Method-Based Query Syntax Examples: Join Operators

The examples in this topic demonstrate how to use the Join and GroupJoin methods to query the AdventureWorks Sales Model using method-based query syntax. The AdventureWorks Sales Model used in these examples is built from the Contact, Address, Product, SalesOrderHeader, and SalesOrderDetail tables in the AdventureWorks sample database.

The examples in this topic use the following using/Imports statements:

Option Explicit On
Option Strict On
Imports System.Data.Objects
Imports System.Globalization
using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Data.Objects;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Data.EntityClient;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Data.Common;

GroupJoin

Example

The following example performs a GroupJoin over the SalesOrderHeader and SalesOrderDetail tables to find the number of orders per customer. A group join is the equivalent of a left outer join, which returns each element of the first (left) data source, even if no correlated elements are in the other data source.

Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities
    Dim orders As ObjectSet(Of SalesOrderHeader) = context.SalesOrderHeaders
    Dim details As ObjectSet(Of SalesOrderDetail) = context.SalesOrderDetails

    Dim query = orders.GroupJoin(details, _
            Function(order) order.SalesOrderID, _
            Function(detail) detail.SalesOrderID, _
            Function(order, orderGroup) New With _
            { _
                .CustomerID = order.SalesOrderID, _
                .OrderCount = orderGroup.Count() _
            })

    For Each order In query
        Console.WriteLine("CustomerID: {0}  Orders Count: {1}", _
            order.CustomerID, order.OrderCount)
    Next

End Using
using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    ObjectSet<SalesOrderHeader> orders = context.SalesOrderHeaders;
    ObjectSet<SalesOrderDetail> details = context.SalesOrderDetails;

    var query = orders.GroupJoin(details, 
        order => order.SalesOrderID,
        detail => detail.SalesOrderID,
        (order, orderGroup) => new
        {
            CustomerID = order.SalesOrderID,
            OrderCount = orderGroup.Count()
        });

    foreach (var order in query)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("CustomerID: {0}  Orders Count: {1}",
            order.CustomerID,
            order.OrderCount);
    }

}

Example

The following example performs a GroupJoin over the Contact and SalesOrderHeader tables to find the number of orders per contact. The order count and IDs for each contact are displayed.

Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities
    Dim contacts As ObjectSet(Of Contact) = context.Contacts
    Dim orders As ObjectSet(Of SalesOrderHeader) = context.SalesOrderHeaders

    Dim query = contacts.GroupJoin(orders, _
            Function(contact) contact.ContactID, _
            Function(order) order.Contact.ContactID, _
            Function(contact, contactGroup) New With _
            { _
                .ContactID = contact.ContactID, _
                .OrderCount = contactGroup.Count(), _
                .orders = contactGroup.Select(Function(order) order) _
            })

    For Each group In query
        Console.WriteLine("ContactID: {0}", group.ContactID)
        Console.WriteLine("Order count: {0}", group.OrderCount)

        For Each orderInfo In group.orders
            Console.WriteLine("   Sale ID: {0}", orderInfo.SalesOrderID)
        Next

        Console.WriteLine("")
    Next
End Using
using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    ObjectSet<Contact> contacts = context.Contacts;
    ObjectSet<SalesOrderHeader> orders = context.SalesOrderHeaders;

    var query = contacts.GroupJoin(orders, 
        contact => contact.ContactID,
        order => order.Contact.ContactID,
        (contact, contactGroup) => new
        {
            ContactID = contact.ContactID,
            OrderCount = contactGroup.Count(),
            Orders = contactGroup
        });

    foreach (var group in query)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("ContactID: {0}", group.ContactID);
        Console.WriteLine("Order count: {0}", group.OrderCount);
        foreach (var orderInfo in group.Orders)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("   Sale ID: {0}", orderInfo.SalesOrderID);
        }
        Console.WriteLine("");
    }
    }

Join

Example

The following example performs a join over the Contact and SalesOrderHeader tables.

Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities
    Dim contacts As ObjectSet(Of Contact) = context.Contacts
    Dim orders As ObjectSet(Of SalesOrderHeader) = context.SalesOrderHeaders

    Dim query = _
        contacts.Join( _
            orders, _
            Function(ord) ord.ContactID, _
            Function(cont) cont.Contact.ContactID, _
            Function(cont, ord) New With _
                { _
                    .ContactID = cont.ContactID, _
                    .SalesOrderID = ord.SalesOrderID, _
                    .FirstName = cont.FirstName, _
                    .Lastname = cont.LastName, _
                    .TotalDue = ord.TotalDue _
                })

    For Each contact_order In query
        Console.WriteLine("ContactID: {0} " _
            & "SalesOrderID: {1} " & "FirstName: {2} " _
            & "Lastname: {3} " & "TotalDue: {4}", _
            contact_order.ContactID, _
            contact_order.SalesOrderID, _
            contact_order.FirstName, _
            contact_order.Lastname, _
            contact_order.TotalDue)
    Next
End Using
using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    ObjectSet<Contact> contacts = context.Contacts;
    ObjectSet<SalesOrderHeader> orders = context.SalesOrderHeaders;

    var query =
        contacts.Join(
            orders,
            order => order.ContactID,
            contact => contact.Contact.ContactID,
            (contact, order) => new
            {
                ContactID = contact.ContactID,
                SalesOrderID = order.SalesOrderID,
                FirstName = contact.FirstName,
                Lastname = contact.LastName,
                TotalDue = order.TotalDue
            });

    foreach (var contact_order in query)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("ContactID: {0} "
                        + "SalesOrderID: {1} "
                        + "FirstName: {2} "
                        + "Lastname: {3} "
                        + "TotalDue: {4}",
            contact_order.ContactID,
            contact_order.SalesOrderID,
            contact_order.FirstName,
            contact_order.Lastname,
            contact_order.TotalDue);
    }
}

Example

The following example performs a join over the Contact and SalesOrderHeader tables, grouping the results by contact ID.

Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities
    Dim contacts As ObjectSet(Of Contact) = context.Contacts
    Dim orders As ObjectSet(Of SalesOrderHeader) = context.SalesOrderHeaders

    Dim query = _
        contacts.Join( _
            orders, _
            Function(ord) ord.ContactID, _
            Function(cont) cont.Contact.ContactID, _
            Function(cont, ord) New With _
                { _
                    .ContactID = cont.ContactID, _
                    .SalesOrderID = ord.SalesOrderID, _
                    .FirstName = cont.FirstName, _
                    .Lastname = cont.LastName, _
                    .TotalDue = ord.TotalDue _
                }) _
                .GroupBy(Function(record) record.ContactID)

    For Each group In query
        For Each contact_order In group
            Console.WriteLine("ContactID: {0} " _
                & "SalesOrderID: {1} " & "FirstName: {2} " _
                & "Lastname: {3} " & "TotalDue: {4}", _
                contact_order.ContactID, _
                contact_order.SalesOrderID, _
                contact_order.FirstName, _
                contact_order.Lastname, _
                contact_order.TotalDue)
        Next
    Next
End Using
using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    ObjectSet<Contact> contacts = context.Contacts;
    ObjectSet<SalesOrderHeader> orders = context.SalesOrderHeaders;

    var query = contacts.Join(
        orders,
        order => order.ContactID,
        contact => contact.Contact.ContactID,
        (contact, order) => new
        {
            ContactID = contact.ContactID,
            SalesOrderID = order.SalesOrderID,
            FirstName = contact.FirstName,
            Lastname = contact.LastName,
            TotalDue = order.TotalDue
        })
            .GroupBy(record => record.ContactID);

    foreach (var group in query)
    {
        foreach (var contact_order in group)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("ContactID: {0} "
                            + "SalesOrderID: {1} "
                            + "FirstName: {2} "
                            + "Lastname: {3} "
                            + "TotalDue: {4}",
                contact_order.ContactID,
                contact_order.SalesOrderID,
                contact_order.FirstName,
                contact_order.Lastname,
                contact_order.TotalDue);
        }
    }
}

See Also

Concepts

Queries in LINQ to Entities