Known Issues and Considerations in LINQ to Entities
This section provides information about known issues with LINQ to Entities queries.
LINQ Queries That cannot be Cached
Starting with .NET Framework 4.5, LINQ to Entities queries are automatically cached. However, LINQ to Entities queries that apply the Enumerable.Contains operator to in-memory collections are not automatically cached. Also parameterizing in-memory collections in compiled LINQ queries is not allowed.
Ordering Information Lost
Projecting columns into an anonymous type will cause ordering information to be lost in some queries that are executed against a SQL Server 2005 database set to a compatibility level of "80". This occurs when a column name in the order-by list matches a column name in the selector, as shown in the following example:
using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
// Ordering information is lost when executed against a SQL Server 2005
// database running with a compatibility level of "80".
var results = context.Contacts.SelectMany(c => c.SalesOrderHeaders)
.OrderBy(c => c.SalesOrderDetails.Count)
.Select(c => new { c.SalesOrderDetails.Count });
foreach (var result in results)
Console.WriteLine(result.Count);
}
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities()
' Ordering information is lost when executed against a SQL Server 2005
' database running with a compatibility level of "80".
Dim results = context.Contacts.SelectMany(Function(c) c.SalesOrderHeaders) _
.OrderBy(Function(c) c.SalesOrderDetails.Count) _
.Select(Function(c) New With {c.SalesOrderDetails.Count})
For Each result In results
Console.WriteLine(result.Count)
Next
End Using
Unsigned Integers Not Supported
Specifying an unsigned integer type in a LINQ to Entities query is not supported because the Entity Framework does not support unsigned integers. If you specify an unsigned integer, an ArgumentException exception will be thrown during the query expression translation, as shown in the following example. This example queries for an order with ID 48000.
using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
uint s = UInt32.Parse("48000");
IQueryable<SalesOrderDetail> query = from sale in context.SalesOrderDetails
where sale.SalesOrderID == s
select sale;
// NotSupportedException exception is thrown here.
try
{
foreach (SalesOrderDetail order in query)
Console.WriteLine("SalesOrderID: " + order.SalesOrderID);
}
catch (NotSupportedException ex)
{
Console.WriteLine("Exception: {0}", ex.Message);
}
}
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities()
Dim saleId As UInteger = UInt32.Parse("48000")
Dim query = _
From sale In context.SalesOrderDetails _
Where sale.SalesOrderID = saleId _
Select sale
Try
' NotSupportedException exception is thrown here.
For Each order As SalesOrderDetail In query
Console.WriteLine("SalesOrderID: " & order.SalesOrderID)
Next
Catch ex As NotSupportedException
Console.WriteLine("Exception: " + ex.Message)
End Try
End Using
Type Conversion Errors
In Visual Basic, when a property is mapped to a column of SQL Server bit type with a value of 1 using the CByte function, a SqlException is thrown with an "Arithmetic overflow error" message. The following example queries the Product.MakeFlag column in the AdventureWorks sample database and an exception is thrown when the query results are iterated over.
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities()
Dim productsList = _
From product In context.Products _
Select CByte(product.MakeFlag)
' Throws an SqlException exception with a "Arithmetic overflow error
' for data type tinyint" message when a value of 1 is iterated over.
For Each makeFlag In productsList
Console.WriteLine(makeFlag)
Next
End Using
Referencing Non-Scalar Variables Not Supported
Referencing a non-scalar variables, such as an entity, in a query is not supported. When such a query executes, a NotSupportedException exception is thrown with a message that states "Unable to create a constant value of type EntityType. Only primitive types ('such as Int32, String, and Guid') are supported in this context."
Note
Referencing a collection of scalar variables is supported.
using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
Contact contact = context.Contacts.FirstOrDefault();
// Referencing a non-scalar closure in a query will
// throw an exception when the query is executed.
IQueryable<string> contacts = from c in context.Contacts
where c == contact
select c.LastName;
try
{
foreach (string name in contacts)
{
Console.WriteLine("Name: ", name);
}
}
catch (NotSupportedException ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
}
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities()
Dim contact As Contact = context.Contacts.FirstOrDefault()
' Referencing a non-scalar closure in a query will
' throw an exception when the query is executed.
Dim contacts = From c In context.Contacts _
Where c.Equals(contact) _
Select c.LastName
Try
For Each name As String In contacts
Console.WriteLine("Name: ", name)
Next
Catch ex As Exception
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message)
End Try
End Using
Nested Queries May Fail with SQL Server 2000
With SQL Server 2000, LINQ to Entities queries may fail if they produce nested Transact-SQL queries that are three or more levels deep.
Projecting to an Anonymous Type
If you define your initial query path to include related objects by using the Include method on the ObjectQuery<T> and then use LINQ to project the returned objects to an anonymous type, the objects specified in the include method are not included in the query results.
using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
var resultWithoutRelatedObjects =
context.Contacts.Include("SalesOrderHeaders").Select(c => new { c }).FirstOrDefault();
if (resultWithoutRelatedObjects.c.SalesOrderHeaders.Count == 0)
{
Console.WriteLine("No orders are included.");
}
}
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities()
Dim resultWithoutRelatedObjects = context.Contacts. _
Include("SalesOrderHeaders"). _
Select(Function(c) New With {c}).FirstOrDefault()
If resultWithoutRelatedObjects.c.SalesOrderHeaders.Count = 0 Then
Console.WriteLine("No orders are included.")
End If
End Using
To get related objects, do not project returned types to an anonymous type.
using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
var resultWithRelatedObjects =
context.Contacts.Include("SalesOrderHeaders").Select(c => c).FirstOrDefault();
if (resultWithRelatedObjects.SalesOrderHeaders.Count != 0)
{
Console.WriteLine("Orders are included.");
}
}
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities()
Dim resultWithRelatedObjects = context.Contacts. _
Include("SalesOrderHeaders"). _
Select(Function(c) c).FirstOrDefault()
If resultWithRelatedObjects.SalesOrderHeaders.Count <> 0 Then
Console.WriteLine("Orders are included.")
End If
End Using