[c#] Return anonymous type results?

Using the simple example below, what is the best way to return results from multiple tables using Linq to SQL?

Say I have two tables:

Dogs:   Name, Age, BreedId
Breeds: BreedId, BreedName

I want to return all dogs with their BreedName. I should get all dogs using something like this with no problems:

public IQueryable<Dog> GetDogs()
{
    var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString);
    var result = from d in db.Dogs
                 join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
                 select d;
    return result;
}

But if I want dogs with breeds and try this I have problems:

public IQueryable<Dog> GetDogsWithBreedNames()
{
    var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString);
    var result = from d in db.Dogs
                 join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
                 select new
                        {
                            Name = d.Name,
                            BreedName = b.BreedName
                        };
    return result;
}

Now I realize that the compiler won't let me return a set of anonymous types since it's expecting Dogs, but is there a way to return this without having to create a custom type? Or do I have to create my own class for DogsWithBreedNames and specify that type in the select? Or is there another easier way?

You can not return anonymous types directly, but you can loop them through your generic method. So do most of LINQ extension methods. There is no magic in there, while it looks like it they would return anonymous types. If parameter is anonymous result can also be anonymous.

var result = Repeat(new { Name = "Foo Bar", Age = 100 }, 10);

private static IEnumerable<TResult> Repeat<TResult>(TResult element, int count)
{
    for(int i=0; i<count; i++)
    {
        yield return element;
    }
}

Below an example based on code from original question:

var result = GetDogsWithBreedNames((Name, BreedName) => new {Name, BreedName });


public static IQueryable<TResult> GetDogsWithBreedNames<TResult>(Func<object, object, TResult> creator)
{
    var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString);
    var result = from d in db.Dogs
                    join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
                    select creator(d.Name, b.BreedName);
    return result;
}

Try this to get dynamic data. You can convert code for List<>

public object GetDogsWithBreedNames()
{
    var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString);
    var result = from d in db.Dogs
                 join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
                 select new
                        {
                            Name = d.Name,
                            BreedName = b.BreedName
                        };
    return result.FirstOrDefault();
}

dynamic dogInfo=GetDogsWithBreedNames();
var name = dogInfo.GetType().GetProperty("Name").GetValue(dogInfo, null);
var breedName = dogInfo.GetType().GetProperty("BreedName").GetValue(dogInfo, null);

You can return anonymous types, but it really isn't pretty.

In this case I think it would be far better to create the appropriate type. If it's only going to be used from within the type containing the method, make it a nested type.

Personally I'd like C# to get "named anonymous types" - i.e. the same behaviour as anonymous types, but with names and property declarations, but that's it.

EDIT: Others are suggesting returning dogs, and then accessing the breed name via a property path etc. That's a perfectly reasonable approach, but IME it leads to situations where you've done a query in a particular way because of the data you want to use - and that meta-information is lost when you just return IEnumerable<Dog> - the query may be expecting you to use (say) Breed rather than Ownerdue to some load options etc, but if you forget that and start using other properties, your app may work but not as efficiently as you'd originally envisaged. Of course, I could be talking rubbish, or over-optimising, etc...

Just select dogs, then use dog.Breed.BreedName, this should work fine.

If you have a lot of dogs, use DataLoadOptions.LoadWith to reduce the number of db calls.

Just to add my two cents' worth :-) I recently learned a way of handling anonymous objects. It can only be used when targeting the .NET 4 framework and that only when adding a reference to System.Web.dll but then it's quite simple:

...
using System.Web.Routing;
...

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {

        object anonymous = CallMethodThatReturnsObjectOfAnonymousType();
        //WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS?
        //I know! I'll use a RouteValueDictionary from System.Web.dll
        RouteValueDictionary rvd = new RouteValueDictionary(anonymous);
        Console.WriteLine("Hello, my name is {0} and I am a {1}", rvd["Name"], rvd["Occupation"]);
    }

    private static object CallMethodThatReturnsObjectOfAnonymousType()
    {
        return new { Id = 1, Name = "Peter Perhac", Occupation = "Software Developer" };
    }
}

In order to be able to add a reference to System.Web.dll you'll have to follow rushonerok's advice : Make sure your [project's] target framework is ".NET Framework 4" not ".NET Framework 4 Client Profile".

You must use ToList() method first to take rows from database and then select items as a class. Try this:

public partial class Dog {
    public string BreedName  { get; set; }}

List<Dog> GetDogsWithBreedNames(){
    var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString);
    var result = (from d in db.Dogs
                  join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
                  select new
                  {
                      Name = d.Name,
                      BreedName = b.BreedName
                  }).ToList()
                    .Select(x=> 
                          new Dog{
                              Name = x.Name,
                              BreedName = x.BreedName,
                          }).ToList();
return result;}

So, the trick is first ToList(). It is immediately makes the query and gets the data from database. Second trick is Selecting items and using object initializer to generate new objects with items loaded.

Hope this helps.

BreedId in the Dog table is obviously a foreign key to the corresponding row in the Breed table. If you've got your database set up properly, LINQ to SQL should automatically create an association between the two tables. The resulting Dog class will have a Breed property, and the Breed class should have a Dogs collection. Setting it up this way, you can still return IEnumerable<Dog>, which is an object that includes the breed property. The only caveat is that you need to preload the breed object along with dog objects in the query so they can be accessed after the data context has been disposed, and (as another poster has suggested) execute a method on the collection that will cause the query to be performed immediately (ToArray in this case):

public IEnumerable<Dog> GetDogs()
{
    using (var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString))
    {
        db.LoadOptions.LoadWith<Dog>(i => i.Breed);
        return db.Dogs.ToArray();
    }

}

It is then trivial to access the breed for each dog:

foreach (var dog in GetDogs())
{
    Console.WriteLine("Dog's Name: {0}", dog.Name);
    Console.WriteLine("Dog's Breed: {0}", dog.Breed.Name);        
}

If you have a relationship setup in your database with a foriegn key restraint on BreedId don't you get that already?

So I can now call:

internal Album GetAlbum(int albumId)
{
    return Albums.SingleOrDefault(a => a.AlbumID == albumId);
}

And in the code that calls that:

var album = GetAlbum(1);

foreach (Photo photo in album.Photos)
{
    [...]
}

So in your instance you'd be calling something like dog.Breed.BreedName - as I said, this relies on your database being set up with these relationships.

As others have mentioned, the DataLoadOptions will help reduce the database calls if that's an issue.

No you cannot return anonymous types without going through some trickery.

If you were not using C#, what you would be looking for (returning multiple data without a concrete type) is called a Tuple.

There are alot of C# tuple implementations, using the one shown here, your code would work like this.

public IEnumerable<Tuple<Dog,Breed>> GetDogsWithBreedNames()
{
    var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString);
    var result = from d in db.Dogs
                 join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
                 select new Tuple<Dog,Breed>(d, b);

    return result;
}

And on the calling site:

void main() {
    IEnumerable<Tuple<Dog,Breed>> dogs = GetDogsWithBreedNames();
    foreach(Tuple<Dog,Breed> tdog in dogs)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Dog {0} {1}", tdog.param1.Name, tdog.param2.BreedName);
    }
}

You could do something like this:

public System.Collections.IEnumerable GetDogsWithBreedNames()
{
    var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString);
    var result = from d in db.Dogs
                 join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
                 select new
                        {
                            Name = d.Name,
                            BreedName = b.BreedName
                        };
    return result.ToList();
}

If the main idea is to make the SQL select statement sent to the Database server have only the required fields, and not all the Entity fields, then u can do this:

public class Class1
{
    public IList<Car> getCarsByProjectionOnSmallNumberOfProperties()
    {

        try
        {
            //Get the SQL Context:
            CompanyPossessionsDAL.POCOContext.CompanyPossessionsContext dbContext 
                = new CompanyPossessionsDAL.POCOContext.CompanyPossessionsContext();

            //Specify the Context of your main entity e.g. Car:
            var oDBQuery = dbContext.Set<Car>();

            //Project on some of its fields, so the created select statment that is
            // sent to the database server, will have only the required fields By making a new anonymouse type
            var queryProjectedOnSmallSetOfProperties 
                = from x in oDBQuery
                    select new
                    {
                        x.carNo,
                        x.eName,
                        x.aName
                    };

            //Convert the anonymouse type back to the main entity e.g. Car
            var queryConvertAnonymousToOriginal 
                = from x in queryProjectedOnSmallSetOfProperties
                    select new Car
                    {
                        carNo = x.carNo,
                        eName = x.eName,
                        aName = x.aName
                    };

            //return the IList<Car> that is wanted
            var lst = queryConvertAnonymousToOriginal.ToList();
            return lst;

        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
            throw;
        }
    }
}

Well, if you're returning Dogs, you'd do:

public IQueryable<Dog> GetDogsWithBreedNames()
{
    var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString);
    return from d in db.Dogs
           join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
           select d;
}

If you want the Breed eager-loaded and not lazy-loaded, just use the appropriate DataLoadOptions construct.

In C# 7 you can now use tuples!... which eliminates the need to create a class just to return the result.

Here is a sample code:

public List<(string Name, string BreedName)> GetDogsWithBreedNames()
{
    var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString);
    var result = from d in db.Dogs
             join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
             select new
             {
                Name = d.Name,
                BreedName = b.BreedName
             }.ToList();

    return result.Select(r => (r.Name, r.BreedName)).ToList();
}

You might need to install System.ValueTuple nuget package though.

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but Google led me here based on the keywords. This is how you might query an anonymous type from a list:

var anon = model.MyType.Select(x => new { x.Item1, x.Item2});

Now I realize that the compiler won't let me return a set of anonymous types since it's expecting Dogs, but is there a way to return this without having to create a custom type?

Use use object to return a list of Anonymous types without creating a custom type. This will work without the compiler error (in .net 4.0). I returned the list to the client and then parsed it on JavaScript:

public object GetDogsWithBreedNames()
{
    var db = new DogDataContext(ConnectString);
    var result = from d in db.Dogs
                 join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
                 select new
                        {
                            Name = d.Name,
                            BreedName = b.BreedName
                        };
    return result;
}