The Easiest Way to Save Data: Single Extension Methods (100% Free)

In our Bulk Extension Methods documentation, we highlighted a significant advantage: you don't have to write your SQL statements for saving entities. These SQL statements are often repetitive and tedious to write. Honestly, who enjoys that?

Certainly not me! But what if you only have a few entities to save? Wouldn't it be great to still enjoy this major advantages of the bulk extension methods, but for free?

We thought you'd agree! Single methods are 100% free and require no license. Feel free to use them in your personal projects, commercial projects, or any other type of project.

To reiterate, they are free to use!

Single methods offer the same flexibility and advantages as their bulk counterparts, except they trade off the high performance of bulk operations for being 100% free.

You can use any of these single methods with one entity at a time:

• SingleInsert: Allows you to INSERT one row.
• SingleUpdate: Allows you to UPDATE one row.
• SingleDelete: Allows you to DELETE one row.
• SingleMerge: Performs an UPSERT operation; UPDATE if the row exists, INSERT if it does not.

Here is an example from our initial overview documentation, now using a single method:

var connection = new SqlConnection(FiddleHelper.GetConnectionStringSqlServer());
		
// Easy to use
connection.SingleInsert(products[0]);

// Easy to customize
connection.UseBulkOptions(options => options.InsertIfNotExists = true)
		  .BulkInsert(products[1]);

Online Example

Again, the code speaks for itself, as you already know what it will do:

• The first SingleInsert will insert one product into your database.
• The second SingleInsert will insert one product only if they don't already exist.

Single Insert

The SingleInsert and SingleInsertAsync methods allow you to INSERT one row.

For more information about usage and customization, refer to the equivalent BulkInsert methods.

Single Update

The SingleUpdate and SingleUpdateAsync methods allow you to UPDATE one row.

For more details on usage and customization, see the equivalent BulkUpdate methods.

Single Delete

The SingleDelete and SingleDeleteAsync methods allow you to DELETE one row.

For additional information on usage and customization, refer to the equivalent BulkDelete methods.

Single Merge

The SingleMerge and SingleMergeAsync methods perform an UPSERT operation. They will UPDATE if the row exists or INSERT if it does not.

For more documentation about usage and customization, see the equivalent BulkMerge methods.

Single Synchronize

The SingleSynchronize and SingleSynchronizeAsync methods are equals to a MIRROR operation; they ensure your table matches your data source exactly. This includes UPDATING existing rows, INSERTING non-existing rows, and DELETING rows that are not in your data source. However, this method is rarely practical as it mirrors only one row.

For more details on usage and customization, refer to the equivalent BulkSynchronize methods.

How to Use Single Action Methods With Multiple Rows?

The answer is simple: You cannot. Oh WAIT! Yes you can, but you'll need to use the foreach statement!

Taking our initial example, you can apply the single methods in this way:

var connection = new SqlConnection(FiddleHelper.GetConnectionStringSqlServer());

// Easy to use
products.ForEach(x => connection.SingleInsert(x));

// Easy to customize
products.ForEach(x => connection.UseBulkOptions(options => options.InsertIfNotExists = true)
		  .BulkInsert(x));

Online Example

The main difference is that one database round-trip will be required for every action executed. So, if you have only a few entities to save, single methods are great as the performance impact is minimal. However, if you need to save hundreds or thousands of entities, we recommend using the bulk extensions methods instead for better efficiency and performance.

Conclusion

In this documentation, we introduced our single extension methods. Here are the key points to remember:

• They are 100% free to use.
• You can insert multiple rows using a foreach loop, but without the performance benefits that Bulk Extension Methods offer.
• These methods are available for asynchronous operations.

Since they are free, why not try them out right now by downloading Dapper Plus?