Entity Framework cycle of data - linq

Question

I have an Account object, which has many Transactions related to it.
In one method, I get all transactions for a particular account.
var transactionlines = (from p in Context.account_transaction
.Include("account_transaction_line")
// .Include("Account")
.Include("account.z_account_type")
.Include("account.institution")
.Include("third_party")
.Include("third_party.z_third_party_type")
.Include("z_account_transaction_type")
.Include("account_transaction_line.transaction_sub_category")
.Include("account_transaction_line.transaction_sub_category.transaction_category")
.Include("z_account_transaction_entry_type")
.Include("account_transaction_line.cost_centre")
where p.account_id == accountId
&& p.deleted == null
select p).ToList();
This is meant to return me a list of transactions, with their related objects. I then pass each object to a Translator, which translates them into data transfer objects, which are then passed back to my main application.
public TransactionDto TranslateTransaction(account_transaction source)
{
LogUserActivity("in TranslateTransaction");
var result = new TransactionDto
{
Id = source.id,
Version = source.version,
AccountId = source.account_id,
// Account = TranslateAccount(source.account, false),
ThirdPartyId = source.third_party_id,
ThirdParty = TranslateThirdParty(source.third_party),
Amount = source.transaction_amount,
EntryTypeId = source.account_transaction_entry_type_id,
EntryType = new ReferenceItemDto
{
Id = source.account_transaction_entry_type_id,
Description = source.z_account_transaction_entry_type.description,
Deleted = source.z_account_transaction_entry_type.deleted != null
},
Notes = source.notes,
TransactionDate = source.transaction_date,
TransactionTypeId = source.account_transaction_type_id,
TransactionType = new ReferenceItemDto
{
Id = source.z_account_transaction_type.id,
Description = source.z_account_transaction_type.description,
Deleted = source.z_account_transaction_type.deleted != null
}
};
... return my object
}
The problem is:
An account has Transactions, and a Transaction therefore belongs to an Account. It seems my translators are being called way too much, and reloading a lot of data because of this.
When I load my transaction object, it's 'account' property has a'transactions' propery, which has a list of all the transactions associated to that account. Each transaction then has an account property... and those account peroprties again, have a list of all the transactions... and on and on it goes.
Is there a way I can limit the loading to one level or something?
I have this set:
Context.Configuration.LazyLoadingEnabled = false;
I was hoping my 'Includes' would be all that is loaded... Don't load 'un-included' related data?
As requested, here is my TranslateAccount method:
public AccountDto TranslateAccount(account p, bool includeCardsInterestRateDataAndBalance)
{
LogUserActivity("in TranslateAccount");
if (p == null)
return null;
var result =
new AccountDto
{
Id = p.id,
Description = p.description,
PortfolioId = p.institution.account_portfolio_id,
AccountNumber = p.account_number,
Institution = TranslateInstitution(p.institution),
AccountType = new ReferenceItemDto
{
Id = p.account_type_id,
Description = p.z_account_type.description
},
AccountTypeId = p.account_type_id,
InstitutionId = p.institution_id,
MinimumBalance = p.min_balance,
OpeningBalance = p.opening_balance,
OpeningDate = p.opening_date
};
if (includeCardsInterestRateDataAndBalance)
{
// Add the assigned cards collection
foreach (var card in p.account_card)
{
result.Cards.Add(new AccountCardDto
{
Id = card.id,
AccountId = card.account_id,
Active = card.active,
CardHolderName = card.card_holder_name,
CardNumber = card.card_number,
ExpiryDate = card.expiry
});
}
// Populate the current interest rate
result.CurrentRate = GetCurrentInterestRate(result.Id);
// Add all rates to the account
foreach (var rate in p.account_rate)
{
result.Rates.Add(
new AccountRateDto
{
Id = rate.id,
Description = rate.description,
Deleted = rate.deleted != null,
AccountId = rate.account_id,
EndDate = rate.end_date,
Rate = rate.rate,
StartDate = rate.start_date
});
}
result.CurrentBalance = CurrentBalance(result.Id);
}
LogUserActivity("out TranslateAccount");
return result;
}

Answer 1

The entity framework context maintains a cache of data that has been pulled out of the database. Regardless of lazy loading being enabled/disabled, you can call Transaction.Account.Transactions[0].Account.Transactions[0]... as much as you want without loading anything else from the database.
The problem is not in the cyclical nature of entity framework objects - it is somewhere in the logic of your translation objects.