linqgroup-byleft-joinmulti-table

LINQ Left Outer Join Multiple Tables with Group Count and Row Concatenation


Can someone help with below please? I simplified the table/column names, etc. I search everywhere but the answers I get are incomplete solutions for the results I want to achieve below. New to LINQ so please be kind. :-)

TABLES

Parent

+----------+------------+------------------+
| ParentId | ParentName | ParentOccupation |
+----------+------------+------------------+
| 1        | Mary       | Teacher          |
| 2        | Anne       | Doctor           |
| 3        | Michael    | Farmer           |
| 4        | Elizabeth  | Police           |
| 5        | Andrew     | Fireman          |
+----------+------------+------------------+

Child

+---------+-----------+-------------+----------+
| ChildId | ChildName | OtherField  | ParentId |
+---------+-----------+-------------+----------+
| 1       | Ashley    | [SomeValue] | 1        |
| 2       | Brooke    | [SomeValue] | 1        |
| 3       | Ashton    | [SomeValue] | 3        |
| 4       | Emma      | [SomeValue] | 4        |
+---------+-----------+-------------+----------+

GrandChild

+--------------+----------------+-------------+---------+
| GrandChildId | GrandChildName | OtherField  | ChildId |
+--------------+----------------+-------------+---------+
| 1            | Andrew         | [SomeValue] | 1       |
| 2            | Isabelle       | [SomeValue] | 2       |
| 3            | Lucas          | [SomeValue] | 2       |
| 4            | Matthew        | [SomeValue] | 4       |
+--------------+----------------+-------------+---------+

EXPECTED RESULTS

+----------+------------+------------------+-----------------------+-------------------------+
| ParentId | ParentName | ParentOccupation | NumberOfGrandChildren | NamesOfGrandChildren    |
+----------+------------+------------------+-----------------------+-------------------------+
| 1        | Mary       | Teacher          | 3                     | Andrew, Isabelle, Lucas |
| 2        | Anne       | Doctor           | 0                     |                         |   
| 3        | Michael    | Farmer           | 0                     |                         |
| 4        | Elizabeth  | Police           | 1                     | Matthew                 |
| 5        | Andrew     | Fireman          | 0                     |                         | 
+----------+------------+------------------+-----------------------+-------------------------+

WHAT I HAVE DONE SO FAR

LEFT OUTER JOINS - getting all the columns but no aggregates

var result1 = (from p in Parent
               join c in Child on p.ParentId equals c.ParentId into pcj
               from pc in pcj.DefaultIfEmpty()
               join g in GrandChild on pc.ChildId equals g.ChildId into cgj
               from cg in cgj.DefaultIfEmpty()
               where [some criteria]
               select new 
               {
                  ParentId = p.ParentId,
                  ParentName = p.ParentName,
                  ChildId = pc.ChildId,
                  ChildName = pc.ChildName,
                  GrandChildId = cg.GrandChildId,
                  GrandChildName = cg.GrandChildName   
               });

COUNTS - contain the aggregate but not all parent columns are there. Also returns 1 in the count, instead of 0.

var result2 = (from p in Parent
               join c in Child on p.ParentId equals c.ParentId into pcj
               from pc in pcj.DefaultIfEmpty()
               join g in GrandChild on pc.ChildId equals g.ChildId into cgj
               from cg in cgj.DefaultIfEmpty()
               where [some criteria]
               group new { p } by new { p.ParentId } into r
               select new 
               {
                  ParentId = r.Key.Id,
                  NumberOfGrandChildren = r.Count()
               });

CONCATENATE COMMA SEPARATED ROW VALUES (for names of grandchildren) - have not attempted yet until I solve the count above, but open for solutions please.

How can I combine and achieve the results above? Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance.


Solution

  • Assuming you are using EF, and you have navigation properties set up, then your query would look like this:

    var result = context.Parents
      .Select(p => new {
        p.ParentId,
        p.ParentName,
        p.ParentOccupation,
        NumberOfGrandChildren = p.Children
           .SelectMany(c => c.GrandChildren)
           .Count(),
        NamesOfGrandChildren = string.Join(", ", p.Children
          .SelectMany(c => c.GrandChildren)
          .Select(g => g.GrandChildName))
      }).ToList();