./config/" + key);

if (node != null)

{

return node.InnerText;

}

else

{

// Add default value

XmlElement newSetting = _xmlDoc.CreateElement(key);

newSetting.InnerText = defaultValue;

_xmlDoc.ChildNodes[1].AppendChild(newSetting);

Save();

return defaultValue;

}

public static void Save()

{

if (_xmlDoc != null)

{

_xmlDoc.Save(SettingsProvider.ConfigPath);

}

Then there’s a text file called EmailBody.txt which stores a template email. It contains parameters like [USERNAME] and [DAYCOUNT] which I use to plug in custom values in code.

EmailBody.txt

<html><title></title><head></head><body style="font-size:0.7em;color:#666666;">
[USERNAME]

Your password is going to expire in [DAYCOUNT] days.
Please change your password to avoid account lockout.

The steps to change your password are as follows:

1) Log in to your machine
2) (If you are remote) Connect to YOURCOMPANY using the VPN Client
3) Once connected, press Ctrl / Alt / Del
4) From the menu, select Change Password
5) Enter your old password, then your new password twice.
6) Press OK

Administrator.

</body></html>

And here’s the main code:

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic;

using System.Linq;

using System.Text;

using System.DirectoryServices;

using ActiveDs;

using System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory;

using System.IO;

using System.Configuration;

using System.Net.Mail;

using System.Resources;

using System.Reflection;

using System.Security.Principal;

namespace PasswordNotification

{

class Program

{

public static string GetAdministratorEmail()

{

return SettingsProvider.Get("AdministratorEmail", "");

}

public static string GetMailServer()

{

return SettingsProvider.Get("MailServer", "");

}

public static string GetCountdown()

{

return SettingsProvider.Get("Countdown", "15");

}

static void Main(string[] args)

{

try

{

GetPasswordExpirationSendEmailNotifications();

}

catch (System.Exception ex)

{

SendEmail("<AdminEmail>", "<AdminEmail>", "Exception: Password Notification", ex.Message, MailPriority.High);

}

// This method checks for flags like PasswordDoesNotExpire

private static bool CheckAdsFlag(AdsUserFlags flagToCheck, DirectoryEntry user)

{

AdsUserFlags userFlags = (AdsUserFlags)user.Properties["userAccountControl"].Value;

return userFlags.ToString().Contains(flagToCheck.ToString()); }

// This method gets the password expiration and sends email to
// the users and a report to the Administrator

private static void GetPasswordExpirationSendEmailNotifications()

{

string adminEmail = GetAdministratorEmail();

// Get the DOMAIN

//ActiveDs.ADSystemInfoClass objUserInformation = new ActiveDs.ADSystemInfoClass();

//string sDomain = objUserInformation.DomainDNSName;

string sDomain = Environment.UserDomainName;

// Since maxPwdAge is the Domain policy, it has to be retrieved for the
// domain

TimeSpan maxPwdAge = TimeSpan.MinValue;

int maxPwdAgeDays = 0;

using (DirectoryEntry domain = new DirectoryEntry("LDAP://" + sDomain))

{

DirectorySearcher ds = new DirectorySearcher(

domain,

"(objectClass=*)",

null,

SearchScope.Base

);

SearchResult sr = ds.FindOne();

if (sr.Properties.Contains("maxPwdAge"))

{

maxPwdAge = TimeSpan.FromTicks((long)sr.Properties["maxPwdAge"][0]);

maxPwdAgeDays = maxPwdAge.Days;

}
// maxPwdAge is in negative, make it positive

if (maxPwdAgeDays < 0)

{

maxPwdAgeDays *= -1;

}

//Define the filter for your LDAP query

string filter = "(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user))";

DirectorySearcher search = new DirectorySearcher(filter);

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

sb.Append("<u>User Password Expiration Report</u><br/><br/>");

int count = 0;

bool sendReport = false;

// Read file EmailBody.txt

string filePath = String.Format("{0}\\EmailBody.txt", Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());

string fileContents = TextFileReader(filePath);

foreach (SearchResult result in search.FindAll())

{

// Do work with data returned for each address entry

DirectoryEntry entry = result.GetDirectoryEntry();

// ActiveDs.LargeInteger needs to be used to manipulate pwdLastSet value

LargeInteger liAcctPwdChange = entry.Properties["pwdLastSet"].Value as LargeInteger;

string mailValue = "";

if (entry.Properties["mail"].Value != null)

{

mailValue = entry.Properties["mail"].Value.ToString();

}

// Skip the user if there is no email id

if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(mailValue))

{

continue;

}

// Skip the user if PasswordDoesNotExpire is set

if(CheckAdsFlag(AdsUserFlags.PasswordDoesNotExpire, entry))

{

continue;

}

// Manipulate LargeInteger liAcctPwdChange

long dateAcctPwdChange = (((long)(liAcctPwdChange.HighPart) << 32) + (long)liAcctPwdChange.LowPart);

// Convert FileTime to DateTime and get what today's date is.

DateTime dtNow = DateTime.Now;

// Add maxPwdAgeDays to dtAcctPwdChange

DateTime dtAcctPwdChange = DateTime.FromFileTime(dateAcctPwdChange).AddDays(maxPwdAgeDays);

// Calculate the difference between the date the pasword was changed, and

// what day it is now.

TimeSpan timeRemaining;

timeRemaining = dtAcctPwdChange - dtNow;

// Send email to users if their password is going to expire

int countdown = Convert.ToInt32(GetCountdown());

int daysRemaining = timeRemaining.Days;

if (daysRemaining <= countdown)

{

sendReport = true;

count++;

string displayName = "";

if (entry.Properties["displayname"].Value != null)

{

displayName = entry.Properties["displayname"].Value.ToString();

}

// DisplayName, Email, DaysRemaining

sb.AppendFormat("{0}. {1} {2}: {3} days remaining.{4}", count.ToString(), displayName, mailValue, daysRemaining.ToString(), "<br/>");

string toEmail = mailValue;

string subject = String.Format("Password Expiration in {0} days", daysRemaining.ToString());

string body = fileContents.Replace("[DAYCOUNT]", daysRemaining.ToString());

body = body.Replace("[USERNAME]", displayName);

body = body.Replace("\r\n", "<br />");

Console.Write(String.Format("Sending email to {0}...", toEmail));

SendEmail(adminEmail, toEmail, subject, body, MailPriority.High);

Console.WriteLine("Done.");

}

// Only send email report to Administrator if required

if (sendReport)

{

Console.Write(String.Format("Sending email to {0}...", adminEmail));

SendEmail(adminEmail, adminEmail, "User Password Expiration Report", sb.ToString(), MailPriority.Normal);

Console.WriteLine("Done.");

}

private static void SendEmail(string fromEmail, string toEmail, string subject, string body, MailPriority priority)

{

string mailServer = GetMailServer();

//create the mail message

MailMessage mail = new MailMessage();

//set the addresses

mail.From = new MailAddress(fromEmail);

mail.To.Add(toEmail);

//set the content

mail.Subject = subject;

mail.Body = body;

mail.IsBodyHtml = true;

//send the message

SmtpClient smtp = new SmtpClient(mailServer);

smtp.Send(mail);

}

private static string TextFileReader(string filePath)

{

string fileContents = "";

// create reader & open file

using (TextReader tr = new StreamReader(filePath))

{

// read a line of text

fileContents = tr.ReadToEnd();

}

return fileContents;

}

[Flags]

internal enum AdsUserFlags

{

Script = 1, // 0x1

AccountDisabled = 2, // 0x2

HomeDirectoryRequired = 8, // 0x8

AccountLockedOut = 16, // 0x10

PasswordNotRequired = 32, // 0x20

PasswordCannotChange = 64, // 0x40

EncryptedTextPasswordAllowed = 128, // 0x80

TempDuplicateAccount = 256, // 0x100

NormalAccount = 512, // 0x200

InterDomainTrustAccount = 2048, // 0x800

WorkstationTrustAccount = 4096, // 0x1000

ServerTrustAccount = 8192, // 0x2000

PasswordDoesNotExpire = 65536, // 0x10000

MnsLogonAccount = 131072, // 0x20000

SmartCardRequired = 262144, // 0x40000

TrustedForDelegation = 524288, // 0x80000

AccountNotDelegated = 1048576, // 0x100000

UseDesKeyOnly = 2097152, // 0x200000

DontRequirePreauth = 4194304, // 0x400000

PasswordExpired = 8388608, // 0x800000

TrustedToAuthenticateForDelegation = 16777216, // 0x1000000

NoAuthDataRequired = 33554432 // 0x2000000

}

Return SqlDataReader from a method

bullpit — Tue, 26 May 2009 06:58:03 GMT

.NET's SqlDataReader class is based on an active connection to the database. This means that while the SqlDataReader is in use, the SqlConnection that is serving the SqlDataReader is open and cannot be used anywhere else.

That is why, returning an SqlDataReader from a method is not stright forward like returning a DataTable or a DataSet. To read more about SqlDataReader, please see SqlDataReader class.

Though it is not straight forward, it is very simple. Here's a piece of code that would let you return a SqlDataReader from a method:

public SqlDataReader GetData(string item1, string item2)

{

SqlDataReader reader = null;

SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString);

try

{

SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand();

command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;

command.CommandText = "YOUR_SPROC_NAME";

command.Parameters.Add("@Item1", SqlDbType.VarChar, 255).Value = item1;

command.Parameters.Add("@Item2", SqlDbType.VarChar, 255).Value = item2;

command.Connection = connection;

connection.Open();

reader = command.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection);

}

catch (Exception ex)

{

connection.Close();

Response.Write(ex.Message);

}

return reader;

}

Compress Image files using C#

bullpit — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:15:34 GMT

Found a nice post by Mr.Polite for compressing JPEG images. Here's the link:

http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?p=2038463

Posting the code here for my reference in case the original post gets deleted or changed.

Image myImage = //... load the image somehow // Save the image with a quality of 50% SaveJpeg (destImagePath, myImage, 50); //add this! using System.Drawing.Imaging; /// <summary> /// Saves an image as a jpeg image, with the given quality /// </summary> /// <param name="path">Path to which the image would be saved.</param> // <param name="quality">An integer from 0 to 100, with 100 being the /// highest quality</param> public static void SaveJpeg (string path, Image img, int quality) { if (quality<0 || quality>100) throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("quality must be between 0 and 100."); // Encoder parameter for image quality EncoderParameter qualityParam = new EncoderParameter (Encoder.Quality, quality); // Jpeg image codec ImageCodecInfo jpegCodec = GetEncoderInfo("image/jpeg"); EncoderParameters encoderParams = new EncoderParameters(1); encoderParams.Param[0] = qualityParam; img.Save (path, jpegCodec, encoderParams); } /// <summary> /// Returns the image codec with the given mime type /// </summary> private static ImageCodecInfo GetEncoderInfo(string mimeType) { // Get image codecs for all image formats ImageCodecInfo[] codecs = ImageCodecInfo.GetImageEncoders(); // Find the correct image codec for(int i=0; i<codecs.Length; i++) if(codecs[i].MimeType == mimeType) return codecs[i]; return null; }

Hyperlink to Windows Remote Desktop (RDP) session using ASP.NET

bullpit — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:54:48 GMT

Hyperlink to Remote Desktop (RDP) session:

I had some IP addresses on a web page which would be used internally by our company users and wanted to display them as hyperlinks. When a user clicks an IP address, a Windows RDP session should start.

The simplest way I could think of was to transfer an RDP file to the client, which she can open or save via regular HTTP File Transfer.

An RDP file can be edited by a simple text editor. If you open an RDP file with notepad, you will see all the settings. The one we are interested in is full address:s:

I use ASP.NET LinkButton control as the hyperlink and use the Text property of the LinkButton to modify the full address:s: setting.

My code uses a Default.rdp file located in Download directory in the root of my web site. I open the file, modify the full address property, save it and transfer the file to the client.

Here’s the piece of code. I agree it is not polished yet, but I know you can do it.

C# Code:

protected void LinkButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

// Default RDP file

string fileName = "Default.rdp";

if ((fileName != ""))

{

// Get absolute path of the file

string filePath = Server.MapPath("~/Download/" + fileName);

// Update RDP file

LinkButton linkButton = (LinkButton)sender;

UpdateRDPFile(linkButton.Text, filePath);

// Download RDP file

DownLoadFile(filePath);

}

else

{

Response.Write("Please provide a file to download.");

}

private void UpdateRDPFile(string IPAddress, string filePath)

{

StringBuilder newFile = new StringBuilder();

string temp = "";

string[] fileToUpdate = File.ReadAllLines(filePath);

foreach (string line in fileToUpdate)

{

if (line.Contains("full address:s:"))

{

temp = temp.Insert(0, "full address:s:" + IPAddress);

newFile.Append(temp + "\r\n");

continue;

}

newFile.Append(line + "\r\n");

}

File.WriteAllText(filePath, newFile.ToString());

}

private void DownLoadFile(string filePath)

{

// get file object as FileInfo

System.IO.FileInfo file = new System.IO.FileInfo(filePath);

// -- if the file exists on the server

if (file.Exists)

{

// set appropriate headers

Response.Clear();

Response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", ("attachment; filename=" + file.Name));

Response.AddHeader("Content-Length", file.Length.ToString());

Response.ContentType = "application/octet-stream";

Response.WriteFile(file.FullName);

Response.End();

// if file does not exist

}

else

{

Response.Write("This file does not exist.");

}

ASPX Markup:

<table style="border: 1px solid #BBB; border-collapse: collapse; width: 520px;" rules="all"

cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3">

RDP

</td>

</tr>

<td>

Description

</td>

<td>

Link

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>

RDP1:

</td>

<td>

<asp:LinkButton ID="LinkButton1" runat="server" OnClick="LinkButton_Click">127.0.0.1</asp:LinkButton>

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>

RDP2:

</td>

<td>

<asp:LinkButton ID="LinkButton2" runat="server" OnClick="LinkButton_Click">127.0.0.2</asp:LinkButton>

</td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>

RDP3:

</td>

<td>

<asp:LinkButton ID="LinkButton3" runat="server" OnClick="LinkButton_Click">127.0.0.3</asp:LinkButton>

</td>

</tr>

</table>

How to bulk upload images to SQL Server using DotNetZip library

bullpit — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:47:08 GMT

Previously I posted an example on how to download multiple images or files using DotNetZip library here.

Today I will explain how we can use the same library to unzip images from a zipped folder and insert them into an SQL Server table.

Note: I have used NeatUpload library developed by Dean Brettle to display import progress to the user which can be found here. If you don’t want to use it, remove the namespace from the code and modify the code to not use NeatUpload controls.

Libraries used:

1. DotNetZip

2. NeatUpload

Here is the piece of code:

using System;

using System.Configuration;

using System.Web;

using System.Web.Security;

using System.Web.UI;

using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

using System.Web.UI.WebControls.WebParts;

using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;

using System.Data;

using System.Data.OleDb;

using System.IO;

/* Other NameSpaces*/

using Ionic.Utils.Zip;

using Brettle.Web.NeatUpload;

public partial class Admin_Photos_aspx : System.Web.UI.Page

{

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

// Add triggers to ProgressBar1 (optional)

ProgressBar1.AddTrigger(uxZipImport);

ProgressBar1.AddTrigger((ImageButton)FormView1.FindControl("AddNewPhotoButton"));

}

protected void DeleteFiles(string folderName)

{

string folderPath = folderName;

string[] files = Directory.GetFiles(folderPath);

foreach (string fileName in files)

{

File.Delete(fileName);

}

protected void uxZipImport_Click(object sender, ImageClickEventArgs e)

{

string rootFolderPath = "C:/Inetpub/Temporary/FriendUpload";

// Create Temporary User directory to store images

DirectoryInfo di = CreateUserDirectory(rootFolderPath);

string serverFilePath = di.FullName + @"\" + FileUpload1.FileName;

if (FileUpload1.HasFile && FileUpload1.ContentLength > 0)

{

// Store uploaded zip file in User folder in FriendUpload folder

// NeatUpload requires you to move the file to a permanent location

// Uncomment the following FileUpload1.SaveAs and comment FileUpload1.MoveTo if you don’t want to use NeatUpload

//FileUpload1.SaveAs(serverFilePath);

FileUpload1.MoveTo(Path.Combine(di.FullName, FileUpload1.FileName), Brettle.Web.NeatUpload.MoveToOptions.Overwrite);

}

else

{

return;

}

// Get the path of zipped file to unpack

string ZipToUnpack = serverFilePath;

// Where to unpack

string TargetDir = di.FullName;

string extractedFolderName = "";

using (ZipFile zip1 = ZipFile.Read(ZipToUnpack))

{

// here, we extract every entry, but we could extract

// based on entry name, size, date, etc.

foreach (var entry in zip1)

{

entry.Extract(TargetDir, true);

// Get the extracted file name, this can include folder name also

string extractedFileName = entry.FileName;

// remove file name to get the folder name

if (entry.FileName.Contains("/"))

{

extractedFolderName = extractedFileName.Remove(extractedFileName.LastIndexOf("/"));

}

else

{

extractedFolderName = "";

}

DirectoryInfo d;

if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(extractedFolderName))

{

d = new DirectoryInfo(TargetDir);

}

else

{

d = new DirectoryInfo(TargetDir + @"/" + extractedFolderName);

}

int count = 0;

// ProgressInfo (optional)

ProgressInfo progress = ProgressBar1.ProcessingProgress = new ProgressInfo(d.GetFiles("*.jpg", SearchOption.TopDirectoryOnly).Length, "Images");

foreach (FileInfo f in d.GetFiles("*.jpg"))

{

using (FileStream fileStream = f.OpenRead())

{

byte[] buffer = new byte[fileStream.Length];

fileStream.Read(buffer, 0, (int)fileStream.Length);

PhotoManager.AddPhoto(Convert.ToInt32(Request.QueryString["AlbumID"]), f.Name, buffer);

}

// Displaying the number of images processed to the user

count++;

progress.Value = count;

}

progress.Text = "Import complete.";

GridView1.DataBind();

// Delete temporary files after processing (optional)

di.Delete(true);

}

/* Create temporary User Directory to store images and zipped file. */

public DirectoryInfo CreateUserDirectory(string directoryPath)

{

string userName = System.Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N");

if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(User.Identity.Name))

{

userName = User.Identity.Name;

}

string userDirectoryName = directoryPath + "\\" + userName;

DirectoryInfo di;

if (!Directory.Exists(userDirectoryName))

{

di = System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(userDirectoryName);

return di;

}

else

{

di = new DirectoryInfo(userDirectoryName);

}

return di;

}

/* PhotoManager.AddPhoto method */

public static void AddPhoto(int AlbumID, string Caption, byte[] BytesOriginal) {

using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["Personal"].ConnectionString)) {

using (SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand("AddPhoto", connection)) {

command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;

command.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@AlbumID", AlbumID));

command.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@Caption", Caption));

command.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@BytesOriginal", BytesOriginal));

command.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@BytesFull", ResizeImageFile(BytesOriginal, 600)));

command.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@BytesPoster", ResizeImageFile(BytesOriginal, 198)));

command.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@BytesThumb", ResizeImageFile(BytesOriginal, 100)));

connection.Open();

command.ExecuteNonQuery();

}

// Helper Functions

private static byte[] ResizeImageFile(byte[] imageFile, int targetSize) {

using (System.Drawing.Image oldImage = System.Drawing.Image.FromStream(new MemoryStream(imageFile))) {

Size newSize = CalculateDimensions(oldImage.Size, targetSize);

using (Bitmap newImage = new Bitmap(newSize.Width, newSize.Height, PixelFormat.Format24bppRgb)) {

using (Graphics canvas = Graphics.FromImage(newImage)) {

canvas.SmoothingMode = SmoothingMode.AntiAlias;

canvas.InterpolationMode = InterpolationMode.HighQualityBicubic;

canvas.PixelOffsetMode = PixelOffsetMode.HighQuality;

canvas.DrawImage(oldImage, new Rectangle(new Point(0, 0), newSize));

MemoryStream m = new MemoryStream();

newImage.Save(m, ImageFormat.Jpeg);

return m.GetBuffer();

}

/* Stored procedure AddPhoto */

set ANSI_NULLS ON

set QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[AddPhoto]

@AlbumID int,

@Caption nvarchar(50),

@BytesOriginal image,

@BytesFull image,

@BytesPoster image,

@BytesThumb image

INSERT INTO [Photos] (

[AlbumID],

[BytesOriginal],

[Caption],

[BytesFull],

[BytesPoster],

[BytesThumb] )

VALUES (

@AlbumID,

@BytesOriginal,

@Caption,

@BytesFull,

@BytesPoster,

@BytesThumb )

RETURN

How to get a return value from a Stored Procedure that just returns a value without a parameter

bullpit — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:08:33 GMT

Scenario - My stored procedure just returns some integer values depending on different conditions. There are no OUT or any other parameters involved for returning values from the stored procedure.

e.g.

IF (EXISTS( SELECT * FROM TableName WHERE UserId = @UserId AND RoleId = @RoleId))
RETURN(1)
ELSE
RETURN(0)

If you notice, there are no output parameters involved here. The return value can be accessed from code (C# for example), like this:

SqlParameter returnValueParam = command.Parameters.Add("@return_value", SqlDbType.Int);

returnValueParam.Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue;

command.ExecuteNonQuery();

int returnValue = (int)returnValueParam.Value;