How does one use .ToList() Inside of a Linq Query? - linq

Question

I've got a class that contains a list item. I would like for a linq query to populate the class, including this list. Here is my query:
var query = from c in context.Cars
select new CarListItem()
{
ID = c.ID,
Make = c.Make,
AvailableColors = context.CarColors.Where(u => u.CarID == c.ID).ToList()
};
Basically, I want to get a list of all of the cars, including a list of the available colors for each respective car.
The problem is that the inclusion of .ToList() within the query results in an error: An error occurred:
LINQ to Entities does not recognize the method 'System.Collections.Generic.List`1[CarSystem.Models.CarColors] ToList[CarColors](System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable`1[CarSystem.Models.CarColors])' method, and this method cannot be translated into a store expression.
At this point, I don't know whether I am just using wrong syntax within the Linq query (should I use something other than .ToList()?) or if maybe the architecture of the models is wrong.

Answer 1

You can't. EF tries to translate ToList() to SQL and doesn't know how.
You could project to another type, then call ToList():
var query = (from c in context.Cars
select new
{
ID = c.ID,
Make = c.Make,
AvailableColors = context.CarColors.Where(u => u.CarID == c.ID)
}).ToList()
.Select(c => new CarListItem()
{
ID = c.ID,
Make = c.Make,
AvailableColors = c.AvailableColors.ToList()
});
or change the type of CarListItem.AvailableColors to IEnumerable<CarColor>:
var query = from c in context.Cars
select new CarListItem()
{
ID = c.ID,
Make = c.Make,
AvailableColors = context.CarColors.Where(u => u.CarID == c.ID)
};