Linq to Sql: Multiple left outer joins

Question

This may be cleaner (you dont need all the into statements):

var query = 
    from order in dc.Orders
    from vendor 
    in dc.Vendors
        .Where(v => v.Id == order.VendorId)
        .DefaultIfEmpty()
    from status 
    in dc.Status
        .Where(s => s.Id == order.StatusId)
        .DefaultIfEmpty()
    select new { Order = order, Vendor = vendor, Status = status } 
    //Vendor and Status properties will be null if the left join is null

Here is another left join example

var results = 
    from expense in expenseDataContext.ExpenseDtos
    where expense.Id == expenseId //some expense id that was passed in
    from category 
    // left join on categories table if exists
    in expenseDataContext.CategoryDtos
                         .Where(c => c.Id == expense.CategoryId)
                         .DefaultIfEmpty() 
    // left join on expense type table if exists
    from expenseType 
    in expenseDataContext.ExpenseTypeDtos
                         .Where(e => e.Id == expense.ExpenseTypeId)
                         .DefaultIfEmpty()
    // left join on currency table if exists
    from currency 
    in expenseDataContext.CurrencyDtos
                         .Where(c => c.CurrencyID == expense.FKCurrencyID)
                         .DefaultIfEmpty() 
    select new 
    { 
        Expense = expense,
        // category will be null if join doesn't exist
        Category = category,
        // expensetype will be null if join doesn't exist
        ExpenseType = expenseType,
        // currency will be null if join doesn't exist
        Currency = currency  
    }

Don't have access to VisualStudio (I'm on my Mac), but using the information from http://bhaidar.net/cs/archive/2007/08/01/left-outer-join-in-linq-to-sql.aspx it looks like you may be able to do something like this:

var query = from o in dc.Orders
            join v in dc.Vendors on o.VendorId equals v.Id into ov
            from x in ov.DefaultIfEmpty()
            join s in dc.Status on o.StatusId equals s.Id into os
            from y in os.DefaultIfEmpty()
            select new { o.OrderNumber, x.VendorName, y.StatusName }

I figured out how to use multiple left outer joins in VB.NET using LINQ to SQL:

Dim db As New ContractDataContext()

Dim query = From o In db.Orders _
            Group Join v In db.Vendors _
            On v.VendorNumber Equals o.VendorNumber _
            Into ov = Group _
            From x In ov.DefaultIfEmpty() _
            Group Join s In db.Status _
            On s.Id Equals o.StatusId Into os = Group _
            From y In os.DefaultIfEmpty() _
            Where o.OrderNumber >= 100000 And o.OrderNumber <= 200000 _
            Select Vendor_Name = x.Name, _
                   Order_Number = o.OrderNumber, _
                   Status_Name = y.StatusName

In VB.NET using Function,

Dim query = From order In dc.Orders
            From vendor In 
            dc.Vendors.Where(Function(v) v.Id = order.VendorId).DefaultIfEmpty()
            From status In 
            dc.Status.Where(Function(s) s.Id = order.StatusId).DefaultIfEmpty()
            Select Order = order, Vendor = vendor, Status = status 

I think you should be able to follow the method used in this post. It looks really ugly, but I would think you could do it twice and get the result you want.

I wonder if this is actually a case where you'd be better off using DataContext.ExecuteCommand(...) instead of converting to linq.