[c#] LINQ: "contains" and a Lambda query

I have a List<BuildingStatus> called buildingStatus. I'd like to check whether it contains a status whose char code (returned by GetCharCode()) equals some variable, v.Status.

Is there some way of doing this, along the lines of the (non-compiling) code below?

buildingStatus.Contains(item => item.GetCharValue() == v.Status)

var depthead = (from s in db.M_Users
                  join m in db.M_User_Types on s.F_User_Type equals m.UserType_Id
                  where m.UserType_Name.ToUpper().Trim().Contains("DEPARTMENT HEAD")
                  select new {s.FullName,s.F_User_Type,s.userId,s.UserCode } 
               ).OrderBy(d => d.userId).ToList();

Model.AvailableDeptHead.Add(new SelectListItem { Text = "Select", Value = "0" });
for (int i = 0; i < depthead.Count; i++)
    Model.AvailableDeptHead.Add(new SelectListItem { Text = depthead[i].UserCode + " - " + depthead[i].FullName, Value = Convert.ToString(depthead[i].userId) });

I'm not sure precisely what you're looking for, but this program:

    public class Building
    {
        public enum StatusType
        {
            open,
            closed,
            weird,
        };

        public string Name { get; set; }
        public StatusType Status { get; set; }
    }

    public static List <Building> buildingList = new List<Building> ()
    {
        new Building () { Name = "one", Status = Building.StatusType.open },
        new Building () { Name = "two", Status = Building.StatusType.closed },
        new Building () { Name = "three", Status = Building.StatusType.weird },

        new Building () { Name = "four", Status = Building.StatusType.open },
        new Building () { Name = "five", Status = Building.StatusType.closed },
        new Building () { Name = "six", Status = Building.StatusType.weird },
    };

    static void Main (string [] args)
    {
        var statusList = new List<Building.StatusType> () { Building.StatusType.open, Building.StatusType.closed };

        var q = from building in buildingList
                where statusList.Contains (building.Status)
                select building;

        foreach ( var b in q )
            Console.WriteLine ("{0}: {1}", b.Name, b.Status);
    }

produces the expected output:

one: open
two: closed
four: open
five: closed

This program compares a string representation of the enum and produces the same output:

    public class Building
    {
        public enum StatusType
        {
            open,
            closed,
            weird,
        };

        public string Name { get; set; }
        public string Status { get; set; }
    }

    public static List <Building> buildingList = new List<Building> ()
    {
        new Building () { Name = "one", Status = "open" },
        new Building () { Name = "two", Status = "closed" },
        new Building () { Name = "three", Status = "weird" },

        new Building () { Name = "four", Status = "open" },
        new Building () { Name = "five", Status = "closed" },
        new Building () { Name = "six", Status = "weird" },
    };

    static void Main (string [] args)
    {
        var statusList = new List<Building.StatusType> () { Building.StatusType.open, Building.StatusType.closed };
        var statusStringList = statusList.ConvertAll <string> (st => st.ToString ());

        var q = from building in buildingList
                where statusStringList.Contains (building.Status)
                select building;

        foreach ( var b in q )
            Console.WriteLine ("{0}: {1}", b.Name, b.Status);

        Console.ReadKey ();
    }

I created this extension method to convert one IEnumerable to another, but I'm not sure how efficient it is; it may just create a list behind the scenes.

public static IEnumerable <TResult> ConvertEach (IEnumerable <TSource> sources, Func <TSource,TResult> convert)
{
    foreach ( TSource source in sources )
        yield return convert (source);
}

Then you can change the where clause to:

where statusList.ConvertEach <string> (status => status.GetCharValue()).
    Contains (v.Status)

and skip creating the List<string> with ConvertAll () at the beginning.

Here is how you can use Contains to achieve what you want:

buildingStatus.Select(item => item.GetCharValue()).Contains(v.Status) this will return a Boolean value.

The Linq extension method Any could work for you...

buildingStatus.Any(item => item.GetCharValue() == v.Status)

If I understand correctly, you need to convert the type (char value) that you store in Building list to the type (enum) that you store in buildingStatus list.

(For each status in the Building list//character value//, does the status exists in the buildingStatus list//enum value//)

public static IQueryable<Building> WithStatus(this IQueryable<Building> qry,  
IList<BuildingStatuses> buildingStatus) 
{ 
    return from v in qry
           where ContainsStatus(v.Status)
           select v;
} 


private bool ContainsStatus(v.Status)
{
    foreach(Enum value in Enum.GetValues(typeof(buildingStatus)))
    {
        If v.Status == value.GetCharValue();
            return true;
    }

    return false;
}