given a list of ids, I can query all relevant rows by:
context.Table.Where(q => listOfIds.Contains(q.Id));
But how do you achieve the same functionality when the Table has a composite key?
This is a nasty problem for which I don't know any elegant solution.
Suppose you have these key combinations, and you only want to select the marked ones (*).
Id1 Id2
--- ---
1 2 *
1 3
1 6
2 2 *
2 3 *
... (many more)
How to do this is a way that Entity Framework is happy? Let's look at some possible solutions and see if they're any good.
Solution 1: Join (or Contains) with pairs
The best solution would be to create a list of the pairs you want, for instance Tuples, (List<Tuple<int,int>>) and join the database data with this list:
from entity in db.Table // db is a DbContext
join pair in Tuples on new { entity.Id1, entity.Id2 }
equals new { Id1 = pair.Item1, Id2 = pair.Item2 }
select entity
In LINQ to objects this would be perfect, but, too bad, EF will throw an exception like
Unable to create a constant value of type 'System.Tuple`2 (...) Only primitive types or enumeration types are supported in this context.
which is a rather clumsy way to tell you that it can't translate this statement into SQL, because Tuples is not a list of primitive values (like int or string). For the same reason a similar statement using Contains (or any other LINQ statement) would fail.
Solution 2: In-memory
Of course we could turn the problem into simple LINQ to objects like so:
from entity in db.Table.AsEnumerable() // fetch db.Table into memory first
join pair Tuples on new { entity.Id1, entity.Id2 }
equals new { Id1 = pair.Item1, Id2 = pair.Item2 }
select entity
Needless to say that this is not a good solution. db.Table could contain millions of records.
Solution 3: Two Contains statements (incorrect)
So let's offer EF two lists of primitive values, [1,2] for Id1 and [2,3] for Id2. We don't want to use join, so let's use Contains:
from entity in db.Table
where ids1.Contains(entity.Id1) && ids2.Contains(entity.Id2)
select entity
But now the results also contains entity {1,3}! Well, of course, this entity perfectly matches the two predicates. But let's keep in mind that we're getting closer. In stead of pulling millions of entities into memory, we now only get four of them.
Solution 4: One Contains with computed values
Solution 3 failed because the two separate Contains statements don't only filter the combinations of their values. What if we create a list of combinations first and try to match these combinations? We know from solution 1 that this list should contain primitive values. For instance:
var computed = ids1.Zip(ids2, (i1,i2) => i1 * i2); // [2,6]
and the LINQ statement:
from entity in db.Table
where computed.Contains(entity.Id1 * entity.Id2)
select entity
There are some problems with this approach. First, you'll see that this also returns entity {1,6}. The combination function (a*b) does not produce values that uniquely identify a pair in the database. Now we could create a list of strings like ["Id1=1,Id2=2","Id1=2,Id2=3]" and do
from entity in db.Table
where computed.Contains("Id1=" + entity.Id1 + "," + "Id2=" + entity.Id2)
select entity
(This would work in EF6, not in earlier versions).
This is getting pretty messy. But a more important problem is that this solution is not sargable, which means: it bypasses any database indexes on Id1 and Id2 that could have been used otherwise. This will perform very very poorly.
Solution 5: Best of 2 and 3
So the most viable solution I can think of is a combination of Contains and a join in memory: First do the contains statement as in solution 3. Remember, it got us very close to what we wanted. Then refine the query result by joining the result as an in-memory list:
var rawSelection = from entity in db.Table
where ids1.Contains(entity.Id1) && ids2.Contains(entity.Id2)
select entity;
var refined = from entity in rawSelection.AsEnumerable()
join pair in Tuples on new { entity.Id1, entity.Id2 }
equals new { Id1 = pair.Item1, Id2 = pair.Item2 }
select entity;
It's not elegant, messy all the same maybe, but so far it's the only scalable1 solution to this problem I found, and applied in my own code.
Solution 6: Build a query with OR clauses
Using a Predicate builder like Linqkit or alternatives, you can build a query that contains an OR clause for each element in the list of combinations. This could be a viable option for really short lists. With a couple of hundreds of elements, the query will start performing very poorly. So I don't consider this a good solution unless you can be 100% sure that there will always be a small number of elements. One elaboration of this option can be found here.
Solution 7: Unions
There's also a solution using UNIONs that I posted later here.
1As far as the Contains statement is scalable: Scalable Contains method for LINQ against a SQL backend
Solution for Entity Framework Core with SQL Server
🎉 NEW! QueryableValues EF6 Edition has arrived!
The following solution makes use of QueryableValues. This is a library that I wrote to primarily solve the problem of query plan cache pollution in SQL Server caused by queries that compose local values using the Contains LINQ method. It also allows you to compose values of complex types in your queries in a performant way, which will achieve what's being asked in this question.
First you will need to install and set up the library, after doing that you can use any of the following patterns that will allow you to query your entities using a composite key:
// Required to make the AsQueryableValues method available on the DbContext.
using BlazarTech.QueryableValues;
// Local data that will be used to query by the composite key
// of the fictitious OrderProduct table.
var values = new[]
{
new { OrderId = 1, ProductId = 10 },
new { OrderId = 2, ProductId = 20 },
new { OrderId = 3, ProductId = 30 }
};
// Optional helper variable (needed by the second example due to CS0854)
var queryableValues = dbContext.AsQueryableValues(values);
// Example 1 - Using a Join (preferred).
var example1Results = dbContext
.OrderProduct
.Join(
queryableValues,
e => new { e.OrderId, e.ProductId },
v => new { v.OrderId, v.ProductId },
(e, v) => e
)
.ToList();
// Example 2 - Using Any (similar behavior as Contains).
var example2Results = dbContext
.OrderProduct
.Where(e => queryableValues
.Where(v =>
v.OrderId == e.OrderId &&
v.ProductId == e.ProductId
)
.Any()
)
.ToList();
Useful Links
Nuget Package
GitHub Repository
Benchmarks
QueryableValues is distributed under the MIT license.
You can use Union for each composite primary key:
var compositeKeys = new List<CK>
{
new CK { id1 = 1, id2 = 2 },
new CK { id1 = 1, id2 = 3 },
new CK { id1 = 2, id2 = 4 }
};
IQuerable<CK> query = null;
foreach(var ck in compositeKeys)
{
var temp = context.Table.Where(x => x.id1 == ck.id1 && x.id2 == ck.id2);
query = query == null ? temp : query.Union(temp);
}
var result = query.ToList();
You can create a collection of strings with both keys like this (I am assuming that your keys are int type):
var id1id2Strings = listOfIds.Select(p => p.Id1+ "-" + p.Id2);
Then you can just use "Contains" on your db:
using (dbEntities context = new dbEntities())
{
var rec = await context.Table1.Where(entity => id1id2Strings .Contains(entity.Id1+ "-" + entity.Id2));
return rec.ToList();
}
You need a set of objects representing the keys you want to query.
class Key
{
int Id1 {get;set;}
int Id2 {get;set;}
If you have two lists and you simply check that each value appears in their respective list then you are getting the cartesian product of the lists - which is likely not what you want. Instead you need to query the specific combinations required
List<Key> keys = // get keys;
context.Table.Where(q => keys.Any(k => k.Id1 == q.Id1 && k.Id2 == q.Id2));
I'm not completely sure that this is valid use of Entity Framework; you may have issues with sending the Key type to the database. If that happens then you can be creative:
var composites = keys.Select(k => p1 * k.Id1 + p2 * k.Id2).ToList();
context.Table.Where(q => composites.Contains(p1 * q.Id1 + p2 * q.Id2));
You can create an isomorphic function (prime numbers are good for this), something like a hashcode, which you can use to compare the pair of values. As long as the multiplicative factors are co-prime this pattern will be isomorphic (one-to-one) - i.e. the result of p1*Id1 + p2*Id2 will uniquely identify the values of Id1 and Id2 as long as the prime numbers are correctly chosen.
But then you end up in a situation where you're implementing complex concepts and someone is going to have to support this. Probably better to write a stored procedure which takes the valid key objects.
Ran into this issue as well and needed a solution that both did not perform a table scan and also provided exact matches.
This can be achieved by combining Solution 3 and Solution 4 from Gert Arnold's Answer
var firstIds = results.Select(r => r.FirstId);
var secondIds = results.Select(r => r.SecondId);
var compositeIds = results.Select(r => $"{r.FirstId}:{r.SecondId}");
var query = from e in dbContext.Table
//first check the indexes to avoid a table scan
where firstIds.Contains(e.FirstId) && secondIds.Contains(e.SecondId))
//then compare the compositeId for an exact match
//ToString() must be called unless using EF Core 5+
where compositeIds.Contains(e.FirstId.ToString() + ":" + e.SecondId.ToString()))
select e;
var entities = await query.ToListAsync();
For EF Core I use a slightly modified version of the bucketized IN method by EricEJ to map composite keys as tuples. It performs pretty well for small sets of data.
Sample usage
List<(int Id, int Id2)> listOfIds = ...
context.Table.In(listOfIds, q => q.Id, q => q.Id2);
Implementation
public static IQueryable<TQuery> In<TKey1, TKey2, TQuery>(
this IQueryable<TQuery> queryable,
IEnumerable<(TKey1, TKey2)> values,
Expression<Func<TQuery, TKey1>> key1Selector,
Expression<Func<TQuery, TKey2>> key2Selector)
{
if (values is null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(values));
}
if (key1Selector is null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(key1Selector));
}
if (key2Selector is null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(key2Selector));
}
if (!values.Any())
{
return queryable.Take(0);
}
var distinctValues = Bucketize(values);
if (distinctValues.Length > 1024)
{
throw new ArgumentException("Too many parameters for SQL Server, reduce the number of parameters", nameof(values));
}
var predicates = distinctValues
.Select(v =>
{
// Create an expression that captures the variable so EF can turn this into a parameterized SQL query
Expression<Func<TKey1>> value1AsExpression = () => v.Item1;
Expression<Func<TKey2>> value2AsExpression = () => v.Item2;
var firstEqual = Expression.Equal(key1Selector.Body, value1AsExpression.Body);
var visitor = new ReplaceParameterVisitor(key2Selector.Parameters[0], key1Selector.Parameters[0]);
var secondEqual = Expression.Equal(visitor.Visit(key2Selector.Body), value2AsExpression.Body);
return Expression.AndAlso(firstEqual, secondEqual);
})
.ToList();
while (predicates.Count > 1)
{
predicates = PairWise(predicates).Select(p => Expression.OrElse(p.Item1, p.Item2)).ToList();
}
var body = predicates.Single();
var clause = Expression.Lambda<Func<TQuery, bool>>(body, key1Selector.Parameters[0]);
return queryable.Where(clause);
}
class ReplaceParameterVisitor : ExpressionVisitor
{
private ParameterExpression _oldParameter;
private ParameterExpression _newParameter;
public ReplaceParameterVisitor(ParameterExpression oldParameter, ParameterExpression newParameter)
{
_oldParameter = oldParameter;
_newParameter = newParameter;
}
protected override Expression VisitParameter(ParameterExpression node)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(node, _oldParameter))
return _newParameter;
return base.VisitParameter(node);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Break a list of items tuples of pairs.
/// </summary>
private static IEnumerable<(T, T)> PairWise<T>(this IEnumerable<T> source)
{
var sourceEnumerator = source.GetEnumerator();
while (sourceEnumerator.MoveNext())
{
var a = sourceEnumerator.Current;
sourceEnumerator.MoveNext();
var b = sourceEnumerator.Current;
yield return (a, b);
}
}
private static TKey[] Bucketize<TKey>(IEnumerable<TKey> values)
{
var distinctValueList = values.Distinct().ToList();
// Calculate bucket size as 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,...
var bucket = 1;
while (distinctValueList.Count > bucket)
{
bucket *= 2;
}
// Fill all slots.
var lastValue = distinctValueList.Last();
for (var index = distinctValueList.Count; index < bucket; index++)
{
distinctValueList.Add(lastValue);
}
var distinctValues = distinctValueList.ToArray();
return distinctValues;
}
In the absence of a general solution, I think there are two things to consider:
Avoid multi-column primary keys (will make unit testing easier too).
But if you have to, chances are that one of them will reduce the
query result size to O(n) where n is the size of the ideal query
result. From here, its Solution 5 from Gerd Arnold above.
For example, the problem leading me to this question was querying order lines, where the key is order id + order line number + order type, and the source had the order type being implicit. That is, the order type was a constant, order ID would reduce the query set to order lines of relevant orders, and there would usually be 5 or less of these per order.
To rephrase: If you have a composite key, changes are that one of them have very few duplicates. Apply Solution 5 from above with that.
I tried this solution and it worked with me and the output query was perfect without any parameters
using LinqKit; // nuget
var customField_Ids = customFields?.Select(t => new CustomFieldKey { Id = t.Id, TicketId = t.TicketId }).ToList();
var uniqueIds1 = customField_Ids.Select(cf => cf.Id).Distinct().ToList();
var uniqueIds2 = customField_Ids.Select(cf => cf.TicketId).Distinct().ToList();
var predicate = PredicateBuilder.New<CustomFieldKey>(false); //LinqKit
var lambdas = new List<Expression<Func<CustomFieldKey, bool>>>();
foreach (var cfKey in customField_Ids)
{
var id = uniqueIds1.Where(uid => uid == cfKey.Id).Take(1).ToList();
var ticketId = uniqueIds2.Where(uid => uid == cfKey.TicketId).Take(1).ToList();
lambdas.Add(t => id.Contains(t.Id) && ticketId.Contains(t.TicketId));
}
predicate = AggregateExtensions.AggregateBalanced(lambdas.ToArray(), (expr1, expr2) =>
{
var invokedExpr = Expression.Invoke(expr2, expr1.Parameters.Cast<Expression>());
return Expression.Lambda<Func<CustomFieldKey, bool>>
(Expression.OrElse(expr1.Body, invokedExpr), expr1.Parameters);
});
var modifiedCustomField_Ids = repository.GetTable<CustomFieldLocal>()
.Select(cf => new CustomFieldKey() { Id = cf.Id, TicketId = cf.TicketId }).Where(predicate).ToArray();
I ended up writing a helper for this problem that relies on System.Linq.Dynamic.Core;
Its a lot of code and don't have time to refactor at the moment but input / suggestions appreciated.
public static IQueryable<TEntity> WhereIsOneOf<TEntity, TSource>(this IQueryable<TEntity> dbSet,
IEnumerable<TSource> source,
Expression<Func<TEntity, TSource,bool>> predicate) where TEntity : class
{
var (where, pDict) = GetEntityPredicate(predicate, source);
return dbSet.Where(where, pDict);
(string WhereStr, IDictionary<string, object> paramDict) GetEntityPredicate(Expression<Func<TEntity, TSource, bool>> func, IEnumerable<TSource> source)
{
var firstP = func.Parameters[0];
var binaryExpressions = RecurseBinaryExpressions((BinaryExpression)func.Body);
var i = 0;
var paramDict = new Dictionary<string, object>();
var res = new List<string>();
foreach (var sourceItem in source)
{
var innerRes = new List<string>();
foreach (var bExp in binaryExpressions)
{
var emp = ToEMemberPredicate(firstP, bExp);
var val = emp.GetKeyValue(sourceItem);
var pName = $"#{i++}";
paramDict.Add(pName, val);
var str = $"{emp.EntityMemberName} {emp.SQLOperator} {pName}";
innerRes.Add(str);
}
res.Add( "(" + string.Join(" and ", innerRes) + ")");
}
var sRes = string.Join(" || ", res);
return (sRes, paramDict);
}
EMemberPredicate ToEMemberPredicate(ParameterExpression firstP, BinaryExpression bExp)
{
var lMember = (MemberExpression)bExp.Left;
var rMember = (MemberExpression)bExp.Right;
var entityMember = lMember.Expression == firstP ? lMember : rMember;
var keyMember = entityMember == lMember ? rMember : lMember;
return new EMemberPredicate(entityMember, keyMember, bExp.NodeType);
}
List<BinaryExpression> RecurseBinaryExpressions(BinaryExpression e, List<BinaryExpression> runningList = null)
{
if (runningList == null) runningList = new List<BinaryExpression>();
if (e.Left is BinaryExpression lbe)
{
var additions = RecurseBinaryExpressions(lbe);
runningList.AddRange(additions);
}
if (e.Right is BinaryExpression rbe)
{
var additions = RecurseBinaryExpressions(rbe);
runningList.AddRange(additions);
}
if (e.Left is MemberExpression && e.Right is MemberExpression)
{
runningList.Add(e);
}
return runningList;
}
}
Helper class:
public class EMemberPredicate
{
public readonly MemberExpression EntityMember;
public readonly MemberExpression KeyMember;
public readonly PropertyInfo KeyMemberPropInfo;
public readonly string EntityMemberName;
public readonly string SQLOperator;
public EMemberPredicate(MemberExpression entityMember, MemberExpression keyMember, ExpressionType eType)
{
EntityMember = entityMember;
KeyMember = keyMember;
KeyMemberPropInfo = (PropertyInfo)keyMember.Member;
EntityMemberName = entityMember.Member.Name;
SQLOperator = BinaryExpressionToMSSQLOperator(eType);
}
public object GetKeyValue(object o)
{
return KeyMemberPropInfo.GetValue(o, null);
}
private string BinaryExpressionToMSSQLOperator(ExpressionType eType)
{
switch (eType)
{
case ExpressionType.Equal:
return "==";
case ExpressionType.GreaterThan:
return ">";
case ExpressionType.GreaterThanOrEqual:
return ">=";
case ExpressionType.LessThan:
return "<";
case ExpressionType.LessThanOrEqual:
return "<=";
case ExpressionType.NotEqual:
return "<>";
default:
throw new ArgumentException($"{eType} is not a handled Expression Type.");
}
}
}
Use Like so:
// This can be a Tuple or whatever.. If Tuple, then y below would be .Item1, etc.
// This data structure is up to you but is what I use.
[FromBody] List<CustomerAddressPk> cKeys
var res = await dbCtx.CustomerAddress
.WhereIsOneOf(cKeys, (x, y) => y.CustomerId == x.CustomerId
&& x.AddressId == y.AddressId)
.ToListAsync();
Hope this helps others.
in Case of composite key you can use another idlist and add a condition for that in your code
context.Table.Where(q => listOfIds.Contains(q.Id) && listOfIds2.Contains(q.Id2));
or you can use one another trick create a list of your keys by adding them
listofid.add(id+id1+......)
context.Table.Where(q => listOfIds.Contains(q.Id+q.id1+.......));
I tried this on EF Core 5.0.3 with the Postgres provider.
context.Table
.Select(entity => new
{
Entity = entity,
CompositeKey = entity.Id1 + entity.Id2,
})
.Where(x => compositeKeys.Contains(x.CompositeKey))
.Select(x => x.Entity);
This produced SQL like:
SELECT *
FROM table AS t
WHERE t.Id1 + t.Id2 IN (#__compositeKeys_0)),
Caveats
this should only be used where the combination of Id1 and Id2 will always produce a unique result (e.g., they're both UUIDs)
this cannot use indexes, though you could save the composite key to the db with an index
Why is Entity Framework putting literal values in generated SQL rather than using parameters when using a "SELECT IN":
using (var context = new TestContext())
{
var values = new int[] { 1, 2, 3 };
var query = context.Things.Where(x => values.Contains(x.Id));
Console.WriteLine(query.ToString());
}
This produces the following SQL:
SELECT
[Extent1].[Id] AS [Id]
FROM [dbo].[PaymentConfigurations] AS [Extent1]
WHERE [Extent1].[Id] IN (1, 2, 3)
I see a lot of cached query plans in SQL Server. Is there anyway of making EF to put parameters rather than harcoded values, or activating parameter sniffing is the only option?
It happens also in EF Core.
I can't say why EF (Core) designers decided to use constants instead of variables when translating Enumerable.Contains. As #Gert Arnold pointed out in the comments, could be related to SQL query parameter count limit.
Interestingly, both EF (6.2) and EF Core (2.1.2) generate IN with parameters when you use the equivalent || expression like:
var values = new int[] { 1, 2, 3 };
var value0 = values[0];
var value1 = values[1];
var value2 = values[2];
var query = context.Things.Where(x =>
x.Id == value0 ||
x.Id == value1 ||
x.Id == value2);
EF6.2 generated query is
SELECT
[Extent1].[Id] AS [Id]
FROM [dbo].[Things] AS [Extent1]
WHERE [Extent1].[Id] IN (#p__linq__0,#p__linq__1,#p__linq__2)
EF Core 2.1 does something similar.
So the solution is to convert the Contains expression to || based expression. It has to be dynamically using Expression class methods. And to make it easier to use, could be encapsulated in a custom extension method, which internally user ExpressionVisitor to perform the conversion.
Something like this:
public static partial class EfQueryableExtensions
{
public static IQueryable<T> Parameterize<T>(this IQueryable<T> source)
{
var expression = new ContainsConverter().Visit(source.Expression);
if (expression == source) return source;
return source.Provider.CreateQuery<T>(expression);
}
class ContainsConverter : ExpressionVisitor
{
protected override Expression VisitMethodCall(MethodCallExpression node)
{
if (node.Method.DeclaringType == typeof(Enumerable) &&
node.Method.Name == nameof(Enumerable.Contains) &&
node.Arguments.Count == 2 &&
CanEvaluate(node.Arguments[0]))
{
var values = Expression.Lambda<Func<IEnumerable>>(node.Arguments[0]).Compile().Invoke();
var left = Visit(node.Arguments[1]);
Expression result = null;
foreach (var value in values)
{
// var variable = new Tuple<TValue>(value);
var variable = Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(Tuple<>).MakeGenericType(left.Type), value);
// var right = variable.Item1;
var right = Expression.Property(Expression.Constant(variable), nameof(Tuple<int>.Item1));
var match = Expression.Equal(left, right);
result = result != null ? Expression.OrElse(result, match) : match;
}
return result ?? Expression.Constant(false);
}
return base.VisitMethodCall(node);
}
static bool CanEvaluate(Expression e)
{
if (e == null) return true;
if (e.NodeType == ExpressionType.Convert)
return CanEvaluate(((UnaryExpression)e).Operand);
if (e.NodeType == ExpressionType.MemberAccess)
return CanEvaluate(((MemberExpression)e).Expression);
return e.NodeType == ExpressionType.Constant;
}
}
}
Applying it to the sample query
var values = new int[] { 1, 2, 3 };
var query = context.Things
.Where(x => values.Contains(x.Id))
.Parameterize();
produces the desired translation.
Parameterised queries with IN can be done, though it's a little round-about. You will need to use a direct SQL query, and generate the parameterised SQL manually, something like the following:
var values = new object[] { 1, 2, 3 };
var idx = 0;
var query = context.Things.SqlQuery($#"
SELECT
[Extent1].[Id] AS [Id]
FROM [dbo].[PaymentConfigurations] AS [Extent1]
WHERE [Extent1].[Id] IN ({string.Join(",", values.Select(i => $"#p{idx++}"))})",
values);
The generated list of parameter names are directly embedded into the SQL used in the query, and are provided values by the values parameter. Note that you may need to ensure that your values array is an object[] and not int[] to ensure it's unpacked into the SqlQuery params. This approach is not so easy to maintain as a LINQ query, however sometimes we have to make these compromises for the sake of efficiency.
I am trying to implement the following algorithm using LINQ-to-SQL:
Given a list of strings L, return every row R in the DB for which every string in L is a substring of one of the column values in R.
The question is how do I do this iteratively for every string in L? I don't know how I can slickly put it all into one Linq-To-SQL statement. Note that I have no problem writing code along the lines of:
field1.contains(...) || field2.contains(...) || ...
as there are not that many columns.
E.g., if the input is
["Charlie", "Doctor", "Kor"]
we would output all rows that have a field with "Charlie" as a substring, a field with "Doctor" as a substring, and a field with "Kor" as a substring.
One approach I thought of was to make separate SQL queries for each input value and to take the intersection of all of those.
Another approach is to pick just one of the strings from the input, make a SQL query on that, convert it to a list, and filter out the rest of the strings one at a time using just LINQ in C#.
Any thoughts on an optimal way to do this?
I would try All extension method (EF6 supports it, not sure about LINQ to SQL):
List<string> values = new List<string> { "Charlie", "Doctor", "Kor" };
var query = db.Table
.Where(r => values.All(v => r.Field1.Contains(v) || r.Field2.Contains(v) || ...));
Update: Well, the assumption was wrong - as mentioned in the comments, unfortunately LINQ to SQL does not support the above construct (shame on them).
As usual in such cases, I would build dynamically a corresponding predicate expression.
In this particular case we need something like this (for N fields and M values):
r => (r.Field1.Contains(value1) || r.Field2.Contains(value1) ... || r.FieldN.Contains(value1))
&& (r.Field1.Contains(value2) || r.Field2.Contains(value2) ... || r.FieldN.Contains(value2))
...
&& (r.Field1.Contains(valueM) || r.Field2.Contains(valueM) ... || r.FieldN.Contains(valueM));
And here is a custom extension method which does that:
public static class QueryableExtensions
{
public static IQueryable<T> WhereContainsAll<T>(
this IQueryable<T> source,
IEnumerable<string> values,
params Expression<Func<T, string>>[] members)
{
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "r");
var body = values
.Select(value => members
.Select(member => (Expression)Expression.Call(
Expression.MakeMemberAccess(parameter, ((MemberExpression)member.Body).Member),
"Contains", Type.EmptyTypes, Expression.Constant(value)))
.Aggregate(Expression.OrElse))
.Aggregate(Expression.AndAlso);
var predicate = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, parameter);
return source.Where(predicate);
}
}
and the sample usage would be
List<string> values = new List<string> { "Charlie", "Doctor", "Kor" };
var query = db.Table.WhereContainsAll(values,
r => r.Field1, r => r.Field2, r => r.Field3, ...);
which should lead to a single SQL query which IMO should be optimal because the heavy work will be done by the database engine. Of course the query most likely will cause full table scan, but the same will happen even with single Contains (SQL LIKE) criteria.
Try this (I made an example using Lists):
var dbValues = new List<string> {"hello", "how", "are", "you"};
var substrings = new List<string> {"ello", "re"};
var result = dbValues.Where(i => substrings.Any(l => i.Contains(l))).ToList();
Result will contain {"hello","are"}
Example with database:
using (var db = new MyDatabase())
{
var substrings = new List<string> { "ello", "re" };
var result = db.MyTable.Where(i => substrings.Any(l => i.Value.Contains(l))).ToList();
}
How do you write a dynamic Linq query for the following simple search criteria?
1) StudentNumber
2) LastName
3) LastName and FirstName
//if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(StudentNumber))
var results = (from s in Students
where s.StudentNumber == 1001
select s
);
//else if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(LastName) & (String.IsNullOrEmpty(FirstName))
var results = (from s in Students
where s.LastName == "Tucker"
select s
);
//else if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(LastName) & (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(FirstName))
var results = (from s in Students
where s.LastName == "Tucker" && s.FirstName == "Ron"
select s
);
You need to declare your results variable outside of any individual query. This will allow you append different filters based upon your varying criteria, and append as many filters as you need. An example:
var results = Students.AsEnumerable(); // use .AsQueryable() for EF or Linq-to-SQL
if (!string.IsNullorEmpty(StudentNumber))
{
results = results.Where(s => s.StudentNumber.Equals(StudentNumber));
}
else if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(LastName))
{
results = results.Where(s => s.LastName.Equals(LastName));
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(FirstName))
{
results = results.Where(s => s.FirstName.Equals(FirstName));
// filter is in addition to predicate against LastName
}
}
// results can be used here
If dealing with Linq-to-Entities or -Sql, type the initial query with Students.AsQueryable(); so that the filtering happens at the database rather than inside the application.
Is there a way I can construct the WHERE clause first and use it in a
Linq query without if...else
If you want to build the entire where before the first step of the query, it's the same logic. You are conditionally building the predicate, so you will have some sort of if/else involved. However, to build the entire predicate first, you could build against a Func<Student, bool> for Linq to Objects.
Func<Student, bool> predicate;
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(StudentNumber))
{
predicate = s => s.StudentNumber.Equals(StudentNumber);
}
else if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(LastName))
{
predicate = s => s.LastName.Equals(LastName);
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(FirstName))
{
Func<Student, bool> p = predicate;
predicate = s => p(s) && s.FirstName.Equals(FirstName);
}
}
else
{
predicate = s => true;
}
var query = Students.Where(predicate);
You'll notice it's the exact same if/else structure. You could collapse that down into a complicated conditional expression
Func<Student, bool> predicate;
predicate = s =>
!string.IsNullOrEmpty(StudentNumber)
? s.StudentNumber.Equals(StudentNumber)
: !string.IsNullOrEmpty(LastName)
? !string.IsNullOrEmpty(FirstName)
? s.LastName.Equals(LastName) && s.FirstName.Equals(FirstName)
: s.LastName.Equals(LastName)
: true;
var query = Students.Where(predicate);
But I find that pretty well difficult to follow, certainly as compared to the longer if/else. This predicate is also bigger than the one we build via the if/else, because this one contains all the logic, it's not just the logic we conditionally added.
How do I write a dynamic query for Linq, if I have say Customer class which holds the fields:
string name
string address
int phoneno
I have to query based on information given similar to
query = string.Empty;
if(!string.IsNullorEmpty(name))
{
query += "#name = name";
}
if(!string.IsNullorEmpty(address))
{
query += "#address = address";
}
if(!string.IsNullorEmpty(phoneno))
{
query += "#phoneno = phoneno";
}
var result = from condition in customer
where(query)
select condition;
Edit #1:
the items are changeable at run time like
private Customer[] GetCustomers(Dictionary<string,string> attributes)
{
here the attribute may be, name alone, or name and address, or name address and phoneno
foreach(string field in attributes.key)
{
query += field == attributes[key];
}
Customers[] =ExecuteQuery(query);
}
Is this kind of query supported by LINQ?
Edit #2:
Hi Mouk,
As I am new to C#, I am still struggling, this is not working for me.
var query = _ConfigFile.ConnectionMasterSection;
for(int i = 0; i < filter.count; i++)
{
query = result.Where(p => typeof(ConnectionMaster).GetProperty(filter[i].Attribute).Name == filter[i].Value);
}
This yeilds Empty, where as i used this
var query = _ConfigFile.ConnectionMasterSection;
//Hard coded
res.Where(q => q.category == filter[0].Value);
And it worked as I expected.
Hi Bryan Watts,
I tried your code also and I getting this error: "Lambda Parameter not in scope".
for(int i = 0; i < filter.count; i++)
{
Field item = filter[i];
MemberExpression param = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(Expression.Parameter(typeof(Connection), "p"), typeof(Connection).GetProperty(item.Attribute));
MemberExpression constant = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(Expression.Constant(item), typeof(Field).GetProperty("Value"));
}
try
{
var myquery = Queryable.Where(coll, Expression.Lambda<Func<Connection, bool>>(
Expression.Equal(param, constant), Expression.Parameter(typeof(Connection),"p")));
}
What is the mistake here?
Check out this http://www.albahari.com/nutshell/predicatebuilder.aspx, it allows for strongly typed predicate building, it can be really nice. If you want actually dynamic string built predicates than you can use the LINQ Dynamic Query Library provided by ScottGu.
Both will accomplish what you want although I would recommend the first option before the second.
Allowing you to do:
var predicate = PredicateBuilder.True<MyLinqType>();
if(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(name))
predicate = predicate.And(p => p.name == name);
...
var myResults = Context.MyLinTypeQueryTable.Where(predicate);
And more.
Here you go:
var result = from customer in Customers
where string.IsNullOrEmpty(phoneNo) || customer.PhoneNo == phoneNo
where string.IsNullOrEmpty(address) || customer.Address == address
select customer;
If you're concerned that this generate the optimal SQL query underneath, as always you should attach a SQL Query Analyzer and check. But I believe the expression parser in Linq To Sql will collapse down the where clauses as appropriate based on the value of the arguments.
You can use the fluent interface and add a new Where clause fpr each condition. Something like:
var result = from cus in customers select cus;
if(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(name))
result= result.Where(p => p.Name == name);
EDIT upon hte comment:
if you are querying over a collection in memory, you could retrieve the properties using reflection.
private Customer[] GetCustomers(Dictionary<string,string> attributes)
{
var result = from cus in customers select cus;
foreach(string key in attributes.Keys)
result= result.Where(p => GetProperty(p, key )== attributes[key]);
return result.ToList();
}
Supposing GetProperty retrieve the property by reflection.
Using Linq2Sql this method will result in retrieving all record an then iterating over them using reflection.
I've had good experience with Dynamic LINQ.
I used it for a rich HTML table that could be filtered and sorted server side. The server receives a request containing a request parameter where the key is the name of the property (for example 'Lastname') and the value is the value that the property needs to be sorted on (for example 'Smith'). Using that information I built a query string that I passed to the Dynamic LINQ's Where method.
Roughly, you could think of something like the following:
public static IQueryable<T> Filter<T>(this IQueryable<T> query, Dictionary<string, string> dictionary)
{
Type t = typeof(T);
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
PropertyInfo[] properties = t.GetProperties();
foreach(string key in dictionary.Keys)
{
PropertyInfo property = properties.Where(p => p.Name == key).SingleOrDefault();
if(property != null)
{
if (sb.Length > 0) sb.Append(" && ");
string value = dictionary[key];
sb.Append(string.Format(#"{0}.ToString().Contains(""{1}"")", key, value));
}
}
if (sb.Length > 0)
return query.Where(sb.ToString());
else
return query;
}
The code is out of the top of my head and thus untested.
Of course, this is the most basic version: it does a simple string comparison. If you want to have numerical comparison (meaning you want for example the User where UserID is exactly 100, not where the UserID.ToString().Contains("100")), or query nested Properties (Customer.Company.CompanyAddress for example), or query Collections this gets more complicated. You should also think about security: while Dynamic LINQ is not vulnerable to SQL injection, you shouldn't let it blindly parse all user input.
It sounds like you need to dynamically compose queries.
See my answer to this question.
It explains how queries against an IQueryable<T> are composed by the compiler, and what you can do to add dynamic elements.
Edit
Here is an example of how you would dynamically build a set of Where conditions on top of an IQueryable<Customer>:
// This method ANDs equality expressions for each property, like so:
//
// customers.Where(c => c.Property1 == value1 && c.Property2 == value2 && ...);
private IQueryable<Customer> FilterQuery(IQueryable<Customer> customers, IDictionary<string, string> filter)
{
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Customer), "c");
Expression filterExpression = null;
foreach(var filterItem in filter)
{
var property = typeof(Customer).GetProperty(filterItem.Key);
var propertyAccess = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(parameter, property);
var equality = Expression.Equal(propertyAccess, Expression.Constant(filterItem.Value));
if(filterExpression == null)
{
filterExpression = equality;
}
else
{
filterExpression = Expression.And(filterExpression, equality);
}
}
if(filterExpression != null)
{
var whereBody = Expression.Lambda<Func<Customer, bool>>(filterExpression, parameter);
customers = customers.Where(whereBody);
}
return customers;
}