i am using vb.net and linq to sql (.dbml) yet... And i need create a "left join". I could see in msdn site that one way is using "into" as showed in code/link below
Site reference: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb397895.aspx
But i tried to implement this code and "into" isn't a reserved word, the compile doesn't know it.
what am i doing wrong? Linq's version?
Thanks!
You're probably looking for the VB equivalent, which is probably "Into" instead of "into" : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/bb737909
Related
Can anyone please help me with a general Entity Framework question? I'm a newbie and trying to teach myself from reading and trial & error. However, I'm getting REALLY confused on all the syntax and terminology. And the more I google, the more confused I get!
What in the world are those little arrows (=>) used in the syntax? And I'm not even sure what the name of the syntax is...is it Entity Framework syntax? Linq to method syntax? Linq to Entity syntax?
Why does it seem like you can use random letters when using that syntax? the "f" below seems interchangeable with any alphabet letter since Intellisense gives me options no matter what letter I type. So what is that letter supposed to stand for anyway? There seems to be no declaration for it.
var query = fruits.SelectMany(f => f.Split(' '));
Is it better to use the syntax with the little arrows or to use the "psuedo SQL" that I keep seeing, like below. This seems a little easier to understand, but is this considered not the Real Entity Framework Way?
var query = from f in fruits from word in f.Split(' ') select word;
And, for any of them - is there any documentation out there ANYWHERE?? I've been scouring the internet for tutorials, articles, anything, but all that comes back are small sample queries varying with the little arrows or that psuedo SQL, with no explanations beyond "here's how to do a select:"
I would much appreciate any guidance or assistance. I think if I can just find out where to start, then I can build myself from there. Thanks!
There is no real entity way, there is LINQ and there is LINQ extension methods which is my opinion is much cleaner to the eyes. Also you can use LINQ not just with EE.
Language Integrated Query
LINQ extends the language by the addition of query expressions, which are akin to SQL statements, and can be used to conveniently extract and process data from arrays, enumerable classes, XML documents, relational databases, and third-party data sources. Other uses, which utilize query expressions as a general framework for readably composing arbitrary computations, include the construction of event handlers2 or monadic parsers.3
1 It is called lambda expression and it is basically an anonymous method.
Exploring Lambda Expression in C#
2 You can use anything you want, word, or letters, anything that is a valid name for a parameter, because that is a parameter
3 I find the LINQ extension methods to be cleaner, and to be honest the last I want to see is SQL like statements laying in the code.
4 A good start can be found here
101 LINQ SAMPLES
The arrow is called a Lambda operator, and it's used to create Lambda expressions. This has nothing to do with EF, or Linq or anything else. It's a feature of C#. EF and Linq just use this feature a lot because it's very useful for writing queries.
Marco has given links to the relevant documentation.
Linq is a library of extension methods that primarily operate on types like IEnumerable and IQueryable interfaces, and give you a lot of power to work with collections of various types. You can write Linq queries either in two formats, so called Method syntax and Query Syntax. They are functionally identical, but their usage is generally a matter of personal preference which one you use (although many of us use both, depending on the context it's used in.. one or the other is easier to use).
Currently I am using LinqKit / Ms dynamic query example to dynamically build Linq Expressions from strings. This works fine.
LinqKit: http://www.albahari.com/nutshell/linqkit.aspx
Microsoft dynamic Linq queries: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/01/07/dynamic-linq-part-1-using-the-linq-dynamic-query-library.aspx
Right now, I am migrating my application from C#3.5 to C#4.0. I am wondering if there is another way (standard way of the framework) to build queries from strings.
I have checked the documentation, but did not find anything yet. Also this is not an issue, since I have the above solution.
Only I'd prefer to use the "standard" features if there some. What's the best practice?
I'm currently doing something like this and I'm very happy with the result. The way I did it was with Entity Framework and the ObjectQuery.Select(string query, ObjectParameters[] params) method. More info here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb298787.aspx#Y586.
You won't be making expression from string but using SQL to Entities which does the work very well and was made exactly for that purpose as dynamically making Expression isn't trivial and is actually slower.
Cheers
Come across an issue when doing a string compare as part of the where section of a linq expression against LINQ for NHibernate.
from x in NhibernateObject
where x.StringCol = "value"
select x
When it runs it retrns a runtime error about casting to an integer. I found a nice post about the issue and the solution at http://jason.pettys.name/archive/2009/09/28/nhibernate-with-linq-error-with-string-comparisons-in-vb.net.aspx
But my question is what is a "visitor" and what code would I write to achive the solution highlighted in the above post - missing the link here !!!
Visitor is a design pattern. You can find a description of it here http://www.dofactory.com/Patterns/PatternVisitor.aspx or here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visitor_pattern
If I correctly understand the article you linked to (haven't read it fully), then it is required to change NHibernate to work around this problem.
The definition of the visitor pattern is: "Represent an operation to be performed on the elements of an object structure. Visitor lets you define a new
operation without changing the classes of the elements on which it operates."
The namespace of the visitor(s) you want to change is NHibernate.Linq.Visitors. You will probably have more difficulties using VB instead of C# with NHibernate.Linq, because VB3 does not support everything c#3 does. Those problems will be solved if you use .Net 4.0 (or c# of course)
Is there an application or utility that will convert LINQ to Lambda Expressions? (or an add-on to LINQPad)
The other day, I was surprised to find that ReSharper does this, at least for C# (not sure about VB, if that's what you need).
In LINQPad, you can click on the "lambda" button to get the lamdba version.
Edit:
As RBarry says, its the upside down "y", between "Results" and "SQL". This shows up in the results page after you execute a query.
I have a scenario where I have custom configured column names, associated operators like < > = between etc. and then a value associated.
I'm trying to determine if it is possible to build up a LINQ query with a dynamic (string) where clause?
I've noticed the Predicate.OR Preditcate.AND stuff, but that is not quite what I'm talking about.
Any suggestions?
If you are talking about a string Where clause (rather than building the expression etc yourself) - then the Dynamic LINQ Library (in the 3.5 samples, IIRC) should suffice.
Note that the example below is for database usage; but you can use it with LINQ-to-Objects by calling .AsQueryable() on your in-memory data.
Actually, there is a specific library from Microsoft (System.Linq.Dynamic) that comes with the C# VS2008 samples that supports this. Get it from here (Microsoft Download)
The library is included in the \LinqSamples\DynamicQuery directory of the samples of above download.
For extensive usage examples check this page: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/01/07/dynamic-linq-part-1-using-the-linq-dynamic-query-library.aspx
Also you can use expression trees to created dynamic queries. See:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb397951.aspx
http://www.interact-sw.co.uk/iangblog/2005/09/30/expressiontrees
http://blogs.msdn.com/charlie/archive/2008/01/31/expression-tree-basics.aspx