In this article I will explain with an example, how to use a DataSet or DataTable as Model in View in ASP.Net Core MVC.
Though it is not a good practice to use to use DataSet or DataTable as Model in View in MVC Core 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 Core MVC.
Note: For beginners in ASP.Net MVC Core, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC Core 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.
ASP.Net Core MVC: Using DataSet (DataTable) as Model in View
 
I have already inserted few records in the table.
ASP.Net Core MVC: Using DataSet (DataTable) as Model in View
 
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.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 IActionResult Index()
    {
        DataSet ds = new DataSet();
        string constr = @"Data Source=.\SQL2019;Initial Catalog=AjaxSamples;Integrated Security=true";
        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
ASP.Net Core MVC: Using DataSet (DataTable) as Model in View
 
 
Downloads
Download Code