C# LINQ .Contains returns empty? - c#

For a school project I need to filter students who have signed up for multiple courses at the same timeblock. Instead of querying the DB via procedures/views I want to use LINQ to filter it in memory for learning purposes.
Everything seems alright according to the debugger however the result of my linq query is 0 and I can't figure out how.
Here's the code:
foreach (Timeblock tb in ctx.Timeblocks)
{
List<Student> doublestudents = new List<Student>();
//Get the schedules matching the timeblock.
Schedule[] schedules = (from sched in ctx.Schedules
where sched.Timeblock.Id == tb.Id
select sched).ToArray();
/\/\/\Gives me 2 schedules matching that timeblock.
if (schedules.Count() > 1)
{
doublestudents = (from s in ctx.Students
where s.Courses.Contains(schedules[0].Course) && s.Courses.Contains(schedules[1].Course)
select s).ToList();
Console.WriteLine(doublestudents.Count); <<< count results in 0 students.
}
}
While debugging it seems everything should work alright.
Each student has a List and each Course hsa a List
schedules[0].Course has Id 1
schedules[0].Course has Id 6
The student with Id 14 has both these courses in it's list.
Still the linq query does not return this student. Can this be because it's not the same reference of course it wont find a match at the .Contains()?
It's driving me totally crazy since every way I try this it wont return any results while there are matches...

You are comparing on Course which is a reference type. This means the objects are pointing to locations in memory rather than the actual values of the Course object itself, so you will never get a match because the courses of the student and the courses from the timeblock query are all held in different areas of memory.
You should instead use a value type for the comparison, like the course ID. Value types are the actual data itself so using something like int (for integer) will let the actual numerical values be compared. Two different int variables set to the same number will result in an equality.
You can also revise the comparison to accept any number of courses instead of just two so that it's much more flexible to use.
if (schedules.Count() > 1)
{
var scheduleCourseIds = schedules.Select(sch => sch.Course.Id).ToList();
doublestudents = (from s in ctx.Students
let studentCourseIds = s.Courses.Select(c => c.Id)
where !scheduleCourseIds.Except(studentCourseIds).Any()
select s).ToList();
Console.WriteLine(doublestudents.Count);
}
Some notes:
Compare the Course IDs (assuming these are unique and what you use to match them in the database) so that you're comparing value types and will get a match.
Use the let keyword in Linq to create temporary variables you can use in the query and make everything more readable.
Use the logic for one set containing all the elements of another set (found here) so you can have any number of duplicated courses to match against.

The problem is that your schedule[0].Course object and the s.Courses, from the new query, are completely different.
you may use the element's key to evaluate your equality condition/expression, as:
if (schedules.Count() > 1)
{
doublestudents = (from s in ctx.Students
where s.Courses.Any(x=> x.Key == schedules[0].Course.Key) && s.Courses.Any(x=> x.Key == schedules[1].Course.Key)
select s).ToList();
Console.WriteLine(doublestudents.Count); <<< count results in 0 students.
}
}
In order to achieve this you will need to include
using System.Linq

As you have guessed, this is probably related to reference equality. Here is a quick fix:
doublestudents =
(from s in ctx.Students
where s.Courses.Any(c => c.Id == schedules[0].Course.Id) &&
s.Courses.Any(c => c.Id == schedules[1].Course.Id)
select s).ToList();
Please note that I am assuming that the Course class has a property called Id which is the primary key. Replace it as needed.
Please note that this code assumes that there are two schedules. You need to work on the code to make it work for any number of schedules.
Another approach is to override the Equals and GetHashCode methods on the Course class so that objects of this type are compared based on their values (the values of their properties, possibly the ID property alone?).

Related

Self join in LINQ

SELECT
FW1.id, count(*)
FROM
firmware FW1
LEFT JOIN
firmware FW2 ON FW1.firmware_group_id = FW2.firmware_group_id
AND FW1.br_date < FW2.br_date
AND FW2.[public]= '1'
GROUP BY
FW1.id
I am looking to convert into linq query. As I know less than symbol cannot be converted into Linq query. Please suggest how to do it. I have a string date and I need to compare into linq.
As you said, Linq does not support other types of join outside of EquiJoin. Docs is pretty clear on what you can do to bypass this:
you could use a simple cross join (a cartesian product), then applying in the where clause the conditions for your non-equijoin.
Or you could use a temporary variable to store a new table with only the attributes you need for your query and, like before, applying the conditions in the where clause.
In your case, a possible Linq query could be this one:
from f1 in firmwares
from f2 in firmwares
let f1_date = DateTime.Parse(f1.Dt)
let f2_date = DateTime.Parse(f2.Dt)
where f1.Group_Id == f2.Group_Id && f1_date < f2_date
group f1 by f1.Id into fres
select new {
Id = fres.Key,
Count = fres.Count()
};
However I am still thinking how to emulate the LEFT JOIN without casting it to a group join.
Of course the < symbol can be used. Just use method syntax instead of query syntax!
Every FW1 has zero or more FW2s. Every FW2 belongs to exactly one FW1. This one-to-many is implemented using foreign key firmware_group_id.
Apparently you want all FW1s, each with the number of its FW2s, that have a property public with a value equal to 1 and a property br-date larger than the value of the br-date of the FW1.
Whenever you want an item with its many sub-items (using a foreign key), like s School with its Students, a Customer with his Orders, a Book with his Pages, you'll need Enumerable.GroupJoin
var result = FW1.GroupJoin(FW2, // GroupJoin FW1 and FW2
fw1 => fw1.firmware_group_id, // from fw1 take the primary key firmware_group_id
fw2 => fw2.firmware_group_id, // from fw2 take the foreing key firmware_group_id
(fw1, fw2s) => new // from every fw1, with all its matching fw2s
{ // make one new object containing the following properties:
Id = fw1.Id,
// Count the fw2s of this fw1 that have public == 1
// and a date larger than fw1.date
Count = fw2.Where(fw2 => fw2.Public == 1 && fw1.br_date < fw2.br_date)
.Count(),
});
Note:

Multiple joins with multiple on statements using Linq Lambda expressions [duplicate]

Suppose I have a list of {City, State}. It originally came from the database, and I have LocationID, but by now I loaded it into memory. Suppose I also have a table of fast food restaurants that has City and State as part of the record. I need to get a list of establishments that match city and state.
NOTE: I try to describe a simplified scenario; my business domain is completely different.
I came up with the following LINQ solution:
var establishments = from r in restaurants
from l in locations
where l.LocationId == id &&
l.City == r.City &&
l.State == r.State
select r
and I feel there must be something better. For starters, I already have City/State in memory - so to go back to the database only to have a join seems very inefficient. I am looking for some way to say {r.City, r.State} match Any(MyList) where MyList is my collection of City/State.
UPDATE
I tried to update based on suggestion below:
List<CityState> myCityStates = ...;
var establishments =
from r in restaurants
join l in myCityStates
on new { r.City, r.State } equals new { l.City, l.State } into gls
select r;
and I got the following compile error:
Error CS1941 The type of one of the expressions in the join clause is incorrect. Type inference failed in the call to 'Join'.
UPDATE 2
Compiler didn't like anonymous class in the join. I made it explicit and it stopped complaining. I'll see if it actually works in the morning...
It seems to me that you need this:
var establishments =
from r in restaurants
join l in locations.Where(x => x.LocationId == id)
on new { r.City, r.State } equals new { l.City, l.State } into gls
select r;
Well, there isn't a lot more that you can do, as long as you rely on a table lookup, the only thing you can do to speed up things is to put an index on City and State.
The linq statement has to translate into a valid SQL Statement, where "Any" would translate to something like :
SELECT * FROM Restaurants where City in ('...all cities')
I dont know if other ORM's give better performance for these types of scenarios that EF, but it might be worth investigating. EF has never had a rumor for being fast on reads.
Edit: You can also do this:
List<string> names = new List { "John", "Max", "Pete" };
bool has = customers.Any(cus => names.Contains(cus.FirstName));
this will produce the necessary IN('value1', 'value2' ...) functionality that you were looking for

LINQ: Is there a way to combine these queries into one?

I have a database that contains 3 tables:
Phones
PhoneListings
PhoneConditions
PhoneListings has a FK from the Phones table(PhoneID), and a FK from the Phone Conditions table(conditionID)
I am working on a function that adds a Phone Listing to the user's cart, and returns all of the necessary information for the user. The phone make and model are contained in the PHONES table, and the details about the Condition are contained in the PhoneConditions table.
Currently I am using 3 queries to obtain all the neccesary information. Is there a way to combine all of this into one query?
public ActionResult phoneAdd(int listingID, int qty)
{
ShoppingBasket myBasket = new ShoppingBasket();
string BasketID = myBasket.GetBasketID(this.HttpContext);
var PhoneListingQuery = (from x in myDB.phoneListings
where x.phonelistingID == listingID
select x).Single();
var PhoneCondition = myDB.phoneConditions
.Where(x => x.conditionID == PhoneListingQuery.phonelistingID).Single();
var PhoneDataQuery = (from ph in myDB.Phones
where ph.PhoneID == PhoneListingQuery.phonePageID
select ph).SingleOrDefault();
}
You could project the result into an anonymous class, or a Tuple, or even a custom shaped entity in a single line, however the overall database performance might not be any better:
var phoneObjects = myDB.phoneListings
.Where(pl => pl.phonelistingID == listingID)
.Select(pl => new
{
PhoneListingQuery = pl,
PhoneCondition = myDB.phoneConditions
.Single(pc => pc.conditionID == pl.phonelistingID),
PhoneDataQuery = myDB.Phones
.SingleOrDefault(ph => ph.PhoneID == pl.phonePageID)
})
.Single();
// Access phoneObjects.PhoneListingQuery / PhoneCondition / PhoneDataQuery as needed
There are also slightly more compact overloads of the LINQ Single and SingleOrDefault extensions which take a predicate as a parameter, which will help reduce the code slightly.
Edit
As an alternative to multiple retrievals from the ORM DbContext, or doing explicit manual Joins, if you set up navigation relationships between entities in your model via the navigable join keys (usually the Foreign Keys in the underlying tables), you can specify the depth of fetch with an eager load, using Include:
var phoneListingWithAssociations = myDB.phoneListings
.Include(pl => pl.PhoneConditions)
.Include(pl => pl.Phones)
.Single(pl => pl.phonelistingID == listingID);
Which will return the entity graph in phoneListingWithAssociations
(Assuming foreign keys PhoneListing.phonePageID => Phones.phoneId and
PhoneCondition.conditionID => PhoneListing.phonelistingID)
You should be able to pull it all in one query with join, I think.
But as pointed out you might not achieve alot of speed from this, as you are just picking the first match and then moving on, not really doing any inner comparisons.
If you know there exist atleast one data point in each table then you might aswell pull all at the same time. if not then waiting with the "sub queries" is nice as done by StuartLC.
var Phone = (from a in myDB.phoneListings
join b in myDB.phoneConditions on a.phonelistingID equals b.conditionID
join c in ph in myDB.Phones on a.phonePageID equals c.PhoneID
where
a.phonelistingID == listingID
select new {
Listing = a,
Condition = b,
Data = c
}).FirstOrDefault();
FirstOrDefault because single throws error if there exists more than one element.

Linq query to db with dynamic where parameters

I have a table with data about cities:
In a search input field the user types an arbitrary number of chars then presses "search" button.
There is also another field where the user can enter the state via a dropdownlist.
Pressing the search button triggers an ajax call to a server controller which receives both the starting chars of the name and the two chars of the state.
The controller should return the list of cities with name starting with the supplied chars.
If the state is passed, the list should contain only those cities whose name starts with the supplied chars AND that are situated in the state.
If the state is not passed all matching cities are returned regardless of the state.
I cannot find a way to write a single Linq statement, because I do not know how to write the part of the query for the state:
Currently I do this:
public ActionResult selectCity(string searchString, string stateCode)
{
List<CityViewModel> mylist = new List<CityViewModel>();
IQueryable<City> mycities = null;
if (stateCode == "")
{
mylist = (from c in db.Cities
where c.name.StartsWith(searchString)
select c);
}
else
{
mylist = (from c in db.Cities
where ((c.name.StartsWith(searchString)) &&
(c.stateCode == stateCode))
select c);
}
<snip>
.....
.....
</snip>
return PartialView("_selComune",elenco);
}
I can't believe that there isn't a way to do this with a single query.
Yes, there is.
You want to say: if stateCode is empty or it matches City.stateCode then include it in result moreover City.Name must always begin with searchString. In code:
var mylist =
from c in db.Cities
where
c.name.StartsWith(searchString)
&& (stateCode == "" || c.stateCode == stateCode)
select c;
Roughly equivalent to this SQL (assuming parameters with proper syntax are provided):
SELECT * FROM Cities
WHERE name LIKE #searchString AND (#stateCode = '' OR stateCode = #stateCode)
SQL Server will optimize second comparison away if first condition is always satisfied (just check Query Execution Plan).
I think it's a typo writing code example but myList isn't List<City> unless you also add ToList() to your LINQ query.
Adriano Repetti's answer allows you to write a single query to handle "nullable" parameters but sometimes it has performance drawbacks, translated in SQL the kind of query may prevent indexes to work.
Please note that the following will also work and build the exact needed query on sql side, with only a bit of more code on LINQ side :
mylist = (from c in db.Cities
where c.name.StartsWith(searchString)
select c);
if (stateCode != "")
{
mylist = mylist.Where(c.stateCode == stateCode);
}
This kind of construct won't replace previous "where" content, it will add any new terms combining them with a "and" operator.
IQeryable is made to allow you to built it in many different lines, not a single one like you did in your code sample.

LINQ Many to Many With In or Contains Clause (and a twist)

I have a many to many table structure called PropertyPets. It contains a dual primary key consisting of a PropertyID (from a Property table) and one or more PetIDs (from a Pet table).
Next I have a search screen where people can multiple select pets from a jquery multiple select dropdown. Let's say somebody selects Dogs and Cats.
Now, I want to be able to return all properties that contain BOTH dogs and cats in the many to many table, PropertyPets. I'm trying to do this with Linq to Sql.
I've looked at the Contains clause, but it doesn't seem to work for my requirement:
var result = properties.Where(p => search.PetType.Contains(p.PropertyPets));
Here, search.PetType is an int[] array of the Id's for Dog and Cat (which were selected in the multiple select drop down). The problem is first, Contains requires a string not an IEnumerable of type PropertyPet. And second, I need to find the properties that have BOTH dogs and cats and not just simply containing one or the other.
Thank you for any pointers.
You can do this using a nested where clause.
You need to filter p.PropertyPets using contains - return all rows where PetID is in search.PetType.
Then only return rows from properties where all search id's have been found - eg number of rows >= number of serach id's
All together:
var result = from p in properties
where p.PropertyPets.Where(c => search.PetType.Contains(c.PetID)).Count() >= search.PetType.Count()
select p;
For the part where Contains requires a string would not be true, Contains should require an int if your search.PetType is int[]. That means that you need to "convert" p.PropertyPets into an int. To convert p.PropertyPets to IEnumerable<int> you need to select the PropertyID field: p.PropertyPets.Select(propertyPet => propertyPet.PropertyID), but that won't get you a single int as required but a whole bunch. (.First() would give you one int but not solve your problem.
What you really want to do is
var result = properties.Where(p =>
search.PetType.Except(p.PropertyPets.Select(propertyPet =>
propertyPet.PropertyID)).Count() == 0);
But Except is not available in LINQ2SQL.
The best option I can find is to apply Contains for each item in search.PetType.
Something like this:
var result = properties;
foreach(var petType in search.PetType)
{
result = from p in result
where p.PropertyPets.Select(propertyPet =>
propertyPet.PropertyID).Contains(petType)
select p;
}

Categories

Resources