How to write a expression for a linq to sql property? - linq-to-sql

Question

My appologies upfront for the lengthy question. I made quite an effort to make my question as clear as possible in one go. Please bear with me. ;o) any help will be greatly appreciated!
I have the classes Branch and Text:
class Branch
int ID
Text WebDescription
and a bunch of other properties
class Text
int ID
string UK
string NL
string FR
string IT
and a bunch of other properties as well
I want to only display the ID of the branch and its description in the appropriate language. I want only one query (no extra round trips) which retrieves only two fields (not the whole object).
I found three solutions
Via the object model in the query
// good: no round trips
// good: clean sql
// bad: impossible to use the currentUserLanguage parameter
var lang = "NL";
var dbProject = new ProjectDataContext();
var query = from b in dbProject.GetTable<Branch>()
select new
{
b.ID,
WebDescription = b.WebDescriptionObject.NL // <-- problem
};
var text = query.First().WebDescription;
Via the object model after the query
// good: no round trips (eager loading of text object)
// good: possible to use the currentUserLanguage parameter
// bad: loads the *whole* branch and text object, not just two fields
var lang= "NL";
var dbProject = new ProjectDataContext();
var query = from b in dbProject.GetTable<Branch>()
select new
{
b.ID,
WebDescription = b.GetWebDescriptionAsString(lang)
};
var text = query.First().WebDescription;
Using an expression
// good: I have the feeling I am on the right track
// bad: This doesn't work :o( throws an exception
var lang= "NL";
var dbProject = new ProjectDataContext();
var query = from b in dbProject.GetTable<Branch>()
select new
{
b.ID,
WebDescription = b.GetWebDescriptionAsExpression(lang)
};
var text = query.First().WebDescription;
Here is code for the two methods GetWebDescriptionAsString and GetWebDescriptionAsExpression.
public string GetWebDescriptionAsString(string lang)
{
if (lang== "NL") return WebDescriptionObject.NL;
if (lang== "FR") return WebDescriptionObject.FR;
if (lang== "IT") return WebDescriptionObject.IT;
return WebDescriptionObject.UK;
}
public Expression<Func<Branch, string>> GetWebDescriptionAsExpression(string lang)
{
if (lang== "NL") return b => b.WebDescriptionObject.NL;
if (lang== "FR") return b => b.WebDescriptionObject.FR;
if (lang== "IT") return b => b.WebDescriptionObject.IT;
return b => b.WebDescriptionObject.UK;
}

Answer 1

Without really answering the question, the cleanest approach would be to change the Text structure into a more normalized form like:
Text
ID
TextTranslation
ID
TextID
Lang
TextValue
where each text has a number of translations, one for each language.
The query would become something like:
var q =
from branch in dbProject.Branches
join text in dbProject.Texts on branch.TextID = text.ID
join translation in dbProject.TextTranslations on text.ID = translation.TextID
where translation.Lang == lang
select new
{
branch.ID,
WebDescription = translation.TextValue
};
This approach has other advantages as well, for example adding a new language will not change the model structure.

Answer 2

This would be very easy to do if you used a stored procedure. Are you opposed to using SP's as a solution?

Answer 3

If a stored procedure works, then I am happy to use it.

Answer 4

Thank you for you prompt reply.
I made a quick attempt. The UDF was already there, I just didn't know how to use it. The performance dropped significantly. The first solution is 3 times faster. In my understanding, this approach would require extra round trips to the database. Is that correct?
var query = from b in dbProject.GetTable<Branch>()
select new
{
b.ID,
WebDescription = db.fGetText(b.WebDescriptionID, (currentUserLanguage))
};

Answer 5

Without understanding your whole problem
create a stored procedure like this:
CREATE PROCEDURE spGetTheTextINeed #Language char(2), #BranchID int
AS
/* I don't know how your database is structured so you need to write this */
SELECT MyText from MyTable WHERE Language=#Language and Branch=#BranchID
Then you need to add the sp to your DBML and then you can just call the sp you need with the appropriate parameters:
var query = myDataContext.spGetTheTextINeed("NL",[your branch number])
Dim str As String
str = query.MyText
The code above is not to be exact - I don't understand your full requirements but this should get you started.