[c#] Find a value in DataTable

Is there a way to find a value in DataTable in C# without doing row-by-row operation?

The value can be a part of (a substring of row[columnName].value , separated by comma) a cell in the datatable and the value may be present in any one of columns in the row.

This question is related to c# datatable

The answer is


A DataTable or DataSet object will have a Select Method that will return a DataRow array of results based on the query passed in as it's parameter.

Looking at your requirement your filterexpression will have to be somewhat general to make this work.

myDataTable.Select("columnName1 like '%" + value + "%'");

this question asked in 2009 but i want to share my codes:

    Public Function RowSearch(ByVal dttable As DataTable, ByVal searchcolumns As String()) As DataTable

    Dim x As Integer
    Dim y As Integer

    Dim bln As Boolean

    Dim dttable2 As New DataTable
    For x = 0 To dttable.Columns.Count - 1
        dttable2.Columns.Add(dttable.Columns(x).ColumnName)
    Next

    For x = 0 To dttable.Rows.Count - 1
        For y = 0 To searchcolumns.Length - 1
            If String.IsNullOrEmpty(searchcolumns(y)) = False Then
                If searchcolumns(y) = CStr(dttable.Rows(x)(y + 1) & "") & "" Then
                    bln = True
                Else
                    bln = False
                    Exit For
                End If
            End If
        Next
        If bln = True Then
            dttable2.Rows.Add(dttable.Rows(x).ItemArray)
        End If
    Next

    Return dttable2


End Function

AFAIK, there is nothing built in for searching all columns. You can use Find only against the primary key. Select needs specified columns. You can perhaps use LINQ, but ultimately this just does the same looping. Perhaps just unroll it yourself? It'll be readable, at least.


Maybe you can filter rows by possible columns like this :

DataRow[] filteredRows = 
  datatable.Select(string.Format("{0} LIKE '%{1}%'", columnName, value));