How to: Group Data

This topic shows how to group query results. The example returns a set of nested data records that contain the Contact.LastName column, grouped and sorted alphabetically by the first letter of Contact.LastName. The same example is shown using each of the following Entity Framework query technologies:

• LINQ to Entities

• Entity SQL with ObjectQuery<T>

• Query builder methods of ObjectQuery<T>

The example in this topic is based on the Adventure Works Sales Model. To run the code in this topic, you must have already added the Adventure Works Sales Model to your project and configured your project to use the Entity Framework. For more information, see How to: Use the Entity Data Model Wizard (Entity Framework) or How to: Manually Configure an Entity Framework Project and How to: Manually Define an Entity Data Model (Entity Framework).

Example

The following is the LINQ to Entities example.

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

    Dim query = ( _
        From contact In contacts _
        Group By firstLetter = contact.LastName.Substring(0, 1) _
        Into contactGroup = Group _
        Select New With {.FirstLetter = firstLetter, .Names = contactGroup}) _
        .OrderBy(Function(letter) letter.FirstLetter)

    For Each n In query
        Console.WriteLine("Last names that start with the letter '{0}':", _
            n.FirstLetter)
        For Each name In n.Names
            Console.WriteLine(name.LastName)
        Next
    Next
End Using

using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    var query = (
        from contact in context.Contacts
        group contact by contact.LastName.Substring(0, 1) into contactGroup
        select new { FirstLetter = contactGroup.Key, Names = contactGroup }).
            OrderBy(letter => letter.FirstLetter);

    foreach (var contact in query)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Last names that start with the letter '{0}':",
            contact.FirstLetter);
        foreach (var name in contact.Names)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(name.LastName);
        }
    }
}

The following is the Entity SQL example.

Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities()
    Dim esqlQuery As String = "SELECT ln, (SELECT c1.LastName FROM AdventureWorksEntities.Contacts " & _
        " AS c1 WHERE SUBSTRING(c1.LastName ,1,1) = ln) AS CONTACT FROM AdventureWorksEntities.Contacts AS c2 " & _
        " GROUP BY SUBSTRING(c2.LastName ,1,1) AS ln ORDER BY ln"

    For Each rec As DbDataRecord In New ObjectQuery(Of DbDataRecord)(esqlQuery, context)
        Console.WriteLine("Last names that start with the letter '{0}':", rec(0))
        Dim list As List(Of DbDataRecord) = TryCast(rec(1), List(Of DbDataRecord))
        For Each nestedRec As DbDataRecord In list
            For i As Integer = 0 To nestedRec.FieldCount - 1
                Console.WriteLine(" {0} ", nestedRec(i))
            Next
        Next
    Next
End Using

using (AdventureWorksEntities context =
    new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    string esqlQuery = @"SELECT ln, 
        (SELECT c1.LastName FROM AdventureWorksEntities.Contacts 
            AS c1 WHERE SUBSTRING(c1.LastName ,1,1) = ln) 
        AS CONTACT 
        FROM AdventureWorksEntities.Contacts AS c2 GROUP BY SUBSTRING(c2.LastName ,1,1) AS ln
        ORDER BY ln";

    foreach (DbDataRecord rec in
        new ObjectQuery<DbDataRecord>(esqlQuery, context))
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Last names that start with the letter '{0}':",
                    rec[0]);
        List<DbDataRecord> list = rec[1] as List<DbDataRecord>;
        foreach (DbDataRecord nestedRec in list)
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < nestedRec.FieldCount; i++)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("   {0} ", nestedRec[i]);
            }
        }
    }
}

The following is the query builder method example.

Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities()
    ' Define the query with a GROUP BY clause that returns 
    ' a set of nested LastName records grouped by first letter. 
    Dim query As ObjectQuery(Of DbDataRecord) = _
        context.Contacts.GroupBy("SUBSTRING(it.LastName, 1, 1) AS ln", "ln") _
        .Select("it.ln AS ln, (SELECT c1.LastName FROM AdventureWorksEntities.Contacts AS c1 " & _
                "WHERE SubString(c1.LastName, 1, 1) = it.ln) AS CONTACT").OrderBy("it.ln")

    ' Execute the query and walk through the nested records. 
    For Each rec As DbDataRecord In query.Execute(MergeOption.AppendOnly)
        Console.WriteLine("Last names that start with the letter '{0}':", rec(0))
        Dim list As List(Of DbDataRecord) = TryCast(rec(1), List(Of DbDataRecord))
        For Each r As DbDataRecord In list
            For i As Integer = 0 To r.FieldCount - 1
                Console.WriteLine(" {0} ", r(i))
            Next
        Next
    Next
End Using

using (AdventureWorksEntities context =
    new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    // Define the query with a GROUP BY clause that returns
    // a set of nested LastName records grouped by first letter.
    ObjectQuery<DbDataRecord> query =
        context.Contacts
        .GroupBy("SUBSTRING(it.LastName, 1, 1) AS ln", "ln")
        .Select("it.ln AS ln, (SELECT c1.LastName " +
        "FROM AdventureWorksEntities.Contacts AS c1 " +
        "WHERE SubString(c1.LastName, 1, 1) = it.ln) AS CONTACT")
        .OrderBy("it.ln");

    // Execute the query and walk through the nested records.
    foreach (DbDataRecord rec in
        query.Execute(MergeOption.AppendOnly))
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Last names that start with the letter '{0}':",
                    rec[0]);
        List<DbDataRecord> list = rec[1] as List<DbDataRecord>;
        foreach (DbDataRecord r in list)
        {
            for (int i = 0; i < r.FieldCount; i++)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("   {0} ", r[i]);
            }
        }
    }
}

See Also

Concepts

Querying a Conceptual Model