General Actions:
Last modified on August 15, 2012 17:22
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In previous topics we've seen how to create a basic LINQ query, how to return part of an entity, how to include related entities, and more. Here are a few more miscellaneous query tips.
Create a Query with no EntityManager Attached
You're familiar with the auto-generated query properties in your domain-specific EntityManager, that's what you're using whenever you do something like the following:
| C# | var mgr = new NorthwindIBEntities(); var customerQuery = mgr.Customers; |
| VB | Dim mgr = New NorthwindIBEntities() Dim customerQuery = mgr.Customers |
These queries are "for" that EntityManager instance. If you use one of the query extension methods such as Execute or ExecuteAsync, the query will be executed by the EntityManager on which the query was created.
| C# | var list = customerQuery.Execute(); |
| VB | Dim list = customerQuery.Execute() |
It's often useful to create a query that can be easily used with any EntityManager however. Suppose your application requires multiple EntityManagers because you need separate editing contexts - separate "sandboxes" - for contemporaneous editing sessions. You know what queries you will need to support the sandbox scenarios. Because you will re-use the query among several EntityManagers, you don't want to tie the query to any particular EntityManager.
You can easily create a query without an EntityManager:
| C# | EntityQuery<Customer> query = new EntityQuery<Customer>(); |
| VB | Dim query As New EntityQuery(Of Customer)() |
You then have a few choices for how you execute this query.
One is to use the query methods on the EntityManager:
| C# | var mgr = new NorthwindIBEntities(); var list = mgr.ExecuteQuery(query); // ... and on another EM ... var mgr2 = new NorthwindIBEntities(); var list2 = mgr2.ExecuteQuery(query); |
| VB | Dim mgr = New NorthwindIBEntities() Dim list = mgr.ExecuteQuery(query) ' ... and on another EM ... Dim mgr2 = New NorthwindIBEntities() Dim list2 = mgr2.ExecuteQuery(query) |
You can also use the With extension method to target an EntityManager. You can use the With method for either an "unattached" query or one created for another EntityManager.
| C# | var query = manager.Customers; var mgr2 = new NorthwindIBEntities(); var query2 = query.With(mgr2); |
| VB | Dim query = manager.Customers Dim mgr2 = New NorthwindIBEntities() Dim query2 = query.With(mgr2) |
Existence queries: are there any entities that match?
If you need to determine whether one or more entities meets certain criteria without retrieving the entities the Any LINQ operator is a good choice.
| C# | string someName = "Some company name"; bool rc = manager.Customers.Any(c => c.CompanyName == someName); |
| VB | Dim someName As String = "Some company name" Dim rc As Boolean = manager.Customers.Any(Function(c) c.CompanyName = someName) |
As an "immediate execution" query, to use this asynchronously you must use AsScalarAsync:
| C# | string someName = "Some company name"; var op = manager.Customers.AsScalarAsync().Any(c => c.CompanyName == someName); op.Completed += (o, args) => { bool rc = args.Result; }; |
| VB | Dim someName As String = "Some company name" Dim op = manager.Customers.AsScalarAsync().Any(Function(c) c.CompanyName = someName) AddHandler op.Completed, Sub(o, args) Dim rc As Boolean = args.Result |
The Count operator is also useful here, if instead of returning a boolean you want the total number matching the criteria.
Use FirstOrNullEntity
First, some explanation of First. The LINQ First operator, in all incarnations, will throw an exception if no items are found. Since you probably don't want your program to terminate for such a simple query, you're usually better off using either the standard LINQ FirstOrDefault or the DevForce extension FirstOrNullEntity.
FirstOrDefault will return the first item or its default value. For a reference type such as an entity the default value is null (Nothing in VB). It's often easier to work with null entities in DevForce, so if you instead use FirstOrNullEntity either the first item matching the selection criteria is returned, or the entity type's null entity.
As an immediate execution query, you must use AsScalarAsync to execute this query in Silverlight.
| C# | Employee emp = manager.Employees.FirstOrNullEntity(e => e.City == "Moscow"); // ... or ... var op = manager.Employees.AsScalarAsync().FirstOrNullEntity(e => e.City == "Moscow"); |
| VB | Dim emp As Employee = manager.Employees.FirstOrNullEntity(Function(e) e.City = "Moscow") ' ... or ... Dim op = manager.Employees.AsScalarAsync().FirstOrNullEntity(Function(e) e.City = "Moscow") |
First vs. Single
The LINQ Single operator returns the one and only element matching the selection criteria. If multiple elements match the criteria, it throws. If no elements match the criteria, it throws. This isn't some diabolical DevForce design, these are the rules of LINQ.
If you do decide to use Single, it's usually best to use either SingleOrDefault or for async only, the DevForce extension SingleOrNullEntity, to ensure that the query won't fail if no item is returned.
First vs. Take(1)
The LINQ Take operator is usually used to take one or more items. You can use Skip with Take to skip items before taking; this is how paging is done.
Take is not an immediate execution query, which can be good news in some environments, and doesn't use AsScalarAsync when executed asynchronously. It also always returns an IEnumerable<T>, so even a Take(1) will return an IEnumerable with the element. If no items matched the criteria then an empty enumeration is returned.
Query using an IN clause
If you've searched in vain for the LINQ equivalent to the SQL "In" clause, you can stop worrying. LINQ uses the Contains operator to implement a query with search criteria for a value in a list. (This is usually translated to a SQL "In" clause by the Entity Framework when the SQL is generated.)
| C# | var countryNames = new List<string> {"UK", "France", "Germany"}; var query = manager.Customers .Where(c => countryNames.Contains(c.Country)); |
| VB | Dim countryNames = New List(Of String) From {"UK", "France", "Germany"} Dim query = manager.Customers.Where(Function(c) countryNames.Contains(c.Country)) |
There is one caveat here, however. Your contains list should be a List<T>, where "T" is a numeric type, a string, a DateTime or a GUID. Why this restriction? The list has to meet DevForce's requirements for known types. DevForce will automatically recognize these lists as known types without any extra effort on your part. If you need some other List then you will need to ensure it can be used in n-tier deployments. You also can't use an array, for example using string[] above will fail in an n-tier deployment. This is due to an arcane data contract naming issue, so don't say we didn't warn you.