linqgenericsentity-framework-6iqueryablefunc

Creating a group by parameter for the get method in a generic repository for entity framework


I am using the repository pattern with Entity Framework as described in this article: repository pattern with Entity Framework In the part where the GenericRepository is described (Generic Repository) there is a method which is used to get entities from the database set called Get. It has an orderBy but no groupBy. I am wondering how one might implement a groupBy in the same manner as the orderBy so that you can specify which field to group by dynamically on the entity.

What I have come up with is this:

Func<IQueryable<TEntity>, IGrouping<string, TEntity>> groupBy = null

and then in the method code it should be used something like this:

if(groupBy != null)
{
    query = groupBy(query).ToList();
}

But this is not compiling since the IGrouping is not queryable. Does someone know how to point me in the right direction or has a solution to this?

Edit: The reason for doing this instead of using groupby on the returned list is for performance reasons. I want the groupby to be sent as an sql statement to the database and resolved there.


Solution

  • Grouping has no sense without projection. So you have to define new method which returns IEnumerable with new type.

    I have added sample of such method. Also removed includeProperties because EF Core ignores Includes during grouping.

    Usage sample:

    _orderRepostory
       .GetGrouped(e => e.UserId, g => new { UserId = g.Key, Count = g.Count()});
    

    And implementation:

     public class GenericRepository<TEntity> where TEntity : class
     {
        ... // other code
    
        public virtual IEnumerable<TResult> GetGrouped<TKey, TResult>(
            Expression<Func<TEntity, TKey>> groupingKey,
            Expression<Func<IGrouping<TKey, TEntity>, TResult>> resultSelector,
            Expression<Func<TEntity, bool>>? filter = null)
        {
            var query = dbSet.AsQueryable();
    
            if (filter != null)
            {
                query = query.Where(filter);
            }
    
            return query.GroupBy(groupingKey).Select(resultSelector);
        }
     }