GridView DynamicField child property generates "table does not have column" error - linq

Question

I'm having a problem with DynamicFields in a GridView. I'm trying to get a field with a property from a related entity, something like "Customer.Name" in an Order entity but always get the error "The table 'Order' does not have a column named 'Customer.Name'."
I'm including the Customer entity in linq query.
If I change DynamicField by BoundField all works fine.
Edit: This is the code...
<asp:GridView ID="grvActivities" runat="server"
Caption="<%$ Resources:QuasarApp, MyOpenActivities %>" AutoGenerateColumns="false"
DataKeyNames="ActivityId" ItemType="Quasar.Model.Activity"
ShowHeaderWhenEmpty="True" AllowSorting="True"
ShowFooter="True" CssClass="table table-striped table-bordered table-hover table-condensed table-responsive"
SelectMethod="grvActivities_GetData"
UpdateMethod="grvActivities_UpdateItem"
OnRowCommand="grvActivities_RowCommand">
<Columns>
<asp:HyperLinkField ControlStyle-CssClass="nounderline fa fa-edit"
DataNavigateUrlFields="ActivityId" DataNavigateUrlFormatString="~/Activities/Edit.aspx?RecordId={0}"
ItemStyle-Width="25px" ItemStyle-HorizontalAlign="Center" ItemStyle-VerticalAlign="Middle" />
<asp:TemplateField ShowHeader="false">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:LinkButton ID="Complete" runat="server" CommandName="Complete" CommandArgument='<%# Eval("ActivityId") %>'
CssClass="nounderline fa fa-check-square-o" ToolTip="<%$ Resources:QuasarApp, MarkAsCompleted %>" />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
<asp:DynamicField DataField="StartDate" DataFormatString="{0:g}" />
<asp:DynamicField DataField="DueDate" DataFormatString="{0:g}" />
<asp:DynamicField DataField="EndDate" DataFormatString="{0:g}" />
<asp:DynamicField DataField="Name" />
<asp:DynamicField DataField="Activity.Customer.Name" />
<asp:DynamicField DataField="Lead" />
<asp:DynamicField DataField="PriorityLevel" />
<asp:DynamicField DataField="ActivityType" />
<asp:DynamicField DataField="Status" />
<asp:DynamicField DataField="CreatedBy" />
<asp:ButtonField ButtonType="Link" CommandName="Delete" ControlStyle-CssClass="nounderline fa fa-eraser"
ItemStyle-Width="25px" ItemStyle-HorizontalAlign="Center" ItemStyle-VerticalAlign="Middle" />
</Columns>
</asp:GridView>
Codebehind:
public IQueryable<Activity> grvActivities_GetData()
{
var query = _uow.Activities.GetMany(a =>
a.IsActive
&& a.AccountManagerId == currentAccountManager
&& a.EndDate == null,
q => q.OrderByDescending(s => s.StartDate),
includeProperties: "Customer, Lead, ActivityType");
return query;
}
Edit2:
Hi, I've found that with this column:
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="<%$ Resources:QuasarApp, Customer %>">
<ItemTemplate>
<asp:Label Text="<%# Item.Customer != null ? Item.Customer.Name : String.Empty %>" runat="server" />
</ItemTemplate>
</asp:TemplateField>
it works fine, but I'm loosing all sorting, etc., capabilities. Why if navigation property is comming in the datasource, DynamicField cannot found this property?

Answer 1

For navigational properties you should use only this:
<asp:DynamicField DataField="Customer" />
Dynamic data will show the first string property of your class. Or you can force with annotations:
[DisplayColumn("Name")]
public class Customer
But if you are using EF6 it's necessary to install the provider
[http://blogs.msdn.com/b/webdev/archive/2014/02/28/announcing-the-release-of-dynamic-data-provider-and-entitydatasource-control-for-entity-framework-6.aspx][1]
and register your model in global.asax.cs:
void Application_Start(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
MetaModel DefaultModel = new MetaModel();
DefaultModel.RegisterContext(new Microsoft.AspNet.DynamicData.ModelProviders.EFDataModelProvider(
() => new YOURCONTEXT()),
new ContextConfiguration { ScaffoldAllTables = false });
}
and finally set the page_init code:
protected void Page_Init()
{
grvActivities.SetMetaTable(MetaTable.GetTable(typeof(Activity)));
}