Using Streams as Input to Long Data Parameters

Allowing the use of non contiguous memory to represent a very large binary or text value improves performance, functionality, and scalability. Stream objects are useful when processing a video clip, a large text, or, for the DB2 and Oracle data providers, an XML document. See Returning and Inserting/Updating XML Data in DB2 and Returning and Inserting/Updating XML Data in Oracle for more information.

Stream objects used to read binary data are derived from the System.IO.Stream object and use the Framework data type of byte[]:

• System.IO.BufferedStream
• System.IO.FileStream
• System.IO.MemoryStream
• System.Net.Sockets.NetworkStream
• System.Security.Cryptography.CryptoStream

Stream objects used to read text data are derived from the System.IO.TextReader object and use the Framework data type of string:

• System.IO.StreamReader
• System.IO.StringReader

To enable the use of streams, you set the Value property of the data provider’s Parameter object to a specific instance of the stream (see .NET Classes). When the command is executed, the data provider reads from the stream to extract the value.