Joining many-to-many tables in Entity Framework

Question

I have a table layout as shown in this image. One main table (User), and two many-to-many tables (Preference and Location) with junction tables. I have set up the correct relationships in the data model to allow selections from these m-2-m tables....

The report tool I'm writing allows the user to select (from a checklist) any user preferences or user locations. What I'd like to do is choose only the records from the User table where the Preferences OR Locations contains at least one of their selections.

Is this possible with a Linq query? (I did previously do this in SQL, but it seemed easier to write in Linq until I got to this part!)

Many thanks,

EDIT: Visual Studio 2012, Entity Framework 4, SQL Server 2008 R2

Answer 1

from u in Users
where u.Locations.Any(l => l.Name == value) ||
      u.Preferences.Any(p => p.Title == value)
select u;

That will generate two EXISTS subqueries. Lambda syntax:

Users.Where(u => u.Locations.Any(l => l.Name == value) ||
                 u.Preferences.Any(p => p.Title == value));