Entity framework left join
It might be a bit of an overkill, but I wrote an extension method, so you can do a LeftJoin
using the Join
syntax (at least in method call notation):
persons.LeftJoin(
phoneNumbers,
person => person.Id,
phoneNumber => phoneNumber.PersonId,
(person, phoneNumber) => new
{
Person = person,
PhoneNumber = phoneNumber?.Number
}
);
My code does nothing more than adding a GroupJoin
and a SelectMany
call to the current expression tree. Nevertheless, it looks pretty complicated because I have to build the expressions myself and modify the expression tree specified by the user in the resultSelector
parameter to keep the whole tree translatable by LINQ-to-Entities.
public static class LeftJoinExtension
{
public static IQueryable<TResult> LeftJoin<TOuter, TInner, TKey, TResult>(
this IQueryable<TOuter> outer,
IQueryable<TInner> inner,
Expression<Func<TOuter, TKey>> outerKeySelector,
Expression<Func<TInner, TKey>> innerKeySelector,
Expression<Func<TOuter, TInner, TResult>> resultSelector)
{
MethodInfo groupJoin = typeof (Queryable).GetMethods()
.Single(m => m.ToString() == "System.Linq.IQueryable`1[TResult] GroupJoin[TOuter,TInner,TKey,TResult](System.Linq.IQueryable`1[TOuter], System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable`1[TInner], System.Linq.Expressions.Expression`1[System.Func`2[TOuter,TKey]], System.Linq.Expressions.Expression`1[System.Func`2[TInner,TKey]], System.Linq.Expressions.Expression`1[System.Func`3[TOuter,System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable`1[TInner],TResult]])")
.MakeGenericMethod(typeof (TOuter), typeof (TInner), typeof (TKey), typeof (LeftJoinIntermediate<TOuter, TInner>));
MethodInfo selectMany = typeof (Queryable).GetMethods()
.Single(m => m.ToString() == "System.Linq.IQueryable`1[TResult] SelectMany[TSource,TCollection,TResult](System.Linq.IQueryable`1[TSource], System.Linq.Expressions.Expression`1[System.Func`2[TSource,System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable`1[TCollection]]], System.Linq.Expressions.Expression`1[System.Func`3[TSource,TCollection,TResult]])")
.MakeGenericMethod(typeof (LeftJoinIntermediate<TOuter, TInner>), typeof (TInner), typeof (TResult));
var groupJoinResultSelector = (Expression<Func<TOuter, IEnumerable<TInner>, LeftJoinIntermediate<TOuter, TInner>>>)
((oneOuter, manyInners) => new LeftJoinIntermediate<TOuter, TInner> {OneOuter = oneOuter, ManyInners = manyInners});
MethodCallExpression exprGroupJoin = Expression.Call(groupJoin, outer.Expression, inner.Expression, outerKeySelector, innerKeySelector, groupJoinResultSelector);
var selectManyCollectionSelector = (Expression<Func<LeftJoinIntermediate<TOuter, TInner>, IEnumerable<TInner>>>)
(t => t.ManyInners.DefaultIfEmpty());
ParameterExpression paramUser = resultSelector.Parameters.First();
ParameterExpression paramNew = Expression.Parameter(typeof (LeftJoinIntermediate<TOuter, TInner>), "t");
MemberExpression propExpr = Expression.Property(paramNew, "OneOuter");
LambdaExpression selectManyResultSelector = Expression.Lambda(new Replacer(paramUser, propExpr).Visit(resultSelector.Body), paramNew, resultSelector.Parameters.Skip(1).First());
MethodCallExpression exprSelectMany = Expression.Call(selectMany, exprGroupJoin, selectManyCollectionSelector, selectManyResultSelector);
return outer.Provider.CreateQuery<TResult>(exprSelectMany);
}
private class LeftJoinIntermediate<TOuter, TInner>
{
public TOuter OneOuter { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<TInner> ManyInners { get; set; }
}
private class Replacer : ExpressionVisitor
{
private readonly ParameterExpression _oldParam;
private readonly Expression _replacement;
public Replacer(ParameterExpression oldParam, Expression replacement)
{
_oldParam = oldParam;
_replacement = replacement;
}
public override Expression Visit(Expression exp)
{
if (exp == _oldParam)
{
return _replacement;
}
return base.Visit(exp);
}
}
}
adapted from MSDN, how to left join using EF 4
var query = from u in usergroups
join p in UsergroupPrices on u.UsergroupID equals p.UsergroupID into gj
from x in gj.DefaultIfEmpty()
select new {
UsergroupID = u.UsergroupID,
UsergroupName = u.UsergroupName,
Price = (x == null ? String.Empty : x.Price)
};
Please make your life easier (don't use join into group):
var query = from ug in UserGroups
from ugp in UserGroupPrices.Where(x => x.UserGroupId == ug.Id).DefaultIfEmpty()
select new
{
UserGroupID = ug.UserGroupID,
UserGroupName = ug.UserGroupName,
Price = ugp != null ? ugp.Price : 0 //this is to handle nulls as even when Price is non-nullable prop it may come as null from SQL (result of Left Outer Join)
};