How can I Left Outer Join two data tables with the following tables and conditions while keeping all columns from both tables?
dtblLeft:
id col1 anotherColumn2
1 1 any2
2 1 any2
3 2 any2
4 3 any2
5 3 any2
6 3 any2
7 any2
dtblRight:
col1 col2 anotherColumn1
1 Hi any1
2 Bye any1
3 Later any1
4 Never any1
dtblJoined:
id col1 col2 anotherColumn1 anotherColumn2
1 1 Hi any1 any2
2 1 Hi any1 any2
3 2 Bye any1 any2
4 3 Later any1 any2
5 3 Later any1 any2
6 3 Later any1 any2
7 any2
Conditions:
I can use regular DataTable operations, LINQ, or whatever.
I tried this but it removes duplicates:
dtblA.PrimaryKey = new DataColumn[] {dtblA.Columns["col1"]}
DataTable dtblJoined = new DataTable();
dtblJoined.Merge(dtblA, false, MissingSchemaAction.AddWithKey);
dtblJoined.Merge(dtblB, false, MissingSchemaAction.AddWithKey);
EDIT 1:
This is close to I what I want but it only has columns from one of the tables ( found at this link ):
dtblJoined = (from t1 in dtblA.Rows.Cast<DataRow>()
join t2 in dtblB.Rows.Cast<DataRow>() on t1["col1"] equals t2["col1"]
select t1).CopyToDataTable();
EDIT 2:
An answer from this link seems to work for me but I had to change it a bit as follows:
DataTable targetTable = dtblA.Clone();
var dt2Columns = dtblB.Columns.OfType<DataColumn>().Select(dc =>
new DataColumn(dc.ColumnName, dc.DataType, dc.Expression, dc.ColumnMapping));
var dt2FinalColumns = from dc in dt2Columns.AsEnumerable()
where targetTable.Columns.Contains(dc.ColumnName) == false
select dc;
targetTable.Columns.AddRange(dt2FinalColumns.ToArray());
var rowData = from row1 in dtblA.AsEnumerable()
join row2 in dtblB.AsEnumerable()
on row1["col1"] equals row2["col1"]
select row1.ItemArray.Concat(row2.ItemArray.Where(r2 => row1.ItemArray.Contains(r2) == false)).ToArray();
foreach (object[] values in rowData)
targetTable.Rows.Add(values);
I also found this link and I might try that out since it seems more concise.
EDIT 3 (11/18/2013):
Updated tables to reflect more situations.
A left outer join is a method of combining tables. The result includes unmatched rows from only the table that is specified before the LEFT OUTER JOIN clause. If you are joining two tables and want the result set to include unmatched rows from only one table, use a LEFT OUTER JOIN clause or a RIGHT OUTER JOIN clause.
A left outer join is a join in which each element of the first collection is returned, regardless of whether it has any correlated elements in the second collection. You can use LINQ to perform a left outer join by calling the DefaultIfEmpty method on the results of a group join.
Thanks all for your help. Here is what I came up with based on multiple resources:
public static class DataTableHelper
{
public enum JoinType
{
/// <summary>
/// Same as regular join. Inner join produces only the set of records that match in both Table A and Table B.
/// </summary>
Inner = 0,
/// <summary>
/// Same as Left Outer join. Left outer join produces a complete set of records from Table A, with the matching records (where available) in Table B. If there is no match, the right side will contain null.
/// </summary>
Left = 1
}
/// <summary>
/// Joins the passed in DataTables on the colToJoinOn.
/// <para>Returns an appropriate DataTable with zero rows if the colToJoinOn does not exist in both tables.</para>
/// </summary>
/// <param name="dtblLeft"></param>
/// <param name="dtblRight"></param>
/// <param name="colToJoinOn"></param>
/// <param name="joinType"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
/// <remarks>
/// <para>http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2379747/create-combined-datatable-from-two-datatables-joined-with-linq-c-sharp?rq=1</para>
/// <para>http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/bb397895.aspx</para>
/// <para>http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/10/a-visual-explanation-of-sql-joins.html</para>
/// <para>http://stackoverflow.com/questions/406294/left-join-and-left-outer-join-in-sql-server</para>
/// </remarks>
public static DataTable JoinTwoDataTablesOnOneColumn(DataTable dtblLeft, DataTable dtblRight, string colToJoinOn, JoinType joinType)
{
//Change column name to a temp name so the LINQ for getting row data will work properly.
string strTempColName = colToJoinOn + "_2";
if (dtblRight.Columns.Contains(colToJoinOn))
dtblRight.Columns[colToJoinOn].ColumnName = strTempColName;
//Get columns from dtblLeft
DataTable dtblResult = dtblLeft.Clone();
//Get columns from dtblRight
var dt2Columns = dtblRight.Columns.OfType<DataColumn>().Select(dc => new DataColumn(dc.ColumnName, dc.DataType, dc.Expression, dc.ColumnMapping));
//Get columns from dtblRight that are not in dtblLeft
var dt2FinalColumns = from dc in dt2Columns.AsEnumerable()
where !dtblResult.Columns.Contains(dc.ColumnName)
select dc;
//Add the rest of the columns to dtblResult
dtblResult.Columns.AddRange(dt2FinalColumns.ToArray());
//No reason to continue if the colToJoinOn does not exist in both DataTables.
if (!dtblLeft.Columns.Contains(colToJoinOn) || (!dtblRight.Columns.Contains(colToJoinOn) && !dtblRight.Columns.Contains(strTempColName)))
{
if (!dtblResult.Columns.Contains(colToJoinOn))
dtblResult.Columns.Add(colToJoinOn);
return dtblResult;
}
switch (joinType)
{
default:
case JoinType.Inner:
#region Inner
//get row data
//To use the DataTable.AsEnumerable() extension method you need to add a reference to the System.Data.DataSetExtension assembly in your project.
var rowDataLeftInner = from rowLeft in dtblLeft.AsEnumerable()
join rowRight in dtblRight.AsEnumerable() on rowLeft[colToJoinOn] equals rowRight[strTempColName]
select rowLeft.ItemArray.Concat(rowRight.ItemArray).ToArray();
//Add row data to dtblResult
foreach (object[] values in rowDataLeftInner)
dtblResult.Rows.Add(values);
#endregion
break;
case JoinType.Left:
#region Left
var rowDataLeftOuter = from rowLeft in dtblLeft.AsEnumerable()
join rowRight in dtblRight.AsEnumerable() on rowLeft[colToJoinOn] equals rowRight[strTempColName] into gj
from subRight in gj.DefaultIfEmpty()
select rowLeft.ItemArray.Concat((subRight== null) ? (dtblRight.NewRow().ItemArray) :subRight.ItemArray).ToArray();
//Add row data to dtblResult
foreach (object[] values in rowDataLeftOuter)
dtblResult.Rows.Add(values);
#endregion
break;
}
//Change column name back to original
dtblRight.Columns[strTempColName].ColumnName = colToJoinOn;
//Remove extra column from result
dtblResult.Columns.Remove(strTempColName);
return dtblResult;
}
}
EDIT 3:
This method now works correctly and it is still fast when the tables have 2000+ rows. Any recommendations/suggestions/improvements would be appreciated.
EDIT 4:
I had a certain scenario that led me to realize the previous version was really doing an inner join. The function has been modified to fix that problem. I used info at this link to figure it out.
This is simply an inner join between the 2 tables:
var query = (from x in a.AsEnumerable()
join y in b.AsEnumerable() on x.Field<int>("col1") equals y.Field<int>("col1")
select new { col1= y.Field<int>("col1"), col2=x.Field<int>("col2") }).ToList();
Produces:
col1 col2
1 Hi
1 Hi
2 Bye
3 Later
3 Later
3 Later
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