Linq to SQL how to do "where [column] in (list of values)"

Here is how I do it by using HashSet

        HashSet<String> hs = new HashSet<string>(new String[] { "Pluto", "Earth", "Neptune" });
        String[] arr =
        {
            "Pluto",
            "Earth",
            "Neptune",
            "Jupiter",
            "Saturn",
            "Mercury",
            "Pluto",
            "Earth",
            "Neptune",
            "Jupiter",
            "Saturn",
            "Mercury",
            // etc.
        };
        ICollection<String> coll = arr;

        String[] arrStrFiltered = coll.Where(str => hs.Contains(str)).ToArray();

HashSet is basically almost to O(1) so your complexity remains O(n).


You could also use:

List<int> codes = new List<int>();

codes.add(1);
codes.add(2);

var foo = from codeData in channel.AsQueryable<CodeData>()
          where codes.Any(code => codeData.CodeID.Equals(code))
          select codeData;

I had been using the method in Jon Skeet's answer, but another one occurred to me using Concat. The Concat method performed slightly better in a limited test, but it's a hassle and I'll probably just stick with Contains, or maybe I'll write a helper method to do this for me. Either way, here's another option if anyone is interested:

The Method

// Given an array of id's
var ids = new Guid[] { ... };

// and a DataContext
var dc = new MyDataContext();

// start the queryable
var query = (
    from thing in dc.Things
    where thing.Id == ids[ 0 ]
    select thing 
);

// then, for each other id
for( var i = 1; i < ids.Count(); i++ ) {
    // select that thing and concat to queryable
    query.Concat(
        from thing in dc.Things
        where thing.Id == ids[ i ]
        select thing
    );
}

Performance Test

This was not remotely scientific. I imagine your database structure and the number of IDs involved in the list would have a significant impact.

I set up a test where I did 100 trials each of Concat and Contains where each trial involved selecting 25 rows specified by a randomized list of primary keys. I've run this about a dozen times, and most times the Concat method comes out 5 - 10% faster, although one time the Contains method won by just a smidgen.


Use

where list.Contains(item.Property)

Or in your case:

var foo = from codeData in channel.AsQueryable<CodeData>()
          where codeIDs.Contains(codeData.CodeId)
          select codeData;

But you might as well do that in dot notation:

var foo = channel.AsQueryable<CodeData>()
                 .Where(codeData => codeIDs.Contains(codeData.CodeId));