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C# SQLConnection.Open() hangs, with no exception

I am using C# in Visual Studio 2019, with Xamarin.Forms, and SQl in SSMS 2018 and have the below code (where [] is used to replace unneccessary information)
try
{
using(SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection())
{
connection.ConnectionString = "Server=[ServerName]; Database=[DatabaseName]; User Id= [UserID]; Password=[Password]";
connection.Open();
SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand("SELECT * from [TableName]", connection);
[Does stuff here]
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(ex)
}
When I run this, it hangs indefinitely at connection.Open(). Debug mode continues to run and appears to move on from Connection.Open(), but never reaches the next line.
I have attempted this with different versions of the ConnectionString, using different databases and with Trusted_Connection=true instead of specifiying the username and password but they have made no difference. Adding Connection Timeout = 5 to the connectionString has no effect.
I believe it is probably an issue with my settings in SQL but as I am a novice with this I have no idea where to start and the similar forums posts I have checked have been given answers along the lines of Connection Timeout (Connection.open for hangs indefinitely, no exception is thrown) or never got answered.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Can you log into SSMS with the credentials that are in the connection string?
Otherwise I've had luck making sure the connection isn't already open or broken first:
if (connection.State == ConnectionState.Closed || connection.State == ConnectionState.Broken)
{
connection.Open();
}

Can you try code changing line as per below -
connection.ConnectionString = "Data Source=[ServerName]; Initial Catalog=[DatabaseName]; Integrated Security=SSPI;"

A workaround to this problem is to pass in a cancellation token instance as shown below,
public async Task<IEnumerable<Toy>> ShowToybox(CancellationToken t)
{
// notice I turned this into an async operation.
// Reason is to let this operation to find its way out if something happens
var connString = "Server=xyz; Connection Timeout=250";
//Timeout might not happen, if that is not the case see below..
using(SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connString))
{
if ( t.IsCancellationRequested) {
t.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
}
// await query here. To fetch records from the toybox table
return matches;
}
Main issue is that you cannot trust connection.State
To get this working, code that consumes this method should expect something might go wrong.
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
var box = new ToxBox(); //it has method shown above
var s = new CancellationTokenSource();
s.CancelAfter(400); //it prevents method from hanging
var task = Task.Run(() = box.ShowToybox(s.Token));
try
{
task.Wait(s.Token);
var myToys = task.Result();
Console.WriteLine($"I have {myToys.Count()} toys");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine("Something happened!");
}
finally
{
s.Dispose(); //this is important
}
}
}
See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/threading/cancellation-in-managed-threads

How to check database connection in MongoDB [duplicate]

I use MongoDB drivers to connect to the database. When my form loads, I want to set up connection and to check whether it is ok or not. I do it like this:
var connectionString = "mongodb://localhost";
var client = new MongoClient(connectionString);
var server = client.GetServer();
var database = server.GetDatabase("reestr");
But I do not know how to check connection. I tried to overlap this code with try-catch, but to no avail. Even if I make an incorrect connectionString, I still can not get any error message.

To ping the server with the new 3.0 driver its:
var database = client.GetDatabase("YourDbHere");
database.RunCommandAsync((Command<BsonDocument>)"{ping:1}")
.Wait();

There's a ping method for that:
var connectionString = "mongodb://localhost";
var client = new MongoClient(connectionString);
var server = client.GetServer();
server.Ping();

full example for 2.4.3 - where "client.GetServer()" isn't available.
based on "Paul Keister" answer.
client = new MongoClient("mongodb://localhost");
database = client.GetDatabase(mongoDbStr);
bool isMongoLive = database.RunCommandAsync((Command<BsonDocument>)"{ping:1}").Wait(1000);
if(isMongoLive)
{
// connected
}
else
{
// couldn't connect
}

I've had the same question as the OP, and tried every and each solution I was able to find on Internet...
Well, none of them worked to my true satisfaction, so I've opted for a research to find a reliable and responsive way of checking if connection to a MongoDB Database Server is alive. And this without to block the application's synchronous execution for too long time period...
So here are my prerequisites:
Synchronous processing of the connection check
Short to very short time slice for the connection check
Reliability of the connection check
If possible, not throwing exceptions and not triggering timeouts
I've provided a fresh MongoDB Installation (version 3.6) on the default localhost URL: mongodb://localhost:27017. I've also written down another URL, where there was no MongoDB Database Server: mongodb://localhost:27071.
I'm also using the C# Driver 2.4.4 and do not use the legacy implementation (MongoDB.Driver.Legacy assembly).
So my expectations are, when I'm checking the connection to the first URL, it should give to me the Ok for a alive connection to an existing MongoDB server, when I'm checking the connection to the second URL it should give to me the Fail for a non-existing MongoDB server...
Using the IMongoDatabase.RunCommand method, queries the server and causes the server response timeout to elapse, thus not qualifying against the prerequisites. Furthermore after the timeout, it breaks with a TimeoutException, which requires additional exception handling.
This actual SO question and also this SO question have delivered the most of the start information I needed for my solution... So guys, many thanks for this!
Now my solution:
private static bool ProbeForMongoDbConnection(string connectionString, string dbName)
{
var probeTask =
Task.Run(() =>
{
var isAlive = false;
var client = new MongoDB.Driver.MongoClient(connectionString);
for (var k = 0; k < 6; k++)
{
client.GetDatabase(dbName);
var server = client.Cluster.Description.Servers.FirstOrDefault();
isAlive = (server != null &&
server.HeartbeatException == null &&
server.State == MongoDB.Driver.Core.Servers.ServerState.Connected);
if (isAlive)
{
break;
}
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(300);
}
return isAlive;
});
probeTask.Wait();
return probeTask.Result;
}
The idea behind this is the MongoDB Server does not react (and seems to be non-existing) until a real attempt is made to access some resource on the server (for example a database). But retrieving some resource alone is not enough, as the server still has no updates to its state in the server's Cluster Description. This update comes first, when the resource is retrieved again. From this time point, the server has valid Cluster Description and valid data inside it...
Generally it seems to me, the MongoDB Server does not proactivelly propagate its Cluster Description to all connected clients. Rather then, each client receives the description, when a request to the server has been made. If some of you fellows have more information on this, please either confirm or deny my understandings on the topic...
Now when we target an invalid MongoDB Server URL, then the Cluster Description remains invalid and we can catch and deliver an usable signal for this case...
So the following statements (for the valid URL)
// The admin database should exist on each MongoDB 3.6 Installation, if not explicitly deleted!
var isAlive = ProbeForMongoDbConnection("mongodb://localhost:27017", "admin");
Console.WriteLine("Connection to mongodb://localhost:27017 was " + (isAlive ? "successful!" : "NOT successful!"));
will print out
Connection to mongodb://localhost:27017 was successful!
and the statements (for the invalid URL)
// The admin database should exist on each MongoDB 3.6 Installation, if not explicitly deleted!
isAlive = ProbeForMongoDbConnection("mongodb://localhost:27071", "admin");
Console.WriteLine("Connection to mongodb://localhost:27071 was " + (isAlive ? "successful!" : "NOT successful!"));
will print out
Connection to mongodb://localhost:27071 was NOT successful!

Here a simple extension method to ping mongodb server
public static class MongoDbExt
{
public static bool Ping(this IMongoDatabase db, int secondToWait = 1)
{
if (secondToWait <= 0)
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("secondToWait", secondToWait, "Must be at least 1 second");
return db.RunCommandAsync((Command<MongoDB.Bson.BsonDocument>)"{ping:1}").Wait(secondToWait * 1000);
}
}
You can use it like so:
var client = new MongoClient("yourConnectionString");
var database = client.GetDatabase("yourDatabase");
if (!database.Ping())
throw new Exception("Could not connect to MongoDb");

This is a solution by using the try-catch approach,
var database = client.GetDatabase("YourDbHere");
bool isMongoConnected;
try
{
await database.RunCommandAsync((Command<BsonDocument>)"{ping:1}");
isMongoConnected = true;
}
catch(Exception)
{
isMongoConnected = false;
}
so when it fails to connect to the database, it will throw an exception and we can handle our bool flag there.

If you want to handle connection issues in your program you can use the ICluster.Description event.
When the MongoClient is created, it will continue to attempt connections in the background until it succeeds.
using MongoDB.Driver;
using MongoDB.Driver.Core.Clusters;
var mongoClient = new MongoClient("localhost")
mongoClient.Cluster.DescriptionChanged += Cluster_DescriptionChanged;
public void Cluster_DescriptionChanged(object sender, ClusterDescriptionChangedEventArgs e)
{
switch (e.NewClusterDescription.State)
{
case ClusterState.Disconnected:
break;
case ClusterState.Connected:
break;
}
}

Get a rid of SqlConnection, which remains in Activity Monitor after being closed/disposed

I'm creating database, using ADO.NET. Basically, I'm executing SQL commands in next way:
private bool ExecuteSqlCommand(string command)
{
var success = true;
using (var connection = GetSqlConnection())
{
if (connection == null)
return false;
using (var myCommand = new SqlCommand("query", connection))
{
try
{
connection.Open();
myCommand.CommandText = command;
myCommand.ExecuteNonQuery();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
success = false;
Log.LogMessage(string.Format("Unable to execute SQL command: {0}", ex.Message));
}
}
}
return success;
}
GetSqlConnection just gets some proper SqlConnection with connection string like
"Server={0}\\{1};User Id={2};Password={3};Application Name={4};"
It works well, and executes command properly, with one exception - according to Sql Manager Studio activity monitor, it remains as active connection even after method was executed.
According to question Why does my SqlConnection remain in the SSMS Processes list after closing it?, this is correct behavior, since connection might be reused. But the serius issue is, that later, READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT command will be called for this database, while using different SqlConnection. Which leads to exception, since READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT requires, that connection, which is used to call this command, should be the only connection to database.
I can't reuse this connection for further operations with database, since I use different connection string for them, with database specified as InitialCatalog (obviously, I can't use it, while database doesn't exist).
So, can I somehow remove this initial connection?

Execute SqlConnection.ClearPool This will mark all connections to be discarded instead of recycled.

Continuously checking connection to MySQL Database

Is there an effective way to continuously check if a connection to the database is established? For example, if the network drops or the server computer is turned off, then there is no obvious database available. My idea was to create a Timer that would poll every 10 seconds or so to determine an available connection but that just seems like another "hack". Another idea is to check connectivity before any user input. Here is the sample code that would check for a connection:
public bool isDbAvail()
{
using (MySqlConnection conn = new MySqlConnection(TimeClock.Properties.Settings.Default.timeclockConnectionString))
{
try
{
conn.Open();
return true;
}
catch (MySqlException ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
return false;
}
}
}
Any input would be great on what would be the best approach.

Maintaining an open Redis connection using BookSleeve

Does anyone have a solid pattern fetching Redis via BookSleeve library?
I mean:
BookSleeve's author #MarcGravell recommends not to open & close the connection every time, but rather maintain one connection throughout the app. But how can you handle network breaks? i.e. the connection might be opened successfully in the first place, but when some code tries to read/write to Redis, there is the possibility that the connection has dropped and you must reopen it (and fail gracefully if it won't open - but that is up to your design needs.)
I seek for code snippet(s) that cover general Redis connection opening, and a general 'alive' check (+ optional awake if not alive) that would be used before each read/write.
This question suggests a nice attitude to the problem, but it's only partial (it does not recover a lost connection, for example), and the accepted answer to that question draws the right way but does not demonstrate concrete code.
I hope this thread will get solid answers and eventually become a sort of a Wiki with regards to BookSleeve use in .Net applications.
-----------------------------
IMPORTANT UPDATE (21/3/2014):
-----------------------------
Marc Gravell (#MarcGravell) / Stack Exchange have recently released the StackExchange.Redis library that ultimately replaces Booksleeve. This new library, among other things, internally handles reconnections and renders my question redundant (that is, it's not redundant for Booksleeve nor my answer below, but I guess the best way going forward is to start using the new StackExchange.Redis library).

Since I haven't got any good answers, I came up with this solution (BTW thanks #Simon and #Alex for your answers!).
I want to share it with all of the community as a reference. Of course, any corrections will be highly appreciated.
using System;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using BookSleeve;
namespace Redis
{
public sealed class RedisConnectionGateway
{
private const string RedisConnectionFailed = "Redis connection failed.";
private RedisConnection _connection;
private static volatile RedisConnectionGateway _instance;
private static object syncLock = new object();
private static object syncConnectionLock = new object();
public static RedisConnectionGateway Current
{
get
{
if (_instance == null)
{
lock (syncLock)
{
if (_instance == null)
{
_instance = new RedisConnectionGateway();
}
}
}
return _instance;
}
}
private RedisConnectionGateway()
{
_connection = getNewConnection();
}
private static RedisConnection getNewConnection()
{
return new RedisConnection("127.0.0.1" /* change with config value of course */, syncTimeout: 5000, ioTimeout: 5000);
}
public RedisConnection GetConnection()
{
lock (syncConnectionLock)
{
if (_connection == null)
_connection = getNewConnection();
if (_connection.State == RedisConnectionBase.ConnectionState.Opening)
return _connection;
if (_connection.State == RedisConnectionBase.ConnectionState.Closing || _connection.State == RedisConnectionBase.ConnectionState.Closed)
{
try
{
_connection = getNewConnection();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception(RedisConnectionFailed, ex);
}
}
if (_connection.State == RedisConnectionBase.ConnectionState.Shiny)
{
try
{
var openAsync = _connection.Open();
_connection.Wait(openAsync);
}
catch (SocketException ex)
{
throw new Exception(RedisConnectionFailed, ex);
}
}
return _connection;
}
}
}
}

With other systems (such as ADO.NET), this is achieved using a connection pool. You never really get a new Connection object, but in fact get one from the pool.
The pool itself manages new connections, and dead connections, independently from caller's code. The idea here is to have better performance (establishing a new connection is costy), and survive network problems (the caller code will fail while the server is down but resume when it comes back online). There is in fact one pool per AppDomain, per "type" of connection.
This behavior transpires when you look at ADO.NET connection strings. For example SQL Server connection string (ConnectionString Property) has the notion of 'Pooling', 'Max Pool Size', 'Min Pool Size', etc. This is also a ClearAllPools method that is used to programmaticaly reset the current AppDomain pools if needed for example.
I don't see anything close to this kind of feature looking into BookSleeve code, but it seems to be planned for next release: BookSleeve RoadMap.
In the mean time, I suppose you can write your own connection pool as the RedisConnection has an Error Event you can use for this, to detect when it's dead.

I'm not a C# programmer, but the way I'd look at the problem is the following:
I'd code a generic function that would take as parameters the redis connection and a lambda expression representing the Redis command
if trying to execute the Redis command would result in an exception pointing out a connectivity issue, I've re-initialize the connection and retry the operation
if no exception is raised just return the result
Here is some sort of pseudo-code:
function execute(redis_con, lambda_func) {
try {
return lambda_func(redis_con)
}
catch(connection_exception) {
redis_con = reconnect()
return lambda_func(redis_con)
}
}