How to implement EntityDataSource Where IN entity sql clause

Posted by TonyS on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by TonyS
Published on 2010-05-04T21:01:22Z Indexed on 2010/05/04 21:38 UTC
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entity-sql

I want to pass a number of values into a parameter of the EntityDataSource, e.g.:

Where="it.ORDER_ID IN {@OrderIdList}" (this is a property on the EntityDataSource)

<WhereParameters>
    <asp:ControlParameter 
       Name="OrderIdList" Type="Int16" 
       ControlID="OrderFilterControl" PropertyName="OrderIdList" 
    />
</WhereParameters>

This doesn't work as ORDER_ID is of type int32 and I need to pass in multiple values, e.g. {1,2,3} etc

The next thing I tried was setting the Where clause in code-behind and this all works except I can't get data binding on DropDownLists to work. By this I mean no value is returned from the bound dropdownlists in the EntityDataSource Updating Event.

My ideal solution would be to use a WhereParameter on the EntityDataSource but any help is appreciated. Thanks, Tony.

A complete code example follows using the AdventureWorks db:

Public Class EntityDataSourceWhereInClause
Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
    CustomersEntityDataSource.Where = WhereClause ''# reset after each postback as its lost otherwise
End Sub

Private Sub cmdFilterCustomers_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdFilterCustomers.Click
    Dim CustomerIdList As New Generic.List(Of Int32)
    For Each item As ListItem In CustomerIdCheckBoxList.Items
        If item.Selected Then
            CustomerIdList.Add(item.Value)
        End If
    Next

    Dim CustomerCsvList As String = String.Join(", ", CustomerIdList.Select(Function(o) o.ToString()).ToArray())
    WhereClause = "it.CustomerID IN {" & CustomerCsvList & "}"

    CustomersEntityDataSource.Where = WhereClause
    FormView1.PageIndex = 0

End Sub

''#  save between postbacks the custom Where IN clause
Public Property WhereClause() As String
    Get
        Return ViewState("WhereClause")
    End Get
    Set(ByVal value As String)
        ViewState.Add("WhereClause", value)
    End Set
End Property

Private Sub CustomersEntityDataSource_Updating(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Web.UI.WebControls.EntityDataSourceChangingEventArgs) Handles CustomersEntityDataSource.Updating
    Dim c = CType(e.Entity, EntityFrameworkTest.Customer)
    If c.Title.Length = 0 Then
        Response.Write("Title is empty string, so will save like this!")
    End If
End Sub

End Class

<%@ Page Language="vb" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeBehind="EntityDataSourceWhereInClause.aspx.vb"
Inherits="EntityFrameworkTest.EntityDataSourceWhereInClause" %>


<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
    <title></title>
</head>
<body>
<form id="form1" runat="server">

<%''# filter control %>
<div>
    <asp:EntityDataSource ID="CustomerIdListEntityDataSource" runat="server" ConnectionString="name=AdventureWorksLT2008Entities"
        DefaultContainerName="AdventureWorksLT2008Entities" EnableFlattening="False"
        EntitySetName="Customers" Select="it.[CustomerID]" OrderBy="it.[CustomerID]">
    </asp:EntityDataSource>
    <asp:CheckBoxList ID="CustomerIdCheckBoxList" runat="server" DataSourceID="CustomerIdListEntityDataSource"
        DataTextField="CustomerID" DataValueField="CustomerID" RepeatDirection="Horizontal">
    </asp:CheckBoxList>
    <asp:Button ID="cmdFilterCustomers" runat="server" Text="Apply Filter" />
</div>

<%  
    ''# you get this error passing in CSV in the where clause
    ''# The element type 'Edm.Int32' and the CollectionType 'Transient.collection[Edm.String(Nullable=True,DefaultValue=,MaxLength=,Unicode=,FixedLength=)]' are not compatible. The IN expression only supports entity, primitive, and reference types.  Near WHERE predicate, line 6, column 15. 
    ''# so have coded it manually in code-behind Where="it.CustomerID IN {@OrderIdList}"
%>
<asp:EntityDataSource ID="CustomersEntityDataSource" runat="server" ConnectionString="name=AdventureWorksLT2008Entities"
    DefaultContainerName="AdventureWorksLT2008Entities" EnableFlattening="False"
    EnableUpdate="True" EntitySetName="Customers"
    AutoGenerateOrderByClause="false">
</asp:EntityDataSource>
<%''# updating works with DropDownLists until the Where clause is set in code %>
<asp:FormView ID="FormView1" runat="server" AllowPaging="True" CellPadding="4" DataKeyNames="CustomerID"
    DataSourceID="CustomersEntityDataSource" ForeColor="#333333">
    <EditItemTemplate>
        CustomerID:
        <asp:Label ID="CustomerIDLabel1" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("CustomerID") %>' />
        <br />
        NameStyle:
        <asp:CheckBox ID="NameStyleCheckBox" runat="server" Checked='<%# Bind("NameStyle") %>' />
        <br />
        Title:
        <%''# the SelectedValue is not Bound to the EF object if the Where clause is updated in code-behind %>
        <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlTitleBound" runat="server" DataSourceID="TitleEntityDataSource"
            DataTextField="Title" DataValueField="Title" AutoPostBack="false" AppendDataBoundItems="true"
            SelectedValue='<%# Bind("Title") %>'>
        </asp:DropDownList>
        <asp:EntityDataSource ID="TitleEntityDataSource" runat="server" ConnectionString="name=AdventureWorksLT2008Entities"
            DefaultContainerName="AdventureWorksLT2008Entities" EnableFlattening="False"
            EntitySetName="Customers" Select="it.[Title]" GroupBy="it.[Title]" ViewStateMode="Enabled">
        </asp:EntityDataSource>
        <br />
        FirstName:
        <asp:TextBox ID="FirstNameTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("FirstName") %>' />
        <br />
        MiddleName:
        <asp:TextBox ID="MiddleNameTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("MiddleName") %>' />
        <br />
        LastName:
        <asp:TextBox ID="LastNameTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("LastName") %>' />
        <br />
        Suffix:
        <asp:TextBox ID="SuffixTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("Suffix") %>' />
        <br />
        CompanyName:
        <asp:TextBox ID="CompanyNameTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("CompanyName") %>' />
        <br />
        SalesPerson:
        <asp:TextBox ID="SalesPersonTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("SalesPerson") %>' />
        <br />
        EmailAddress:
        <asp:TextBox ID="EmailAddressTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("EmailAddress") %>' />
        <br />
        Phone:
        <asp:TextBox ID="PhoneTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("Phone") %>' />
        <br />
        PasswordHash:
        <asp:TextBox ID="PasswordHashTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("PasswordHash") %>' />
        <br />
        PasswordSalt:
        <asp:TextBox ID="PasswordSaltTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("PasswordSalt") %>' />
        <br />
        rowguid:
        <asp:TextBox ID="rowguidTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("rowguid") %>' />
        <br />
        ModifiedDate:
        <asp:TextBox ID="ModifiedDateTextBox" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("ModifiedDate") %>' />
        <br />
        <asp:LinkButton ID="UpdateButton" runat="server" CausesValidation="True" CommandName="Update"
            Text="Update" />
        &nbsp;<asp:LinkButton ID="UpdateCancelButton" runat="server" CausesValidation="False"
            CommandName="Cancel" Text="Cancel" />
    </EditItemTemplate>
    <EditRowStyle BackColor="#999999" />
    <FooterStyle BackColor="#5D7B9D" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="White" />
    <HeaderStyle BackColor="#5D7B9D" Font-Bold="True" ForeColor="White" />
    <ItemTemplate>
        CustomerID:
        <asp:Label ID="CustomerIDLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Eval("CustomerID") %>' />
        <br />
        NameStyle:
        <asp:CheckBox ID="NameStyleCheckBox" runat="server" Checked='<%# Bind("NameStyle") %>'
            Enabled="false" />
        <br />
        Title:
        <asp:Label ID="TitleLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("Title") %>' />
        <br />
        FirstName:
        <asp:Label ID="FirstNameLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("FirstName") %>' />
        <br />
        MiddleName:
        <asp:Label ID="MiddleNameLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("MiddleName") %>' />
        <br />
        LastName:
        <asp:Label ID="LastNameLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("LastName") %>' />
        <br />
        Suffix:
        <asp:Label ID="SuffixLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("Suffix") %>' />
        <br />
        CompanyName:
        <asp:Label ID="CompanyNameLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("CompanyName") %>' />
        <br />
        SalesPerson:
        <asp:Label ID="SalesPersonLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("SalesPerson") %>' />
        <br />
        EmailAddress:
        <asp:Label ID="EmailAddressLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("EmailAddress") %>' />
        <br />
        Phone:
        <asp:Label ID="PhoneLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("Phone") %>' />
        <br />
        PasswordHash:
        <asp:Label ID="PasswordHashLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("PasswordHash") %>' />
        <br />
        PasswordSalt:
        <asp:Label ID="PasswordSaltLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("PasswordSalt") %>' />
        <br />
        rowguid:
        <asp:Label ID="rowguidLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("rowguid") %>' />
        <br />
        ModifiedDate:
        <asp:Label ID="ModifiedDateLabel" runat="server" Text='<%# Bind("ModifiedDate") %>' />
        <br />
        <asp:LinkButton ID="EditButton" runat="server" CausesValidation="False" CommandName="Edit"
            Text="Edit" />
    </ItemTemplate>
    <PagerSettings Position="Top" />
    <PagerStyle BackColor="#284775" ForeColor="White" HorizontalAlign="Center" />
    <RowStyle BackColor="#F7F6F3" ForeColor="#333333" />
</asp:FormView>
</form>

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