Linq - Left outer join with dot notation

Question

How would I do a left outer join in linq using dot notation?

Here's the query expression:

var query = from u in db.Users
            join d in db.Defects on u.userID equals d.userID into defectsGroup
            from d in defectsGroup.DefaultIfEmpty()
            select new { u, d };

Here's what I tried:

var query2 = db.Users.GroupJoin(db.Defects.DefaultIfEmpty(), 
                u => u.userID, 
                d => d.userID, 
                (user, defect) => new { user, defect });

But defect is showing as IEnumerable<Defect> rather than just Defect. I also tried:

var query2 = db.Users.GroupJoin(db.Defects, 
                u => u.userID, 
                d => d.userID, 
                (user, defect) => new { user, defect.DefaultIfEmpty() });

Which simply doesn't compile. All the online examples seem to use the (clearer) query syntax.

Answer 1

I think you want this:

var query2 = db.Users.GroupJoin(db.Defects,
                                u => u.userId,
                                d => d.userID,
                                (u, defectsGroup) => new { u, defectsGroup})
                     .SelectMany(z => z.defectsGroup.DefaultIfEmpty(),
                                 (z, d) => new { z.u, d });

See my Edulinq blog post on query expressions for more details.