LEFT JOIN in LINQ to entities?

Question

I'm trying out LINQ to entities.

I have a problem with the following: I want it to do this:

SELECT 
     T_Benutzer.BE_User
    ,T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen.BEBG_BE
FROM T_Benutzer

LEFT JOIN T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen
    ON T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen.BEBG_BE = T_Benutzer.BE_ID 

the closest thing I've come to is this:

        var lol = (
            from u in Repo.T_Benutzer

            //where u.BE_ID == 1
            from o in Repo.T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen.DefaultIfEmpty()
                // on u.BE_ID equals o.BEBG_BE

            where (u.BE_ID == o.BEBG_BE || o.BEBG_BE == null)

            //join bg in Repo.T_Benutzergruppen.DefaultIfEmpty()
            //    on o.BEBG_BG equals bg.ID

            //where bg.ID == 899 

            orderby
                u.BE_Name ascending
                //, bg.Name descending

            //select u 
            select new
            {
                 u.BE_User
                ,o.BEBG_BG
                //, bg.Name 
            }
         ).ToList();

But this generates the same results as an inner join, and not a left join.
Moreover, it creates this completely crazy SQL:

SELECT 
     [Extent1].[BE_ID] AS [BE_ID]
    ,[Extent1].[BE_User] AS [BE_User]
    ,[Join1].[BEBG_BG] AS [BEBG_BG]
FROM  [dbo].[T_Benutzer] AS [Extent1]

CROSS JOIN  
(
    SELECT 
         [Extent2].[BEBG_BE] AS [BEBG_BE]
        ,[Extent2].[BEBG_BG] AS [BEBG_BG]
    FROM ( SELECT 1 AS X ) AS [SingleRowTable1]
    LEFT OUTER JOIN [dbo].[T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen] AS [Extent2] 
        ON 1 = 1 
) AS [Join1]

WHERE [Extent1].[BE_ID] = [Join1].[BEBG_BE] 
OR [Join1].[BEBG_BE] IS NULL

ORDER BY [Extent1].[BE_Name] ASC

How can I do a left join in LINQ-2-entities in a way where another person can still understand what's being done in that code ?

and most-preferably where the generated SQL looks like:

SELECT 
     T_Benutzer.BE_User
    ,T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen.BEBG_BE
FROM T_Benutzer

LEFT JOIN T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen
    ON T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen.BEBG_BE = T_Benutzer.BE_ID 

Malkamalkah

Duplicate - https://mcmap.net/q/63757/-left-outer-join-in-linq – Gusset

@Anand: Nope, join always yields inner join, and from without a condition is a cross-join, the selected answer is, despite its many upvotes, wrong and insufficient. – Malkamalkah

Related post - Linq join iquery, how to use defaultifempty – Cellophane

Possible duplicate of LEFT OUTER JOIN in LINQ – Esemplastic

But the highest voted answer there does generate a Left Outer Join, according to LinqPad. (Maybe things have changed since 2014?) Your answer here does the same thing but in a more concise manner, so I like it. – Rodmann

Answer 1

Ah, got it myselfs.
The quirks and quarks of LINQ-2-entities.
This looks most understandable:

var query2 = (
    from users in Repo.T_Benutzer
    from mappings in Repo.T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen
        .Where(mapping => mapping.BEBG_BE == users.BE_ID).DefaultIfEmpty()
    from groups in Repo.T_Benutzergruppen
        .Where(gruppe => gruppe.ID == mappings.BEBG_BG).DefaultIfEmpty()
    //where users.BE_Name.Contains(keyword)
    // //|| mappings.BEBG_BE.Equals(666)  
    //|| mappings.BEBG_BE == 666 
    //|| groups.Name.Contains(keyword)

    select new
    {
         UserId = users.BE_ID
        ,UserName = users.BE_User
        ,UserGroupId = mappings.BEBG_BG
        ,GroupName = groups.Name
    }

);


var xy = (query2).ToList();

Remove the .DefaultIfEmpty(), and you get an inner join.
That was what I was looking for.

Malkamalkah

Answer 2

You can read an article i have written for joins in LINQ here

var query = 
from  u in Repo.T_Benutzer
join bg in Repo.T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen
    on u.BE_ID equals bg.BEBG_BE
into temp
from j in temp.DefaultIfEmpty()
select new
{
    BE_User = u.BE_User,
    BEBG_BG = (int?)j.BEBG_BG// == null ? -1 : j.BEBG_BG
            //, bg.Name 
}

The following is the equivalent using extension methods:

var query = 
Repo.T_Benutzer
.GroupJoin
(
    Repo.T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen,
    x=>x.BE_ID,
    x=>x.BEBG_BE,
    (o,i)=>new {o,i}
)
.SelectMany
(
    x => x.i.DefaultIfEmpty(),
    (o,i) => new
    {
        BE_User = o.o.BE_User,
        BEBG_BG = (int?)i.BEBG_BG
    }
);

Undercharge

It's T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen, not T_Benutzergruppen, but otherwise correct. Just wonder how this should work when left joining more than two tables. I was looking for a more intuitively understandable method. And I finally found it :) – Malkamalkah

Personally i am used to the extension methods one and i am really fond of it. If you keep repeating the GroupJoin and SelectMany couples you can have a nice ,though long, solution :) – Undercharge

Answer 3

Easy way is to use let keyword. This works for me.

from AItem in Db.A
let BItem = Db.B.Where(x => x.id == AItem.id ).FirstOrDefault() 
where SomeCondition
select new YourViewModel
{
    X1 = AItem.a,
    X2 = AItem.b,
    X3 = BItem.c
}

This is a simulation of Left Join. If each item in B table not match to A item, BItem return null

Chalcanthite

This is just what I needed for my 5 table query!!! Thank you so much for posting this, it saved me hours of headaches! :) – Catechu

This is a very sub-optimal way to do a join. FirstOrDefault is a materializing operator, so each time you issue it, you're actually creating a sub-query. If you nest these things you will generate incredibly bad SQL. "let" is best for inlining variables or doing a many-to-one join relationship, where calling a join does not expand the result set. You're also not using the navigational properties which help clean up your code. This is the better way: from AItem in Db.A let BItem = AItem.B etc – Rior

Answer 4

May be I come later to answer but right now I'm facing with this... if helps there are one more solution (the way i solved it).

    var query2 = (
    from users in Repo.T_Benutzer
    join mappings in Repo.T_Benutzer_Benutzergruppen on mappings.BEBG_BE equals users.BE_ID into tmpMapp
    join groups in Repo.T_Benutzergruppen on groups.ID equals mappings.BEBG_BG into tmpGroups
    from mappings in tmpMapp.DefaultIfEmpty()
    from groups in tmpGroups.DefaultIfEmpty()
    select new
    {
         UserId = users.BE_ID
        ,UserName = users.BE_User
        ,UserGroupId = mappings.BEBG_BG
        ,GroupName = groups.Name
    }

);

By the way, I tried using the Stefan Steiger code which also helps but it was slower as hell.

Prem

Are you by any chance doing it in Linq-2-Objects ? Because there it will be slow, because it doesn't use an index. – Malkamalkah

Answer 5

Lambda Syntax Mapping

The query syntax solutions are good, but there are cases when a lambda syntax solution would be preferable (dealing with Expression Trees, for example). LinqPad conveniently converts query syntax to lambda syntax for a mapped query. With a little adjustment, we end up with:

// Left-join in query syntax (as seen in several other answers)
var querySyntax = 
  from o in dbcontext.Outer
  from i in dbcontext.Inner.Where(i => i.ID == o.ID).DefaultIfEmpty()
  select new { o.ID, i.InnerField };

// Maps roughly to:
var lambdaSyntax = dbcontext.Outer
    .SelectMany(
        o => dbcontext.Inner.Where(i => i.ID == o.ID).DefaultIfEmpty(),
        (o, i) => new { o.ID, i.InnerField }
    );

So a GroupJoin is actually superfluous in lambda syntax. The SelectMany + DefaultIfEmpty mapping is also covered in one of the test cases for the official dotnet/ef6 repo. See SelectMany_with_DefaultIfEmpty_translates_into_left_outer_join.

SelectMany and Other JOINs

The most important thing to take away here is that SelectMany is more versatile than Join when it comes to translating SQL JOINs.

• For inner joins, you can even use SelectMany instead of Join. Just drop the .DefaultIfEmpty().

• You can do a CROSS JOIN if you also drop the Where in the SelectMany.

  See How do you perform a CROSS JOIN with LINQ to SQL?.

Custom Extension Method

Using the above Lambda Statement, we can create an analog to the Join extension method in lambda syntax:

public static class Ext
{
    // The extension method
    public static IQueryable<TResult> LeftOuterJoin<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)
    {
        // Re-context parameter references in key selector lambdas.
        // Will give scoping issues otherwise
        var oParam = Expression.Parameter(
            typeof(TOuter), 
            outerKeySelector.Parameters[0].Name
        );
        var iParam = Expression.Parameter(
            typeof(TInner), 
            innerKeySelector.Parameters[0].Name
        );
        
        var innerLinqTypeArgs = new Type[]{ typeof(TInner) };
        
        // Maps `inner.Where(i => outerKeySelector body == innerKeySelector body)`
        var whereCall = Expression.Call(
            typeof(Queryable), nameof(Queryable.Where), innerLinqTypeArgs,
            // Capture `inner` arg
            Expression.Constant(inner),
            (Expression<Func<TInner, bool>>)Expression.Lambda(
                SwapParams(
                    Expression.Equal(innerKeySelector.Body, outerKeySelector.Body),
                    new[] { iParam, oParam }
                ),
                iParam
            )
        );
        
        // Maps `(IEnumerable<TRight>)<Where Call>.DefaultIfEmpty()`
        // Cast is required to get SelectMany to work
        var dieCall = Expression.Convert(
            Expression.Call(typeof(Queryable), nameof(Queryable.DefaultIfEmpty), innerLinqTypeArgs, whereCall),
            typeof(IEnumerable<TInner>)
        );
        
        // Maps `o => <DefaultIfEmpty Call>`
        var innerLambda = (Expression<Func<TOuter, IEnumerable<TInner>>>)Expression.Lambda(dieCall, oParam);
        
        return outer.SelectMany(innerLambda, resultSelector);
    }
    
    // Core class used by SwapParams
    private class ParamSwapper : ExpressionVisitor
    {
        public ParameterExpression Replacement;
        
        // Replace if names match, otherwise leave alone.
        protected override Expression VisitParameter(ParameterExpression node)
            => node.Name == Replacement.Name ? Replacement : node;
    }
    
    // Swap out a lambda's parameter references for other parameters
    private static Expression SwapParams(Expression tgt, ParameterExpression[] pExps)
    {
        foreach (var pExp in pExps)
            tgt = new ParamSwapper { Replacement = pExp }.Visit(tgt);
            
        return tgt;
    }
}

Example Usage:

dbcontext.Outer
    .LeftOuterJoin(
        dbcontext.Inner, o => o.ID, i => i.ID, 
        (o, i) => new { o.ID, i.InnerField }
    );

Granted, it doesn't save a whole lot of typing, but I think it does make the intention more clear if you're coming from a SQL background.

Rodmann

Answer 6

You can use this not only in entities but also store procedure or other data source:

var customer = (from cus in _billingCommonservice.BillingUnit.CustomerRepository.GetAll()  
                          join man in _billingCommonservice.BillingUnit.FunctionRepository.ManagersCustomerValue()  
                          on cus.CustomerID equals man.CustomerID  
                          // start left join  
                          into a  
                          from b in a.DefaultIfEmpty(new DJBL_uspGetAllManagerCustomer_Result() )  
                          select new { cus.MobileNo1,b.ActiveStatus });  

Tanika

Was having error when mocking query with DefaultIfEmpty. Got from here the idea of creating a default class 'a.DefaultIfEmpty(new DJBL_uspGetAllManagerCustomer_Result() )' and it worked! – Jeannajeanne

Unfortunately creating the entity make the integration test to fail, so not a good solution. – Jeannajeanne

Answer 7

Left join using linq //System.Linq

        Test t = new Test();

        //t.Employees is employee List
        //t.EmployeeDetails is EmployeeDetail List

        var result = from emp in t.Employees
                     join ed in t.EmployeeDetails on emp.Id equals ed.EDId into tmp
                     from final in tmp.DefaultIfEmpty()
                     select new { emp.Id, emp.Name, final?.Address };

        foreach (var r in result)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Employee Id: {r.Id}, and Name: {r.Name}, and address is: {r.Address}");
        }

Knoll

No need to repeat something that has already been said in at least one existing answer. – Governance