DataBind Charts to Oracle Data

DataBinding facilitates two-way interaction with data through UI controls. Using the CData ADO.NET Provider for Oracle streamlines the process of binding Oracle data to Windows Forms and Web controls within Visual Studio. In this article, we will demonstrate using wizards to establish a binding between Oracle data and a chart that dynamically updates. Additionally, the code walk-through section will guide you through the creation of a chart using just 10 lines of code.

Binding Data to a Chart

DataBinding to a Chart consists of three steps: Instantiate the control, configure the data source, and databind.

Configure the Connection and Select Database Objects

To create a chart control and establish a connection to Oracle, follow the steps outlined below using the Data Source Configuration Wizard. Within the wizard, you'll have the option to choose the specific Oracle entities you wish to bind to.

1. In a Windows Forms project, drag and drop a Chart control from the toolbox to the form. In the Data section of the Chart properties, select DataSource and then select Add Project Data Source from the menu. 👁 Add a data source to be bound to the chart.
   
2. In the Data Source Configuration Wizard that appears, select Database -> Dataset.
3. In the Choose Your Data Connection step, click New Connection.

4. In the Add Connection dialog, click Change to select the CData Oracle Data Source.

   Below is a typical connection string:

   User=myuser;Password=mypassword;Server=localhost;Port=1521;

   To connect to Oracle, you'll first need to update your PATH variable and ensure it contains a folder location that includes the native DLLs. The native DLLs can be found in the lib folder inside the installation directory. Once you've done this, set the following to connect:

   • Port: The port used to connect to the server hosting the Oracle database.
   • User: The user Id provided for authentication with the Oracle database.
   • Password: The password provided for authentication with the Oracle database.
   • Service Name: The service name of the Oracle database.

   When you configure the connection, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

   👁 Connection properties for the selected data source in the Add Connection dialog. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
5. Choose the database objects you want to work with. This example uses the Customers table. 👁 Select database objects. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

DataBind

After adding the data source and selecting database objects, you can bind the objects to the chart. This example assigns the x-axis to CompanyName and the y-axis to City.

1. In the Chart properties, click the button in the Series property to open the Series Collection Editor.
2. In the Series properties, select the columns you want for the x- and y-axes: Select columns from the menu in the XValueMember and YValueMember properties.

The chart is now databound to the Oracle data. Run the chart to display the current data. 👁 The chart, filled with data at run time.

Code Walk-through

DataBinding to Oracle data requires only a few lines of code and can be completed in three easy steps.

1. Connect to Oracle.
2. Create the OracleOCIDataAdapter to execute the query and create a DataSet to be filled with its results.
3. DataBind the result set to the chart.

Below is the complete code:

OracleOCIConnection conn = new OracleOCIConnection("User=myuser;Password=mypassword;Server=localhost;Port=1521;");
OracleOCICommand comm = new OracleOCICommand("SELECT CompanyName, City FROM Customers WHERE Country = US", conn);
OracleOCIDataAdapter da = new OracleOCIDataAdapter(comm);
DataSet dataset = new DataSet();
da.Fill(dataset);

chart1.DataSource = dataset; 
chart1.Series[0].XValueMember = "CompanyName";
chart1.Series[0].YValueMembers = "City";
// Insert code for additional chart formatting here.
chart1.DataBind();