Public Shared Function SELECTCount(ByVal TableName As String, ByVal _
          FieldName As String, Optional ByVal WHEREString As String = "") As _
          Integer
            Try
                Dim SQLString As String = _
                "SELECT COUNT(" & FieldName & ") AS Anz FROM " & TableName & "" _
                & _
                IIf(WHEREString.Equals(""), "", " WHERE " & WHEREString)
 
                cmd.CommandText = SQLString
 
                Return CType(cmd.ExecuteScalar(), Integer)
 
            Catch ex As System.Exception
                Throw ex
            Finally
 
            End Try
        End Function