I have a typical many-to-many relationship with these 3 tables
[Post] (
[PostId] int, (PK)
[Content] nvarchar(max)
...
)
[Tag] (
[TagId] int, (PK)
[Name] nvarchar
...
)
[TagPost] (
[TagId] int, (PK, FK)
[PostId] int (PK, FK)
)
And, TagId and PostId are the PK and FK set on the tables accordingly etc. Then I have these classes and mapping in c#
public class Post {
public Post()
{
this.Tags = new HashSet<Tag>();
}
[Key]
public int PostId { get; set; }
...
public virtual ICollection<Tag> Tags { get; private set; }
}
public class Tag {
public Tag()
{
this.Posts = new HashSet<Post>();
}
[Key]
public int TagId { get; set; }
...
public virtual ICollection<Post> Posts { get; private set; }
}
internal class MyDbContext : DbContext
{
public DbSet<Post> Posts { get; set; }
public DbSet<Tag> Tags { get; set; }
protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
{
base.OnModelCreating(modelBuilder);
modelBuilder.Entity<Post>().ToTable("Post");
modelBuilder.Entity<Tag>().ToTable("Tag");
modelBuilder.Entity<Post>()
.HasMany(x => x.Tags)
.WithMany(x => x.Posts)
.Map(x =>
{
x.ToTable("TagPost");
x.MapLeftKey("PostId");
x.MapRightKey("TagId");
});
}
Then I have this code to query them
var list = (from p in ctx.Posts.Include(p => p.Tags)
from t in p.Tags
where ... // some of my filter conditions
select p).ToList();
This join does return the posts I was looking for, however the returned posts don't their associated tags filled in even though I have the Include there. Could someone help point out what I'm missing so that I could have the tags also return with the posts?
Thanks a lot.
The double from is a manual Join which causes the Include to be ignored as mentioned here and here. Include is also ignored for other LINQ methods like grouping and projections.
Relationship fixup generally does not work for many-to-many relationships, only for relationships which have at least one single reference at one of the ends - one-to-many or one-to-one. If you project the Posts and related Tags into another type (anonymous or named) the data will be loaded correctly but because the relationship is many-to-many EF won't create the relationship in memory automatically so that the post.Tags collection will stay empty.
To get the Include working you must remove the second from from your query and apply the where clause directly to the Post entity parameter, for example like so:
var list = (from p in ctx.Posts.Include(p => p.Tags)
where p.Tags.Any(t => t.TagId == 1)
select p).ToList();
The filter by a Tag property is specified in the expression passed into .Any which is an expression with a Tag (t) as parameter.
try selecting everything into an anonymous object (something like this)
var list = (
from p in ctx.Posts
from t in p.Tags
where ... // some of my filter conditions
select new {
Posts = p,
Tags = p.Tags
})
.ToList();
Based on the feedback to my initial answer and the fact that EF can find the related entities but it is failing to populate the Tags collection I believe the issue lies in the definition of the Tags entity in the Post class.
Try removing the Hashset<> initialiser from the constructors and private from the set declaration:
public virtual ICollection<Tag> Tags { get; set; }
I have the following query:
var _customers = (from c in _db.UserProfiles.Include(x=>x.ParentCompanies).Include(x=>x.cProfile).Include(x=>x.cProfile.PhoneNumbers).Include(x=>x.cProfile.Addresses)
where (c.ParentCompanies.Any(pc => pc.CompanyUsers.Any(cu => cu.UserName == userName)) && c.cProfile != null)
group c by c.FirstName.Substring(0, 1).ToUpper() into customerGroup
select new ContactsViewModel
{
FirstLetter = customerGroup.Key,
Customers = customerGroup
}).OrderBy(letter => letter.FirstLetter);
if I take out the group, it works well and includes all the children (parentCompanies, cProfile, ...) as soon as I put the group back in it looses all of the children. How do I solve this issue?
update
I guess I should also include the view model that I'm usign to put the result in.
public class ContactsViewModel
{
public string FirstLetter { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<UserProfile> Customers { get; set; }
}
Include only applies to items in the query results (i.e. the final projection) and cannot contain operations that change the type of the result between Include and the outermost operation (e.g. GroupBy())
http://wildermuth.com/2008/12/28/Caution_when_Eager_Loading_in_the_Entity_Framework
If you want to eager load, do the grouping client-side (i.e. enumerate the query then call the GroupBy method on the results)
The answer to this question gave rise to this other question: How to use LINQ expressions as static members of classes in queries when the class is related multiple times to a second class
I have an existing ASP.net MVC 4 site which I need to modify.
The core entity within this site are Items that are for sale, which are created by several different companies and divided into several categories. My task is to allow each company its own optional alias for the global categories. Getting the two categories set up in the database and model was no problem, making the application use the new optional alias when it exists and default to the global otherwise is where I'm struggling to find the optimal approach.
Adding a coalesce statement to every LINQ query will clearly work, but there are several dozen locations where this logic would need to exist and it would be preferable to keep this logic in one place for when the inevitable changes come.
The following code is my attempt to store the coalesce in the model, but this causes the "Only initializers, entity members, and entity navigation properties are supported." error to be thrown when the LINQ query is executed. I'm unsure how I could achieve something similar with a different method that is more LINQ friendly.
Model:
public class Item
{
[StringLength(10)]
[Key]
public String ItemId { get; set; }
public String CompanyId { get; set; }
public Int32 CategoryId { get; set; }
[ForeignKey("CategoryId")]
public virtual GlobalCategory GlobalCategory { get; set; }
[ForeignKey("CompanyId, CategoryId")]
public virtual CompanyCategory CompanyCategory { get; set; }
public String PreferredCategoryName
{
get{
return (CompanyCategory.CategoryAlias == null || CompanyCategory.CategoryAlias == "") ? GlobalCategory.CategoryName : CompanyCategory.CategoryAlias;
}
}
}
Controller LINQ examples:
var categories = (from i in db.Items
where i.CompanyId == siteCompanyId
orderby i.PreferredCategoryName
select i.PreferredCategoryName).Distinct();
var itemsInCategory = (from i in db.Items
where i.CompanyId == siteCompanyId
&& i.PreferredCategoryName == categoryName
select i);
For one you are using a compiled function (getPreferredCategoryName) in the query, unless EF knows how to translate that you are in trouble.
Try the following in item definition:
public static Expression<Func<Item,String>> PreferredCategoryName
{
get
{
return i => (i.CompanyCategory.CategoryAlias == null || i.CompanyCategory.CategoryAlias == "") ?
i.GlobalCategory.CategoryName :
i.CompanyCategory.CategoryAlias;
}
}
Which is used as follows:
var categories = db.Items.Where(i => i.CompanyID == siteCompanyId)
.OrderBy(Item.PreferredCategoryName)
.Select(Item.PreferredCategoryName)
.Distinct();
This should work as you have a generically available uncompiled expression tree that EF can then parse.
I have a database base first application so I have no homemade modals as such, just the ones created automatically. I want to display in a single view the one and many parts from a select in single row in an html table/list, here is the SQL that works great in a re-created MS Access Query, - some brackets:
SELECT Facilitiy.FacilityName, Facilitiy.FacilityImage, FacilityDetail.FacilityDetailDescription
FROM FacilityDetail INNER JOIN Facilitiy ON FacilityDetail.FacilityDetailID = Facilitiy.FacilityFK
WHERE FacilityFK = id
And the LINQ that gives me the correct many part of the list:
from fd in db.FacilityDetails
join f in db.Facilities on fd.FacilityID equals f.FacilityFK
where f.B FacilityFK == id
select f
I had kind of hoped that would do it as the SQL does but I need to create a modal that I can put in a view to display:
FacilityImage(one side) | FacilityName(one side) | FacilityDetailDescription(many side)
I have heard I can simply do it by doing something like this???
from fd in db.FacilityDetails.Include("Facilities")
but it seems to make no difference!
Which leads me to believe I need to create a new custom model? If so how would i write it?
I tried something like this but I cant get it to work.
public class FacilitiyDetails
{
public string FacilitiesDescription { get; set; }
public string FacilitiesImage { get; set; }
public string BeachFacilitiesDescription { get; set; }
{
I'm not quite sure what i'm supposed to do here!
Yes you will need a custom model because you're wanting to display multiple types. You'll need to have something like:
public class FacilityModel
{
public Facility Facility { get; set; }
public List<FacilityDetails> FacilityDetails { get; set; }
}
Based on your class above and assuming you have a Facility class already. Then you'll need to change your LINQ to first get the Facility details:
var facility = (from f in db.Facilities
where f.FacilityID == id
select f)
.FirstOrDefault(); //just being safe here,
//if it's null, you'll want to escape out of
//the code below
Then you'll need to get all equivalent FacilityDetails for that facility by doing:
var facilityDetails = (from fd in db.FacilityDetails
where fd.FacilityFK == id
select fd).ToList()
Then you can create a new instance of your Model by doing:
var model = new FacilityModel
{
Facility = facility,
FacilityDetails = facilityDetails
};
The basic problem...
I have a method which executes the following code:
IList<Gig> gigs = GetGigs().WithArtist(artistId).ToList();
The GetGigs() method gets Gigs from my database via LinqToSql...
So, when GetGigs().WithArtist(artistId).ToList() is executed I get the following exception:
Member access 'ListenTo.Shared.DO.Artist Artist' of 'ListenTo.Shared.DO.Act' not legal on type 'System.Collections.Generic.List`1[ListenTo.Shared.DO.Act]
Note that the extension function "WithArtist" looks like this:
public static IQueryable<Gig> WithArtist(this IQueryable<Gig> qry, Guid artistId)
{
return from gig in qry
where gig.Acts.Any(act => (null != act.Artist) && (act.Artist.ID == artistId))
orderby gig.StartDate
select gig;
}
If I replace the GetGigs() method with a method that constructs a collection of gigs in code (rather than from the DB via LinqToSQL) I do NOT get the exception.
So I'm fairly sure the problem is with my LinqToSQl code rather than the object structure.
However, I have NO IDEA why the LinqToSQl version isnt working, so I've included all the associated code below. Any help would be VERY gratefully receivced!!
The LinqToSQL code....
public IQueryable<ListenTo.Shared.DO.Gig> GetGigs()
{
return from g in DBContext.Gigs
let acts = GetActs(g.ID)
join venue in DBContext.Venues on g.VenueID equals venue.ID
select new ListenTo.Shared.DO.Gig
{
ID = g.ID,
Name = g.Name,
Acts = new List<ListenTo.Shared.DO.Act>(acts),
Description = g.Description,
StartDate = g.Date,
EndDate = g.EndDate,
IsDeleted = g.IsDeleted,
Created = g.Created,
TicketPrice = g.TicketPrice,
Venue = new ListenTo.Shared.DO.Venue {
ID = venue.ID,
Name = venue.Name,
Address = venue.Address,
Telephone = venue.Telephone,
URL = venue.Website
}
};
}
IQueryable<ListenTo.Shared.DO.Act> GetActs()
{
return from a in DBContext.Acts
join artist in DBContext.Artists on a.ArtistID equals artist.ID into art
from artist in art.DefaultIfEmpty()
select new ListenTo.Shared.DO.Act
{
ID = a.ID,
Name = a.Name,
Artist = artist == null ? null : new Shared.DO.Artist
{
ID = artist.ID,
Name = artist.Name
},
GigId = a.GigID
};
}
IQueryable<ListenTo.Shared.DO.Act> GetActs(Guid gigId)
{
return GetActs().WithGigID(gigId);
}
I have included the code for the Act, Artist and Gig objects below:
public class Gig : BaseDO
{
#region Accessors
public Venue Venue
{
get;
set;
}
public System.Nullable<DateTime> EndDate
{
get;
set;
}
public DateTime StartDate
{
get;
set;
}
public string Name
{
get;
set;
}
public string Description
{
get;
set;
}
public string TicketPrice
{
get;
set;
}
/// <summary>
/// The Act object does not exist outside the context of the Gig, therefore,
/// the full act object is loaded here.
/// </summary>
public IList<Act> Acts
{
get;
set;
}
#endregion
}
public class Act : BaseDO
{
public Guid GigId { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public Artist Artist { get; set; }
}
public class Artist : BaseDO
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Profile { get; set; }
public DateTime Formed { get; set; }
public Style Style { get; set; }
public Town Town { get; set; }
public string OfficalWebsiteURL { get; set; }
public string ProfileAddress { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
public ImageMetaData ProfileImage { get; set; }
}
public class BaseDO: IDO
{
#region Properties
private Guid _id;
#endregion
#region IDO Members
public Guid ID
{
get
{
return this._id;
}
set
{
this._id = value;
}
}
}
}
I think the problem is the 'let' statement in GetGigs. Using 'let' means that you define a part of the final query separately from the main set to fetch. the problem is that 'let', if it's not a scalar, results in a nested query. Nested queries are not really Linq to sql's strongest point as they're executed deferred as well. In your query, you place the results of the nested query into the projection of the main set to return which is then further appended with linq operators.
When THAT happens, the nested query is buried deeper into the query which will be executed, and this leads to a situation where the nested query isn't in the outer projection of the query to execute and thus has to be merged into the SQL query ran onto the DB. This is not doable, as it's a nested query in a projection nested inside the main sql query and SQL doesn't have a concept like 'nested query in a projection', as you can't fetch a set of elements inside a projection in SQL, only scalars.
I had the same issue and what seemed to do the trick for me was separating out an inline static method call that returned IQueryable<> so that I stored this deferred query into a variable and referenced that.
I think this is a bug in Linq to SQL but at least there is a reasonable workaround. I haven't tested this out yet but my assumption is that this problem may arise only when referencing static methods of a different class within a query expression regardless of whether the return type of that function is IQueryable<>. So maybe it's the class that holds the method that is at the root of the problem. Like I said, I haven't been able to confirm this but it may be worth investigating.
UPDATE: Just in case the solution isn't clear I wanted to point it out in context of the example from the original post.
public IQueryable<ListenTo.Shared.DO.Gig> GetGigs()
{
var acts = GetActs(g.ID); // Don't worry this call is deferred
return from g in DBContext.Gigs
join venue in DBContext.Venues on g.VenueID equals venue.ID
select new ListenTo.Shared.DO.Gig
{
ID = g.ID,
Name = g.Name,
Acts = new List<ListenTo.Shared.DO.Act>(acts),
Description = g.Description,
StartDate = g.Date,
EndDate = g.EndDate,
IsDeleted = g.IsDeleted,
Created = g.Created,
TicketPrice = g.TicketPrice,
Venue = new ListenTo.Shared.DO.Venue {
ID = venue.ID,
Name = venue.Name,
Address = venue.Address,
Telephone = venue.Telephone,
URL = venue.Website
}
};
}
Note that while this should correct the issue at hand there also seems to be another issue in that the deferred acts query is being accessed in each element of the projection which I would guess would cause separate queries to be issued to the database per row in the outer projection.
I don't see anything in your classes to indicate how LINQ to SQL is meant to work out which column is which, etc.
Were you expecting the WithArtist method to be executed in .NET, or converted into SQL? If you expect it to be converted into SQL, you'll need to decorate your Gig class with appropriate LINQ to SQL attributes (or configure your data context some other way). If you want it to be executed in code, just change the first parameter type from IQueryable<Gig> to IEnumerable<Gig>.
I found out that an issue like this (which I also had recently) can be resolved, if you convert the IQueryable (or Table) variable Gigs into a list like so
return from g in DBContext.Gigs.ToList()
...
If that still doesn't work, do the same for all the IQueryables. The reason behind seems to me that some queries are too complex to be translated into SQL. But if you "materialize" it into a list, you can do every kind of query.
Be careful, you should add "filters" (where conditions) early because too much memory consumption can become a problem.