Can I declare a function inside a LINQ select clause? - linq

I'm studying for MS Exam 70-483 (C#) and this idea occurred to me.
Is it possible to do something like this:
class Person
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int CityId { get; set; }
}
class City
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Id { get; set; }
}
/* assume code to populate List people and List cities */
var personsByCity = from p in people join c in cities
on p.CityId equals c.Id
select new { PersonName = p.Name, CityName = c.Name,
ToString = Func<string>( () => { return PersonName + "/" +
CityName; })};
The compiler error that occurs is "[CS0119] Expression denotes a type' where avariable' or `method group' was expected.
Resharper is a bit clearer: Delegate name is not valid at this point (i.e. where Func occurs).
So, is there a way to accomplish adding a function to an anonymous type in a LINQ query?

Yes, you can declare a function, but you can't define it to return a property of the anonymous type that is currently being declared-- if you were to use this, for example, the lambda would capture the value of this in the declaring context (the class that contains the code that is executing the LINQ). You can however capture the values that are being used to initialize the anonymous class (as I do in the example below).
Note that this is not the same as giving the anonymous class a method. Anonymous classes can only have read-only, immutable properties. In this case, your anonymous class will still have the original ToString() method inherited from object. This may make it tricky to distinguish the function held in the ToString property from the ToString() method, so maybe you should use a different name.
Also, you forgot the new keyword before Func.
var personsByCity = from p in people join c in cities on p.CityId equals c.Id
select new
{
PersonName = p.Name,
CityName = c.Name,
ToString = new Func<string>( () => {
return c.Name + "/" + p.Name;
})
};

Related

Realm Xamarin LINQ Object

What is the correct way to query Realm with LINQ where the query includes fields from other Realm objects? For example:
public class Department : RealmObject
{
[Primary Key]
public string UniqueId { get; set; }
}
public class Employee : RealmObject
{
[Primary Key]
public string Name { get; set; }
// Parent
public Department Department { get; set; }
}
Then I would expect to be able to do something like:
var employee = realm.All<Employee>().SingleOrDefault( e => e.Department.UniqueId == fooId && e.Name == fooName );
But this always returns no matches. Where() also returns no matches. However, eliminating the e.Department and searching only on employee name works fine but obviously does not scope to Department as intended.
This is with the latest Realm Xamarin 0.80.
What am I doing wrong?
Querying by nested RealmObjects attributes is not currently supported:
Just to clarify here, we don't yet support queries on related objects like this. We will in the future, but there is no timeline at the moment.
The following is also not currently supported:
var deptFilter = theRealm.ObjectForPrimaryKey<Department>("HR");
var employeesByDept = theRealm.All<Employee>().Where((Employee emp) => emp.Department == deptFilter & emp.Name == "StackOverflow");
The left-hand side of the And operator must be a direct access to a persisted property in Realm.
Unable to process '(emp.Department == value(Realm080.App+c__AnonStorey1).deptFilter)'.
You can do direct RealmObject equalities, just not in the same Linq expression, so break it down further into a sub-query.
Example of how I currently do it:
var deptFilter = theRealm.ObjectForPrimaryKey<Department>("HR");
var employeesByDept = theRealm.All<Employee>().Where((Employee emp) => emp.Department == deptFilter);
var employees = employeesByDept.Where((Employee emp) => emp.Name == "StackOverflow");
foreach (var emp in employees)
{
D.WriteLine(emp.Name);
}
Note: https://github.com/realm/realm-dotnet/issues/723

Expression.Property(param, field) is "trolling" me [System.ArgumentException] = {"Instance property 'B.Name' is not defined for type A"}

Once again, I am facing an issue, this time with LINQ Expression builder and this time I am even struggling to find the reason why it's not working. I have a Database-First EF project with quite a few tables. For this specific case, I have to use 2 of them - DocHead and Contragent. MyService.metadata.cs looks like this:
[MetadataTypeAttribute(typeof(DocHead.DocHeadMetadata))]
public partial class DocHead
{
// This class allows you to attach custom attributes to properties
// of the DocHead class.
//
// For example, the following marks the Xyz property as a
// required property and specifies the format for valid values:
// [Required]
// [RegularExpression("[A-Z][A-Za-z0-9]*")]
// [StringLength(32)]
// public string Xyz { get; set; }
internal sealed class DocHeadMetadata
{
// Metadata classes are not meant to be instantiated.
private DocHeadMetadata()
{
}
public string doc_Code { get; set; }
public string doc_Name { get; set; }
public string doc_ContrCode { get; set; }
//...
[Include]
public Contragent Contragent { get; set; }
}
}
[MetadataTypeAttribute(typeof(Contragent.ContragentMetadata))]
public partial class Contragent
{
// This class allows you to attach custom attributes to properties
// of the Contragent class.
//
// For example, the following marks the Xyz property as a
// required property and specifies the format for valid values:
// [Required]
// [RegularExpression("[A-Z][A-Za-z0-9]*")]
// [StringLength(32)]
// public string Xyz { get; set; }
internal sealed class ContragentMetadata
{
// Metadata classes are not meant to be instantiated.
private ContragentMetadata()
{
}
public string Code { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
//...
I take some docHeads like this:
IQueryable<DocHead> docHeads = new MyEntities().DocHead;
Then I try to sort them like this:
docHeads = docHeads.OrderByDescending(x => x.Contragent.Name);
It is all working like I want it. I get those docHeads sorted by the name of the joined Contragent. My problem is that I will have to sort them by a field, given as a string parameter. I need to be able to write something like this:
string field = "Contragent.Name";
string linq = "docHeads = docHeads.OrderByDescending(x => x." + field + ")";
IQueryable<DocHead> result = TheBestLinqLibraryInTheWorld.PrepareLinqQueryable(linq);
Unfortunately, TheBestLinqLibraryInTheWorld does not exist (for now). So, I have set up a method as a workaround.
public static IQueryable<T> OrderByField<T>(this IQueryable<T> q, string SortField, bool Ascending)
{
var param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "x");
var prop = Expression.Property(param, SortField); // normally returns x.sortField
var exp = Expression.Lambda(prop, param); // normally returns x => x.sortField
string method = Ascending ? "OrderBy" : "OrderByDescending";
Type[] types = new Type[] { q.ElementType, exp.Body.Type };
var mce = Expression.Call(typeof(Queryable), method, types, q.Expression, exp); // normally returns sth similar to q.OrderBy(x => x.sortField)
return q.Provider.CreateQuery<T>(mce);
}
Normally... yes, when it comes to own properties of the class DocHead - those prefixed with doc_. The disaster strikes when I call this method like this:
docHeads = docHeads.OrderByField<DocHead>("Contragent.Name", true); // true - let it be Ascending order
To be more specific, the exception in the title is thrown on line 2 of the method OrderByField():
var prop = Expression.Property(param, SortField);
In My.edmx (the model), the tables DocHead and Contragent have got a relation already set up for me, which is the following: 0..1 to *.
Once again, I have no problem writing "static" queries at all. I have no problem creating "dynamic" ones via the method OrderByField(), but only when it comes to properties of the class DocHead. When I try to order by a prop of the joined Contragent class - the disaster strikes. Any help will be greatly appretiated, thank you!
The problem is that Expression.Property method does not support nested properties. It does exactly what it says - creates expression that represents a property denoted by propertyName parameter of the object denoted by the expression parameter.
Luckily it can easily be extended. You can use the following simple Split / Aggregate trick anytime you need to create a nested property access expression:
var prop = SortField.Split('.').Aggregate((Expression)param, Expression.Property);

Linq Expressions on Child entities

I am building dynamic linq expressions which is working fine for a single entity.
For example:
I have a class called Employee and empeduinfo
public class Employee
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
public class EmpEduInfo
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public int EmpId { get; set; }
}
I need to get all the the employees and empeduinfo class starts with "x"
I prepared expression for startswith("x")
var temp= entities.employees.Include("EmpEduInfo").Where(mydynamicexpression);
In this case it is filtering only parent table not on child.
I need to prepare generic expression so than i need to filter both parent and child objects dynamically.
Without using expression I know a solution:
var temp= (from ee in entities.Employee.Include("EmpEduInfo").Where(x => x.name.StartsWith("t"))
where ee.EmpEduInfo.Where(x => x.name.StartsWith("t")).Count()>0
select ee).ToList();
using expressions I am building generic expression to provide dynamic advance search rather than writing in each and every entity.
Here is my expression details
// Get the method information for the String.StartsWith() method
MethodInfo mi = typeof(string).GetMethod("StartsWith", new Type[] { typeof(string) });
// Build the parameter for the expression
ParameterExpression empparam= Expression.Parameter(typeof(employee), "ename");;
// Build the member that was specified for the expression
MemberExpression field = Expression.PropertyOrField(empparam, "name");
// Call the String.StartsWith() method on the member
MethodCallExpression startsWith = Expression.Call(field, mi, Expression.Constant("t"));
var namelamda = Expression.Lambda<Func<employee, bool>>(startsWith, new ParameterExpression[] { empparam });
var temp = entities.employees.Include("empedudetails").Where(namelamda).ToList();
You can look at the Expression the compiler generates using IQueryable:
IQueryable<Employee> query =
from ee in entities.Employee ...
var expression = query.Expression;
Look at expression in a debugger to see what you need to generate - LINQPad is good for this.
You might want to simplify your query a bit first:
IQueryable<Employee> query =
from ee in entities.Employee.Include("EmpEduInfo")
where
ee.name.StartsWith("t") &&
ee.EmpEduInfo.Any(x => x.name.StartsWith("t"))
select ee;
I was trying in EF 4.0 either we have write DB extentions for the same.
Option is provided in EF 4.1
http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/getting-started-with-ef-using-mvc/reading-related-data-with-the-entity-framework-in-an-asp-net-mvc-application
Thanks.

LINQ query returning a List<> as a class member

Given the follow data class,
public class EmployeeMenu
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string HeaderName { get; set; }
public List<string> ItemNames { get; set; }
}
how can I get a sub-query into the ItemNames field?
My current query of
IQueryable<EmployeeMenu> retValue =
from mh in menuHeaders
select new EmployeeMenu
{
ID = mh.ID,
HeaderName = mh.HeaderName,
ItemNames = (from mhi in mh.MenuItems
select mhi.MenuItemName).ToList<string>()
};
doesn't seem to be doing the trick...
The data structure is
MenuHeaders MenuItems
----------- ---------
ID ID
HeaderName <-(FK)--MenuHeaderID
MenuItemName
I ended up just changing from a List to IEnumerable. This fixed it.
Wouldnt you want to just put a where in your sub-select to filter that down to all the menu items with the MenuHeaderID equals mh.HeaderName. You can just .Equals() with the StringComparison type if you want as well.
Here is an example...
IQueryable<EmployeeMenu> retValue =
from mh in menuHeaders
select new EmployeeMenu
{
ID = mh.ID,
HeaderName = mh.HeaderName,
ItemNames = (from mhi in mh.MenuItems
select mhi.MenuItemName where mhi.MenuHeaderID = mh.HeaderName).ToList<string>()
};
My guess is that your not initiliazing the list within your class. I basing this off the experience I was having with Nhibernate.
public class EmployeeMenu
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string HeaderName { get; set; }
public List<string> ItemNames { get; set; }
public EmployeeMenu()
{
ItemNames=new List<string>();
}
}
Hope this helps.
Okay. Try replacing
(from mhi in mh.MenuItems
select mhi.MenuItemName).ToList<string>()
by
mh.MenuItems
.AsEnumerable()
.Select(mhi => mhi.MenuItemName)
.ToList()
I question if you want a where clause in there somewhere, but this should get you past the runtime exception.
Any time you see an error message of the form "LINQ to Entities does recognize the method ... and this method can not be translated into a store expression" LINQ to Entities is telling you that it can't figure out how to translate part of the expression tree into a SQL statement. This means you need to pull things client side so that LINQ to Entities doesn't try to translate something that it can't translate.

LinqToSQl and the Member access not legal on type exception

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.

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