NotSupportedException using ToList() in LINQ and EntityFramework

Question

I have a query that looks like this:

    var q = from x in db.Table1
                where x.Timestamp.CompareTo(fromDate) >= 0
                   && x.Timestamp.CompareTo(toDate) < 0
                select x;

    var q_list = q.ToList(); // this works fine
    var g = q.Where(z=> z.Table2.Equals(ns));  // ns is instance of Table2 not Table1
    var g_list = g.ToList(); // this throws exception 

The exception:

**

System.NotSupportedException was unhandled
  Message=Unable to create a constant value of type ...

I have a lot of functions like that and I do not want to repeat queries, I need to use the Where, GroupBy ...etc and other functions.

FULL exception trace:

**

System.NotSupportedException was unhandled
  Message=Unable to create a constant value of type 'DataAccessLayer.Model.Table2. Only primitive types ('such as Int32, String, and Guid') are supported in this context.
  Source=System.Data.Entity
  StackTrace:
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.ConstantTranslator.TypedTranslate(ExpressionConverter parent, ConstantExpression linq)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.TypedTranslator`1.Translate(ExpressionConverter parent, Expression linq)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.TranslateExpression(Expression linq)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.EqualsTranslator.TypedTranslate(ExpressionConverter parent, BinaryExpression linq)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.TypedTranslator`1.Translate(ExpressionConverter parent, Expression linq)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.TranslateExpression(Expression linq)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.TranslateLambda(LambdaExpression lambda, DbExpression input)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.TranslateLambda(LambdaExpression lambda, DbExpression input, DbExpressionBinding& binding)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.MethodCallTranslator.OneLambdaTranslator.Translate(ExpressionConverter parent, MethodCallExpression call, DbExpression& source, DbExpressionBinding& sourceBinding, DbExpression& lambda)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.MethodCallTranslator.OneLambdaTranslator.Translate(ExpressionConverter parent, MethodCallExpression call)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.MethodCallTranslator.SequenceMethodTranslator.Translate(ExpressionConverter parent, MethodCallExpression call, SequenceMethod sequenceMethod)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.MethodCallTranslator.TypedTranslate(ExpressionConverter parent, MethodCallExpression linq)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.TypedTranslator`1.Translate(ExpressionConverter parent, Expression linq)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.TranslateExpression(Expression linq)
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ExpressionConverter.Convert()
       at System.Data.Objects.ELinq.ELinqQueryState.GetExecutionPlan(Nullable`1 forMergeOption)
       at System.Data.Objects.ObjectQuery`1.GetResults(Nullable`1 forMergeOption)
       at System.Data.Objects.ObjectQuery`1.System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<T>.GetEnumerator()
       at System.Data.Entity.Internal.Linq.InternalQuery`1.GetEnumerator()
       at System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure.DbQuery`1.System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<TResult>.GetEnumerator()
       at System.Collections.Generic.List`1..ctor(IEnumerable`1 collection)

**

Answer 1

The problem is that EntityFramework doesn't understand types that are not primitive. What you have to do is this:

var g = q.Where(z => z.field.Id.Equals(ns.Id)); 

Keep in mind that if you have a custom implementation of Equals, there's no way it can be translated to proper t-sql. If you want to execute that implementation anyway you'll need to do it in memory:

// note it's using q_list instead of q
var g = q_list.Where(z => z.field.Equals(ns));