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ef-core load collection property of nested tph inherited member

Given the following class structure

 public class Parent 
    {
        public Guid Id { get; 
        public List<BaseChild> Children { get; set; }
    }

 public abstract class BaseChild
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public string ChildName { get; set; }
    }

public class NormalChild : BaseChild
    {
         public DateTime BirthDate { get; set; }
    }

public class RichChild : BaseChild
    {
        public List<OffshoreAccount> OffshoreAccounts { get; set; }
    }

public class OffshoreAccount 
    {
        public string AccountNumber { get; set; }
        public AccountInfo AccountInfo { get; set; }
    }

What is the best way to query parent data to include information about the children's offshore accounts?. I came up with the solution below, using ef-core's explicit loading, but it just doesn't feel right. Is there a more elegant solution?

var parent = Context.Set<Parent>()
    .Where(o => o.Id == Guid.Parse(parentId))
    .Include(o => o.Children)
    .SingleOrDefault();

foreach (var child in parent.Children.OfType<RichChild>())
    {
        Context.Entry<RichChild>(child).Collection(f => f.OffshoreAccounts).Load();
        foreach (var account in child.OffshoreAccounts)
            {
                 Context.Entry<OffshoreAccount>(account).Reference(f => f.AccountInfo).Load();
            }
     }
like image 470
Elmer Ortega Avatar asked Jan 13 '17 14:01

Elmer Ortega


2 Answers

Update (EF Core 2.1+):

Starting with v2.1, EF Core native supports Include on derived types through C# cast or as operators.

e.g

.Include(e => e.Children)
    .ThenInclude(e => ((RichChild)e).OffshoreAccounts)
        .ThenInclude(e => e.AccountInfo)

or

.Include(e => e.Children)
    .ThenInclude(e => (e as RichChild).OffshoreAccounts)
        .ThenInclude(e => e.AccountInfo)

The documentation claims that the string overload of Include coudld also be used, e.g. according to it

.Include(e => "Children.OffshoreAccounts.AccountInfo")

should also work, but it doesn't (checked up to v3.1.4).

Original:

Currently there is no way to accomplish that in the parent query, but the explicit loading can be improved by using a combination of Entry, Collection, Query, Include / ThenInclude and Load calls:

var parent = Context.Set<Parent>()
    .Where(o => o.Id == Guid.Parse(parentId))
    .Include(o => o.Children)
    .SingleOrDefault();

Context.Entry(parent).Collection(e => e.Children)
    .Query().OfType<RichChild>()
    .Include(e => e.OffshoreAccounts)
        .ThenInclude(e => e.AccountInfo)
    .Load();
like image 131
Ivan Stoev Avatar answered Oct 11 '22 11:10

Ivan Stoev


In the current EFCore (2.1.1) you can use type casting in ThenInclude to get the results you're looking for:

var parent = _context.Set<Parent>()
                 .Include(x => x.Children)
                 .ThenInclude(y => (y as RichChild).OffshoreAccounts)
                 .SingleOrDefault();
like image 22
Marc Brekoo Avatar answered Oct 11 '22 10:10

Marc Brekoo