execute custom sql with entity framework?

Question

I need to execute a customquery which wil be saved somewhere in the database and I need it to return in a datatable, or dataset and bind it to a gridview which will have autogenerate columns to true.

All my Data access layer works perfect with entity framework, but for some specific scenario I need to do this and I wonder if I should combine ado.net with entity framework, or if EF can do it somehow

Answer 1

For Entity Framework 5 use

context.Database.SqlQuery

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And For Entity Framework 4 use the following code

context.ExecuteStoreQuery

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 public string BuyerSequenceNumberMax(int buyerId)
    {
        string sequenceMaxQuery = "SELECT TOP(1) btitosal.BuyerSequenceNumber FROM BuyerTakenItemToSale btitosal " +
                                  "WHERE btitosal.BuyerID =  " + buyerId +
                                  "ORDER BY  CONVERT(INT,SUBSTRING(btitosal.BuyerSequenceNumber,7, LEN(btitosal.BuyerSequenceNumber))) DESC";

        var sequenceQueryResult = context.Database.SqlQuery<string>(sequenceMaxQuery).FirstOrDefault();

        string buyerSequenceNumber = string.Empty;

        if (sequenceQueryResult != null)
        {
            buyerSequenceNumber = sequenceQueryResult.ToString();
        }

        return buyerSequenceNumber;
    }

For Return a List use the following Code

 public List<PanelSerialList> PanelSerialByLocationAndStock(string locationCode, byte storeLocation, string itemCategory, string itemCapacity, byte agreementType, string packageCode)
 {
       string panelSerialByLocationAndStockQuery = "SELECT isws.ItemSerialNo,  im.ItemModel " +
        "FROM Inv_ItemMaster im   " +
        "INNER JOIN  " +
        "Inv_ItemStockWithSerialNoByLocation isws  " +
        "   ON im.ItemCode = isws.ItemCode   " +
        "       WHERE isws.LocationCode = '" + locationCode + "' AND  " +
        "   isws.StoreLocation = " + storeLocation + " AND  " +
        "   isws.IsAvailableInStore = 1 AND " +
        "   im.ItemCapacity = '" + itemCapacity + "' AND " +
        "   isws.ItemSerialNo NOT IN ( " +
        "           Select sp.PanelSerialNo From Special_SpecialPackagePriceForResale sp  " +
        "           Where sp.PackageCode = '" + packageCode + "' )";



    context.Database.SqlQuery<PanelSerialList>(panelSerialByLocationAndStockQuery).ToList();


}

Answer 2

Here's another dimension and easier approach. Get SQL Connection using your Entity Framework Context:

var connection = (System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection) _db.Database.Connection;

if (connection != null && connection.State == ConnectionState.Closed)
{
    connection.Open();
}

var dt = new DataTable();

using (var com = new System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataAdapter("Select * from Table", connection))
{
    com.Fill(dt);
}

And we can use DataAdapter or any other classic method to execute queries using the EF connection.

This will be very useful when we do something dynamically and when we can't map to a Entity. We can get things in a DataTable for example.

The above Syntax is for EF 5.0.