Question: My statement:

```
string sqlCommandText = "SELECT * FROM ForumThread WHERE";

```

How can I read `*` from it?

I'm trying like this but its doesnt work:

```
if (reader["*"] != DBNull.Value)
{
    result.TextContent = Convert.ToString(reader["*"]);
}

```

Answer: 
Additionally, you can use this method to retrieve the associated field name:

```
reader.GetName( /* index of the column */);

```
Suppose your **ForumThread** table contains the **ThreadResponse** column, and you actually want to read the **ThreadResponse** column, you can use the next code:

```
//calculates the column ordinal based on column name
int ThreadResponseColumnIdx = reader.GetOrdinal("ThreadResponse");

//If there is a line in the result
if (reader.Read())
{
  //read from the current line the ThreadResponse column
  result.TextContent = reader.GetString(ThreadResponseColumnIdx);
}

```