LINQ + type tables best practices - linq-to-sql

Whats the best design pattern to use for LINQ and type tables that exist in SQL.
I have tables in SQL that constrain values to type values, and I want to be able to use this in my C# code as strongly typed values.
My current approach for a 'PackageStatus' type is as follows:
SQL Table
PackageStatusType (int)
desc (varchar)
C# Class - using LINQ
public class PackageStatusType
{
static PackageStatusType()
{
var lookup = (from p in DataProvider.ShipperDB.PackageStatus
select p).ToDictionary(p => p.Desc);
Unknown = lookup["Unknown"];
LabelGenerated = lookup["Label generated"];
ReadyForCollection = lookup["Ready for pickup"];
PickedUp = lookup["Picked up"];
InTransit = lookup["In Transit"];
DeliveryAttempted = lookup["Delivery attempted"];
DeliveredByHand = lookup["By hand"];
DeliveryFailed = lookup["Delivery failed"];
Delivered = lookup["Delivered"];
Voided = lookup["Voided"];
}
public static ShipperDB.Model.PackageStatus Unknown;
public static ShipperDB.Model.PackageStatus LabelGenerated;
public static ShipperDB.Model.PackageStatus ReadyForCollection;
public static ShipperDB.Model.PackageStatus PickedUp;
public static ShipperDB.Model.PackageStatus InTransit;
public static ShipperDB.Model.PackageStatus DeliveryAttempted;
public static ShipperDB.Model.PackageStatus DeliveryFailed;
public static ShipperDB.Model.PackageStatus Delivered;
public static ShipperDB.Model.PackageStatus DeliveredByHand;
public static ShipperDB.Model.PackageStatus Voided;
}
I then can put PackageStatusType.Delivered in my C# code and it will correctly reference the right LINQ entity.
This works fine, but makes me wonder:
a) how can i make this more efficient
b) why doesn't Microsoft seem to provide anything to create strongly typed type tables
c) is my database design even a good one?
d) what is everyone else doing!
thanks!

Linq to SQL allows you to map a string or int column in a database to an enumeration in your C# code. This allows you to let Linq to SQL to map these values for you when you select from the database. In this case, I would change my package status column to be either an int column with the values from the enumeration or a string that represents the values from the enumeration.
In your case, I would have a PackageStatus enumeration with the different values that you specified, and then using the ORM designer or SQLMetal, map that column to that enumeration. The only caveat is that the string values in the column in the database must match the values in the enumeration as Linq to SQL will use Enum.Parse() to map the string values from the database to the enumeration or make sure that the int values in the database match the values from the enumeration.
This is more efficient as you don't even need to map the lookup table at all in the code.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb386947.aspx#EnumMapping describes how this works.

Related

SQLGrammar error when querying MySql view

When a run a GET request i get an exception o.h.engine.jdbc.spi.SqlExceptionHelper : Unknown column 'disburseme0_.reason_type' in 'field list' in stack trace even though i have configured the field correctly in the entity class. I have a Spring Boot SOAP interface that is querying a MySql database view. I have assigned one of the unique keys from the parent tables as the view Id in JPA.
Part of my entity class has:
#Entity
#Table(name="disbursement_payload")
public class Disbursement {
#Id
#Column(name="ID")
private long disbursementId;
#Column(name="ReasonType")
private String reasonType;
public long getDisbursementId() {
return disbursementId;
}
public void setDisbursementId(long disbursementId) {
this.disbursementId = disbursementId;
public String getReasonType() {
return reasonType;
}
public void setReasonType(String reasonType) {
this.reasonType = reasonType;
}
I have the view as:
CREATE VIEW disbursement_payload AS (
SELECT
iso_number AS Currency,
trans_desc AS ReasonType,
account_number AS ReceiverParty,
amount AS Amount
FROM m_payment_detail, m_loan_transaction
WHERE m_payment_detail.`id`= m_loan_transaction.`payment_detail_id` AND
m_payment_detail.`payment_type_id`=2
);
Is there something im missing , in the entity or view definition? I have read one of the comments here could not extract ResultSet in hibernate that i might have to explicitly define the parent schemas. Any assistance, greatly appreciated.
do the mapping for db column and class var name based on camelCase conversion basded on underscore _ separated name
you could try using
CREATE VIEW disbursement_payload AS (
SELECT iso_number AS currency
, trans_desc AS reason_type
, account_number AS receiver_rarty
, amount AS amount
FROM m_payment_detail
INNER JOIN m_loan_transaction
ON m_payment_detail.`id`= m_loan_transaction.`payment_detail_id`
AND m_payment_detail.`payment_type_id`=2
);
the view code is SQL code and hibernate see a view as a table, so the conversion of column name is base on the same rules
and a suggestion you should not use (older) implicit join based on where condition you should use (more recent) explici join sintax ..

Using LongListSelector with a Deployed Database

I'm trying to create an app for Windows Phone 8 that displays data in a LongListSelector that's populated from a SQL CE database that's shipped with the app. I think I have the opening and reading from the database functions down, but I can't correctly use LINQ to SQL to group the data for the LLS.
I've got a database class with a table and corresponding columns. I'm using a helper class "KeyedList" to add a public name for the data from msdn sample code:
public class KeyedList<TKey, TItem> : List<TItem>
{
public TKey Key { protected set; get; }
public KeyedList(TKey key, IEnumerable<TItem> items)
: base(items)
{
Key = key;
}
public KeyedList(IGrouping<TKey, TItem> grouping)
: base(grouping)
{
Key = grouping.Key;
}
}
Then I've got my database context:
dB = new DataContext(DataContext.DBConnectionString);
Finally, here's the LINQ to SQL I'm trying to use:
var items =
from item in dB.TableName
orderby dB.ID
group item by dB.Generation into generation
select new <KeyedList<string,Item>(generation);
var allItems = new List<KeyedList<string, Item>>(items)
I've pretty much taken this code from the sample, but I can't get the grouping and ordering to work when creating allItems for binding to the LongListSelector. I keep getting invalid arguments error.
I'm very new at VB programming and appreciate all the help!
I found the issue. When creating the new Keyed list make sure to use the correct key type and item type. The key type will be the type of the data used by group by, and the item type is your DataContext. So in my case db.Generation is a string and the DataContext type is of type Item.

Select column from non-generic DbSet?

I want to implement a function that accepts a DbSet (non-generic), a string, and object, and returns DbSet. something like the following pseudu:
public static DbSet Any(DbSet set, string propertyName, objectParameter)
{
var tableName = set.TableName;
var columnName = set.GetColumnNameForProperty(propertyName);
var query = string.Format("SELECT TOP(1) {0} FROM {1} WHERE {0} = {2}",
columnName,
tableName,
objectParameter);
}
I think that SQL query is enough since I'll be able to execute it directly on the Database (context.Database.ExecuteSql).
What I want to do is get the table name from the given DbSet, then the column name in the database.
It is not possible from non generic DbSet but this problem can be easily solved by using:
public static IEnumerable<T> Any(DbSet<T> set, string property, objectParameter)
where T : class
{ ... }
Returning DbSet doesn't make sense because once you query data it is not DbSet anymore.
The bigger problem is getting table name from generic DbSet / ObjectSet because this information is not available from those classes. It is almost impossible to get it at all because it requires accessing non public members of items from MetadataWorkspace.

Lists in User Defined Types (SQL Server 2008)

I'm trying to define a new type and have not had much luck finding any information about using lists within them. Basically my new type will contain two lists, lets say x and y of type SqlSingle (the user defined type is written in C#) is this even possible?
If not how are you supposed to go about simulating a two lists of an arbitary length in an SQL Server 2008 column?
I'm possibly going about this the wrong way but it is the best approach I can think of at the moment. Any help is very much appreciated.
You can use a List<T> in a CLR UDT - although CLR types are structs, which should be immutable, so a ReadOnlyCollection<T> would be a better choice if you don't have a very compelling reason for the mutability. What you need to know in either case is that SQL won't know how to use the list itself; you can't simply expose the list type as a public IList<T> or IEnumerable<T> and be on your merry way, like you would be able to do in pure .NET.
Typically the way to get around this would be to expose a Count property and some methods to get at the individual list items.
Also, in this case, instead of maintaining two separate lists of SqlSingle instances, I would create an additional type to represent a single point, so you can manage it independently and pass it around in SQL if you need to:
[Serializable]
[SqlUserDefinedType(Format.Native)]
public struct MyPoint
{
private SqlSingle x;
private SqlSingle y;
public MyPoint()
{
}
public MyPoint(SqlSingle x, SqlSingle y) : this()
{
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
}
// You need this method because SQL can't use the ctors
[SqlFunction(Name = "CreateMyPoint")]
public static MyPoint Create(SqlSingle x, SqlSingle y)
{
return new MyPoint(x, y);
}
// Snip Parse method, Null property, etc.
}
The main type would look something like this:
[Serializable]
[SqlUserDefinedType(Format.UserDefined, IsByteOrdered = true, MaxByteSize = ...)]
public struct MyUdt
{
// Make sure to initialize this in any constructors/builders
private IList<MyPoint> points;
[SqlMethod(OnNullCall = false, IsDeterministic = true, IsPrecise = true)]
public MyPoint GetPoint(int index)
{
if ((index >= 0) && (index < points.Count))
{
return points[index];
}
return MyPoint.Null;
}
public int Count
{
get { return points.Count; }
}
}
If you need SQL to be able to get a sequence of all the points, then you can add an enumerable method to the sequence type as well:
[SqlFunction(FillRowMethodName = "FillPointRow",
TableDefinition = "[X] real, [Y] real")]
public static IEnumerable GetPoints(MyUdt obj)
{
return obj.Points;
}
public static void FillPointRow(object obj, out SqlSingle x, out SqlSingle y)
{
MyPoint point = (MyPoint)obj;
x = point.X;
y = point.Y;
}
You might think that it's possible to use an IEnumerable<T> and/or use an instance method instead of a static one, but don't even bother trying, it doesn't work.
So the way you can use the resulting type in SQL Server is:
DECLARE #UDT MyUdt
SET #UDT = <whatever>
-- Will show the number of points
SELECT #UDT.Count
-- Will show the binary representation of the second point
SELECT #UDT.GetPoint(1) AS [Point]
-- Will show the X and Y values for the second point
SELECT #UDT.GetPoint(1).X AS [X], #UDT.GetPoint(1).Y AS [Y]
-- Will show all the points
SELECT * FROM dbo.GetPoints(#UDT)
Hope this helps get you on the right track. UDTs can get pretty complicated to manage when they're dealing with list/sequence data.
Also note that you'll obviously need to add serialization methods, builder methods, aggregate methods, and so on. It can be quite an ordeal; make sure that this is actually the direction you want to go in, because once you start adding UDT columns it can be very difficult to make changes if you realize that you made the wrong choice.
Lists as you describe are usually normalized - that is, stored in separate tables with one row per item - rather than trying to cram them into a single column. If you can share more info on what you are trying to accomplish, maybe we can offer more assistance.
Edit - suggested table structure:
-- route table--
route_id int (PK)
route_length int (or whatever)
route_info <other fields as needed>
-- waypoint table --
route_id int (PK)
sequence tinyint (PK)
lat decimal(9,6)
lon decimal(9,6)
waypoint_info <other fields as needed>

LINQ to SQL Dynamic Sort question

How do I code the Select clause in my LINQ satament to select column aliases so I can sort on them basically I want to accomplish this SQL statement in LINQ:
select
type_id as id,
type_desc as description
from
dbo.equip_type_avt
order by
description
What do I replace the ????? in my .Select clause in my LINQ statement?
public IQueryable<equip_type_avt> GetGridEquipmentTypes(string sidx, string sord)
{
try
{
return
ulsDB.equip_type_avts
.Select(?????)
.OrderBy(sidx + " " + sord);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
string strErr = ex.Message;
return null;
}
}
You can use an anonymous type:
table.Select(x => new
{
ID = x.type_id,
Description = x.type_desc
});
However, you can't access the properties of an anonymous type outside of the scope where it is declared (without reflection or other dirty hackery, anyway) so if you want to use the result outside of that function you just create a class and create an instance of it in the query using a type initializer:
public class Foobar
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
}
...
table.Select(x => new Foobar() // Note the difference here
{
ID = x.type_id,
Description = x.type_desc
});
Question though: if you want to name the columns differently, why don't you change it in the place where the column-property mapping is declared? In LINQ-to-SQL you can have the database column be named whatever you like but give the property the name "ID" or "Description".
I'm not sure i understand your question, how does sidx and sord relate to your query?
Isn't your problem rather that you have to end your query with OrderBy(...).ThenBy(...) instead of a combined OrderBy?
If you want to sort by a string in the easy way, download the Dynamic LINQ library.
However, that's 2000 lines of code, most of which are entirely redundant for just the purpose of sorting.
Doing it yourself shouldn't be too hard, but requires a fair bit of knowledge on expression trees. I can't really help you there though.
EDIT: I've added another answer, that hopefully answers your actual question :)