SPquery - String variable in a CAML query. IS tht possible?

Question

Hello Frnds,

I have been trying to pull the items from a custom list based on SPquery,,it works fine as long as I know what the specific value in that Column is.. like

brief snippet--

SPList tasksList = workflowProperties.Web.Lists[tListID];
SPQuery tQuery = new SPQuery();
tQuery.Query = "<Where><eq><FieldRef Name='Plant'/>" + "<Value Type='Text'>plant1</Value></eq></Where>";
SPListItemCollection tCollection = tasksList.GetItems(tQuery);

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In the above query I know what field Value i need to use (plant1) and so it works well for me,,

But know i have a scenario where i need to fetch the value from the user and push that into the query.

like

String plantName = plant1; (in my case reading this value from a Form)

Can I now pass this string variable(plantName) to the CAML query,,,Is there a way?

I'm not much into this CAML fundas ,,any help on this would be very helpful

or let me know if I am on the wrong edge :)

Thnks in advance :)

Answer 1

Hi,

You can include a variable where plant1 is.  For example:

SPList tasksList = workflowProperties.Web.Lists[tListID];
SPQuery tQuery = new SPQuery();
tQuery.Query = "<Where><eq><FieldRef Name='Plant'/>" + "<Value Type='Text'>" + plant + "</Value></eq></Where>";
SPListItemCollection tCollection = tasksList.GetItems(tQuery);

Hope this helps

Dave

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My SharePoint Blog - www.davehunter.co.uk/blog

Answer 2

you can simply concat your string into Query property like following

tQuery.Query = "<Where><eq><FieldRef Name='Plant'/>" + "<Value Type='Text'>" + plantName + "</Value></eq></Where>";

as planet name was your string variable. so you can simply concat like above.

Answer 3

hmmmm Thnks guys,,

well at times lol :D ,, for simple things like this i have been scratching on how to call a string varaible in CAML, silly me.

Answer 4

Another thing you could do would be including a {0} placeholder in your query and then using String.Format to replace it with the real value like:

string query = "<Where><eq><FieldRef Name='Plant'/><Value Type='Text'>{0}</Value></eq></Where>";

SPList tasksList = workflowProperties.Web.Lists[tListID];

SPQuery tQuery = new SPQuery();
tQuery.Query = String.Format(query, plant);
SPListItemCollection tCollection = tasksList.GetItems(tQuery);

Such approach would allow you to store the query externally (list, config file, etc.) or as a static class property.

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-- http://blog.mastykarz.nl

Answer 5

Waldek Mastykarz said:

Another thing you could do would be including a {0} placeholder in your query and then using String.Format to replace it with the real value like:

string query = "<Where><eq><FieldRef Name='Plant'/><Value Type='Text'>{0}</Value></eq></Where>";

SPList tasksList = workflowProperties.Web.Lists[tListID];

SPQuery tQuery = new SPQuery();
tQuery.Query = String.Format(query, plant);
SPListItemCollection tCollection = tasksList.GetItems(tQuery);

Such approach would allow you to store the query externally (list, config file, etc.) or as a static class property.

---

-- http://blog.mastykarz.nl

Not only allows it to store the query externally, it is also a LOT faster than the boxing/unboxing of strings that happens when you concat like: "test" + var1 + "text" + var2 + etc etc

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My blog on WSS / MOSS development is found at http://jebass.blogspot.com

Answer 6

Great :) - Thnk you guys,,