In this article I will explain with an example, how to use DataSets and DataTables in ASP.Net MVC Razor.
Though it is not a good practice to use DataSet or DataTable as Model in View in MVC architecture, thus user’s please make a note that this is just an informative article and does not recommend to use DataSet or DataTable as Model in View in ASP.Net MVC.
Note: For beginners in ASP.Net MVC, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC Hello World Tutorial with Sample Program example.
 
 
Database
I have made use of the following table Customers with the schema as follows. CustomerId is an Auto-Increment (Identity) column.
Working with DataSets and DataTables in ASP.Net MVC Razor
 
I have already inserted few records in the table.
Working with DataSets and DataTables in ASP.Net MVC Razor
 
Note: You can download the database table SQL by clicking the download link below.
          Download SQL file
 
 
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespaces.
using System.Data;
using System.Configuration;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
 
 
Controller
The Controller consists of the following Action method.
Action method for handling GET operation
Inside this Action method, the records are fetched from the Customers Table using ADO.Net.
The records are inserted into a DataSet using SqlDataAdapter class object.
Finally, the DataSet is returned to the View.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    // GET: Home
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        DataSet ds = new DataSet();
        string constr = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["ConString"].ConnectionString;
        using (SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection(constr))
        {
            string query = "SELECT * FROM Customers";
            using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(query))
            {
                cmd.Connection = con;
                using (SqlDataAdapter sda = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd))
                {
                    sda.Fill(ds);
                }
            }
        }
 
        return View(ds);
    }
}
 
 
View
Inside the View, the DataSet class is declared as Model for the View.
For displaying the records, an HTML Table is used. A loop will be executed over the rows of the DataTable which will generate the HTML Table rows with the Customer records.
@using System.Data
@model DataSet
@{
    Layout = null;
}
 
<!DOCTYPE html>
 
<html>
<head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"/>
    <title>Index</title>
</head>
<body>
    <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
        <tr>
            <th>CustomerId</th>
            <th>Name</th>
            <th>Country</th>
        </tr>
        @foreach (DataRow row in Model.Tables[0].Rows)
        {
            <tr>
                <td>@row["CustomerId"]</td>
                <td>@row["Name"]</td>
                <td>@row["Country"]</td>
            </tr>
        }
    </table>
</body>
</html>
 
 
Screenshot
Working with DataSets and DataTables in ASP.Net MVC Razor
 
 
Downloads
Download Code