IQueryable, IEnumerable and Lists in Linq - c#

I'm experimenting with some queries to find out the best way to get performance gains.
I know that using IQueryable is preferable to performing Linq to Sql or Linq to Entity database queries and that IEnumerable is best used for linq to Objects, Linq to xml, and in memory processing.
I have a linq query as follows on my WCF service. When I try and modify the Controller method that calls this, I get the following design time compile error:
Cannot implicitly convert type 'YeagerTechModel.DropDownLists.ProjectDescription[]' to 'System.Linq.IQueryable'
Note that the ProjectDescription object is defined as follows:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.ServiceModel;
namespace YeagerTechModel.DropDownLists
{
[DataContract]
[Serializable]
public partial class ProjectDescription
{
[DataMember]
public Int16 ProjectID { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public String Description { get; set; }
}
}
Here is the DB method call:
public IQueryable<ProjectDescription> GetProjectDropDownList()
{
try
{
using (YeagerTechEntities DbContext = new YeagerTechEntities())
{
DbContext.Configuration.ProxyCreationEnabled = false;
DbContext.Database.Connection.Open();
IQueryable<ProjectDescription> project = DbContext.Projects.Where(w => w.Notes != null).Select(s =>
new ProjectDescription()
{
ProjectID = s.ProjectID,
Description = s.Description
}
);
return project;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw ex;
}
}
Here is the code in the Controller method:
IQueryable<ProjectDescription> projectDdl = db.GetProjectDropDownList();
Now, prior to this experimentation after reading up on the performance gains of IQueryable, etc, the original method to get the data from the database was as follows:
public List<ProjectDescription> GetProjectDropDownList()
{
try
{
using (YeagerTechEntities DbContext = new YeagerTechEntities())
{
DbContext.Configuration.ProxyCreationEnabled = false;
DbContext.Database.Connection.Open();
var project = DbContext.Projects.Where(w => w.Notes != null).Select(s =>
new ProjectDescription()
{
ProjectID = s.ProjectID,
Description = s.Description
}
);
List<ProjectDescription> myProjects = new List<ProjectDescription>();
myProjects = project.ToList();
return myProjects;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw ex;
}
}
The code in the Controller was as follows:
IEnumerable<ProjectDescription> projectDdl = db.GetProjectDropDownList();
First question is:
Many queries use the var keyword to infer the type coming back. Which one to use when calling the DB to retrieve records? The "var" syntax or the "IQuerable" syntax"?
The second thing I noticed is that on the Controller side, for a collection, it always expects a List object which is easily converted to IEnumerable.
So, based on this premise, I gather that my optimum solution would be as follows:
For the DB method call:
public List<ProjectDescription> GetProjectDropDownList()
{
try
{
using (YeagerTechEntities DbContext = new YeagerTechEntities())
{
DbContext.Configuration.ProxyCreationEnabled = false;
DbContext.Database.Connection.Open();
IQueryable<ProjectDescription> project = DbContext.Projects.Where(w => w.Notes != null).Select(s =>
new ProjectDescription()
{
ProjectID = s.ProjectID,
Description = s.Description
}
);
List<ProjectDescription> myProjects = new List<ProjectDescription>();
myProjects = project.ToList();
return myProjects;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw ex;
}
}
For the code snippet in the Controller, it should be as follows and everything works fine:
IEnumerable<ProjectDescription> projectDdl = db.GetProjectDropDownList();
So, if IQueryable gives better performance (specifically on filtering and supports lazy loading), why not use the last DB method instead of the "var" keyword?
Can somebody help explain what should be the optimum scenario?

Whether you use var or take the time to type out the variable's type isn't really an issue. Your second and third examples both compile into exactly the same code.
Your first implementation, however, is much better than the other two. Your first method return a query. The other two return the results of that query.
So the first implementation allows the caller to apply further filters/mappings/manipulations of that query and have them be reflected in the database query that is called, rather than on the results in memory. It also means that you're deferring actually executing that query until later on when you need it, rather than right now.
That implementation does have a flaw though; you're deferring execution but also disposing of the underlying context before the query is executed. You'll need to scope your context at a "higher" level to ensure that it has not yet been disposed of until after the query has been executed.
As for the error, you haven't shown enough information to see where the problem lies, but you should make an effort to fix it without just doing all of your data manipulation in your application instead of in your database.
Side note: there's no point in catching an exception just to rethrow it. You're doing nothing productive but clearing out the stack trace. Just don't catch the exception in the first place if you have nothing to do with it.

Related

Why is the DbContext closing before I attempt this LINQ query in Entity Framework using FindAsync()?

I'm on a team using an EF, Code-first approach with ODP.Net (Oracle). We need to attempt to write updates to multiple rows in a table, and store any exceptions in a collection to be bubbled up to a handler (so writing doesn't halt because one record can't be written). However, this code throws an exception saying
System.InvalidOperationException: The operation cannot be completed because the DbContext has been disposed.
I'm not sure why. The same behavior occurs if the method is changed to be a synchronous method and uses .Find().
InvModel _model;
public InvoiceRepository(InvModel model)
{
_model = model;
}
public void SetStatusesToSent(IEnumerable<Invoice> Invoices)
{
var exceptions = new List<Exception>();
foreach (var id in invoices)
{
try
{
var iDL = await _model.INVOICES.FindAsync(id);/*THROWS A DBCONTEXT EXCEPTION HERE*/
iDL.STATUS = Statuses.Sent; // get value from Statuses and assign
_model.SaveChanges(); //save changes to the model
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
exceptions.Add(ex);
continue; //not necessary but makes the intent more legible
}
}
}
Additional detail update: _model is injected by DI.
Remember that LINQ executes lazily - that is when you actually use the information.
The problem might be, that Your DbContext has gone out of scope...
Use .ToList() or .ToArray() to force execution at that time.

Update only works in debug mode

I'm new to using entity as a data layer between MVC and SQL Server, so I apologize up front if what I'm doing is bad practice.
Let me start by sharing the code that is handling the update.
Update Delivery:
public bool One(Delivery toUpdate)
{
using (var dbContext = new FDb())
{
try
{
var deliveryInDb = this.dbTable(dbContext).Single(x => x.DeliveryId == toUpdate.DeliveryId);
dbContext.Entry(deliveryInDb).CurrentValues.SetValues(toUpdate);
//removal first
List<DeliveryDay> currentDays = FEngineCore.DeliveryDay.Get.ForValue((x => x.DeliveryId), toUpdate.DeliveryId);
List<DeliveryTime> currentTimes = FEngineCore.DeliveryTime.Get.ForValue((x => x.DeliveryId), toUpdate.DeliveryId);
//remove delivery days that are not needed
foreach (var curDay in currentDays)
{
if (!toUpdate.DeliveryDays.Select(x => x.DeliveryDayId).Contains(curDay.DeliveryDayId))
{
FEngineCore.DeliveryDay.Delete.One((x => x.DeliveryDayId), curDay.DeliveryDayId);
deliveryInDb.DeliveryDays.Remove(curDay);
}
}
//remove delivery times that are not needed
foreach (var curTime in currentTimes)
{
if (!toUpdate.DeliveryTimes.Select(x => x.DeliveryTimeId).Contains(curTime.DeliveryTimeId))
{
FEngineCore.DeliveryTime.Delete.One((x => x.DeliveryTimeId), curTime.DeliveryTimeId);
deliveryInDb.DeliveryTimes.Remove(curTime);
}
}
foreach (var day in toUpdate.DeliveryDays)
{
if (day.DeliveryDayId == 0)
{
dbContext.DeliveryDays.Add(day);
}
else
{
if (dbContext.DeliveryDays.Local.Any(e => e.DeliveryDayId == day.DeliveryDayId))
{
dbContext.Entry(dbContext.DeliveryDays.Local.First(e => e.DeliveryDayId == day.DeliveryDayId)).CurrentValues.SetValues(day);
dbContext.Entry(dbContext.DeliveryDays.Local.First(e => e.DeliveryDayId == day.DeliveryDayId)).State = EntityState.Modified;
}
else
{
DeliveryDay modDay = new DeliveryDay
{
DayOfWeek = day.DayOfWeek,
DeliveryDayId = day.DeliveryDayId,
DeliveryId = day.DeliveryId,
Interval = day.Interval
};
dbContext.DeliveryDays.Attach(modDay);
dbContext.Entry(modDay).State = EntityState.Modified;
}
deliveryInDb.DeliveryDays.Add(day);
}
}
foreach (var time in toUpdate.DeliveryTimes)
{
if (time.DeliveryTimeId == 0)
{
dbContext.DeliveryTimes.Add(time);
}
else
{
if (dbContext.DeliveryTimes.Local.Any(e => e.DeliveryTimeId == time.DeliveryTimeId))
{
dbContext.Entry(dbContext.DeliveryTimes.Local.First(e => e.DeliveryTimeId == time.DeliveryTimeId)).CurrentValues.SetValues(time);
dbContext.Entry(dbContext.DeliveryTimes.Local.First(e => e.DeliveryTimeId == time.DeliveryTimeId)).State = EntityState.Modified;
}
else
{
DeliveryTime modTime = new DeliveryTime
{
DeliveryId = time.DeliveryId,
DeliveryLocationId = time.DeliveryLocationId,
DeliveryTimeId = time.DeliveryTimeId,
DropoffTime = time.DropoffTime
};
dbContext.DeliveryTimes.Attach(modTime);
dbContext.Entry(modTime).State = EntityState.Modified;
}
deliveryInDb.DeliveryTimes.Add(time);
}
}
dbContext.SaveChanges();
dbContext.Entry(deliveryInDb).State = EntityState.Detached;
return true;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.InnerException);
return false;
}
}
}
Let me continue by explaining that the delivery object has 2 children; DeliveryTime and DeliveryDay. The issue that arises happens when I try to remove one deliveryTime and modify nothing else. The end result of running the code normally (not in debug) is that the deliveryTime is in fact not removed. Here's the interesting thing guys, when I debug it and go through the break points, everything works as expected!
Let me continue by posting the code that is running behind the removal method of the deliveryTime (actually all entity objects in my system).
public bool One<V>(Expression<Func<T, V>> property, V value) where V : IComparable
{
using (var dbContext = new FoodsbyDb())
{
try
{
T toDelete;
//get the body as a property that represents the property of the entity object
MemberExpression entityPropertyExpression = property.Body as MemberExpression;
//get the parameter that is representing the entity object
ParameterExpression entityObjectExpression = (ParameterExpression)entityPropertyExpression.Expression;
//represent the value being checked against as an expression constant
Expression valueAsExpression = Expression.Constant(value);
//check the equality of the property and the value
Expression equalsExpression = Expression.Equal(entityPropertyExpression, valueAsExpression);
//create an expression that takes the entity object as a parameter, and checks the equality using the equalsExpression variable
Expression<Func<T, bool>> filterLambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(equalsExpression, entityObjectExpression);
toDelete = this.dbTable(dbContext)
.SingleOrDefault(filterLambda);
if (toDelete != null)
{
this.dbTable(dbContext)
.Remove(toDelete);
dbContext.SaveChanges();
return true;
}
return false;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.InnerException);
return false;
}
}
}
The code above is obviously generic, and it handles all my entity objects. I have tested it in and out and know for sure the problem does not lie in there. I thought it would be helpful to post it so you all can have a full understanding of what's going on.
Here's my best guess as to what's going on:
The reference to the removed deliveryTime still exists when the database context is saved, but when I debug, the system has enough time to remove the context.
Here was one of my attempted solutions:
Remove all references to the children objects immediately after setting currentDays and currentTimes and then proceeding to add them back to deliveryInDb as you enumerate through them.
Because I am new to all of this, if you see some bad practice along with the solution, I wouldn't mind constructive criticism to improve my programming method.
I actually encountered this issue in a project at work. The project is an older MVC4 project using EF 6.1.
In our situation, a simple update attempting to set a related entity property to null was failing to actually set it to null while running the web app normally (in debug mode). When setting a break point on the line of code that sets the property to null the database would be updated as expected, though. So, the update was working when a break point was in place but not working when allowed to run normally.
Using an EF interceptor, we could see that, with the break point in place, the update query was going through as expected.
Now, in our situation the related entity was using the virtual keyword to allow for lazy loading. I think this is the root of the issue. When a break point is present, EF has enough time to both lazily load that related entity and evaluate whatever it needs to evaluate and finally set it to null. When running without a break point, I think EF gets caught up trying to lazily load that entity and therefore fails to think it needs to be updated. To be clear, I was both accessing the related entity property for the first time and setting it null using a one-liner of code.
foo.Bar = null;
I resolved this issue, in our scenario, by accessing that property at least once prior to setting it to null so that EF is forced to load it. With it loaded, setting it to null seems to work as intended now. So again, to be clear, I think the issue is a combo of lazy loading and the one-liner of code both accessing that property for the first time and assigning it to null.
It appears that you're using multiple instances of your DbContext, which are not synchronized.
The solution would be to use a single instance, and pass that instance between your methods.

"Unsupported overload used for query operator 'Where'

I was using the same query before it was working fine. Then I decided to use complied query. So I had to make few changes to the code.
Now when I try to execute the code, I get the error message "Unsupported overload used for query operator 'Where'.
The where clause which I generate from “approvalHelper.GetWhereClauseForApprovalSimpleSearch();” has been tested and works fine.
Only doesn't work for the complied query part as shown in my code
code :
// Complied Query Class
public static class CompliedQuery
{
public static Func<GDataContext, Expression<Func<View_ApprovalSimple, bool>>, IQueryable<View_ApprovalSimple>> getApprovalSimple =
CompiledQuery.Compile<GDataContext, Expression<Func<View_ApprovalSimple, bool>>, IQueryable<View_ApprovalSimple>>(
(db, whereclause) => (from results in db.View_ApprovalSimples.AsExpandable().Where(whereclause)
select results));
}
// this is what is passed into the where clause; Body = {(vas.siteId = 1)}
//the Calling code
public static List<View_ApprovalSimple> GetApprovalSimple(ApprovalsSearchHelperClass _approvalHelper)
{
Expression<Func<View_ApprovalSimple, bool>> whrClause = approvalHelper.GetWhereClauseForApprovalSimpleSearch();
//whrclause; Body = {(vas.siteId = 1)}
try
{
using (GDataContext db = new GDataContext())
{
if (whrClause != null)
{
var varResults = CompliedQuery.getApprovalSimple(db, whrClause);
return varResults.ToList();
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// code to handle error
}
finally
{
}
return null;
}
Any idea what new changes I might have to implement?
Thanks in advance.
Check the namespaces (start off by copying them all from CompliedQuery) to the calling class.
First I was a bit sceptical about this, ran out of options so I finally tried it and it did work.
please follow the link to see answer
Steve's Blog
Great work Steve.

Cannot access a disposed object

Hi could you help me with this error?
Cannot access a disposed object.
Object name: 'DataContext accessed after Dispose.'.
in my GUI
private void InitializePage()
{
cbCategory.DataSource = stock.StockCategory.Get();
}
in Datamodel
public IEnumerable<StockCategory> Get()
{
using (leDataContext db = new leDataContext())
{
try
{
var r = from s in db.StockCategories
select s;
return r;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Logger.Error(typeof(StockCategory), ex.ToString());
throw;
}
}
}
You're disposing the DataContext but returning something that still depends on it.
Options:
Don't dispose the DataContext. I know this sounds weird, but guidance from the LINQ to SQL team (well, Matt Warren) has indicated that in most cases (i.e. if you're not doing anything out of the ordinary) disposal is not required
Call ToList() inside the Get() method's using block.
Note that using a query expression with just a degenerate query is reasonably pointless. (If this is within your own code, even the implicit Select(s => s) won't actually be useful.)
I would suggest changing your method to:
public IList<StockCategory> GetAllStockCategories()
{
using (leDataContext db = new leDataContext())
{
return db.StockCategories.ToList();
}
}
Because of lazy-loading there, the query isn't really executed on the linq statement line. It is executed when you loop over it, or in this case - when you run ToList on it.
When it is executed it must be inside the data context... which is not the case here. You can either return a List from the Get method or insert the setting of the cbCategory.DataSource value into the using (leDataContext...) scope.

Annoying SQL exception, probably due to some code done wrong

I started working on this "already started" project, and I'm having a really annoying error when trying to execute some interactions with SQL Server 2008:
The server failed to resume the
transaction. Desc.:
One of these errors I get in this specific method call:
The aspx.cs Call:
busProcesso openProcess = new busProcesso(pProcessoId);
try
{
if (openProcess.GetDocument() == null)
{
//Irrelevant code.
}
}
catch{ //... }
The Business class (relevant part):
public class busProcesso : IbusProcesso
{
public Processo vProcesso { get; set; }
RENDBDataContext db;
public busProcesso()
{
vProcesso = new Processo();
}
public busProcesso(decimal pProcessoId)
{
db = new RENDBDataContext();
try
{
vProcesso = db.Processos.SingleOrDefault(x => x.Id == pProcessoId);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception(ex.Message, ex);
}
}
public string GetDocument()
{
try
{
string document = null;
foreach (Processo_has_Servico ps in ListaServicosProcesso())
{
if (ps.Servico.Document != null) //Get the error right at this line.
{
document = ps.Servico.Document;
}
}
return document ;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception(ex.Message, ex);
}
}
public IQueryable<Processo_has_Servico> ListaServicosProcesso()
{
db = new RENDBDataContext();
try
{
return from ps in db.Processo_has_Servicos
join s in db.Servicos on ps.Servico_Id equals s.Id
where ps.Processo_Id == vProcesso.Id
select ps;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception(ex.Message, ex);
}
}
}
As I said, the error occurs right at the line:
if (ps.Servico.Document != null) from the GetDocument() method.
Opening SQL Server Activity Monitor, I see there is a process for my database (.Net SqlClient Data Provider)
After some time/use (when I start to get the "server failed to resume the transaction" error), I go to the SQL Server Activity Monitor and there's around 5 or 6 more identical processes that weren't killed and (probably) should've been. When I manually kill them, the error stops for a while, until it starts again.
I'm not really good at working in OO and all, so I'm probably missing something, maybe some way to close one of these connections. Also, any help/tip about this structure will be welcome.
PS. The error doesn't happen everytime. Sometimes it runs just perfectly. Then it starts to give the error. Then it stops. Sometimes it happens just once.. pretty weird.
The code in ListaServicosProcesso is creating the context db. Then it is returning an IQueryable.
At this point no request has been sent to the database.
Then there is a for each in the code. At this point EF says "I need to get the data from the database". So it tries to get the data.
But the context db is now out of scope, so it crashes, on the first line that tries to use the data.
There are 2 ways to get around this:
return a list from ListaServicosProcesso, this will force the database call to execute
move the for each into ListaServicosProcesso
Edit
Pharabus is correct db is not out of scope. The problem is here:
db = new RENDBDataContext();
A new instance of the context is being created without the old one being disposed. Try Dispose of db at the end of ListaServicosProcesso. Even better place db in a using statement. But then the foreach must be moved inside the using statement.
Here's a couple of ideas to try.
1/ You can attach SQL server profiler to see the query that is being executed, which will allow you to copy and paste that query to see the data that is in the database. This might be help.
2/ You never check whether ps.Servico is null - you jump straight to ps.Servico.Document. If ps.Servico is null then you will get a null reference exception if you try to access any properties on that object.
I'm not sure of the exact cause of the error you're seeing (if you Google it, the references are all over the place...), but there are a few things you could improve in your code and I've found that just cleaning things up a bit often makes problems go away. Not always, but often.
I agree with the other answerers that it would help to keep better track of your DataContext(s). For example in you're creating it once in the constructor, then again in ListaServicosProcesso(). At that point vProcesso is on one DataContext and other entities will be on another, which gets messy.
I think you could simplify the whole thing a bit, for example you could combine GetDocument() and ListaServicosProcesso() like this:
public string GetDocument()
{
try
{
// Are you sure vProcesso is not null?
if (vProcesso == null)
return null;
// Only create the context if it wasn't already created,
if (db == null)
db = new RENDBDataContext();
return db.Processo_has_Servicos
.Where(ps => ps.Processo_Id == vProcesso.Id && ps.Servico.Document != null)
.Select(ps => ps.Servico.Document) // use an implicit join
.SingleOrDefault();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception(ex.Message, ex);
}
}

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