Comparing byte array in Entity Framework where clause

Question

Is it possible to compare a byte array in the where clause using Entity Framework?

I've got a list of bytes like this:

List<byte[]> VisitorIDList

I need to pull some data like this:

var VisitorList = context.Visitors
     .Where(a => VisitorIDList.Contains(a.VisitorID))
     .ToList();

The VisitorID field is interpreted as a byte[] by EF. I can't use the SequenceEqual() method as that doesn't translate to SQL and Contains won't match the records. So am I just SOL on using EF for this?

I know I could do something like this:

var VisitorList = context.Visitors
     .ToList()
     .Where(a => VisitorIDList.Any(b => b.SequenceEqual(a.VisitorID)))
     .ToList();

But obviously that is not practical. I'm using C#, .NET 4.5 and EF 6.

Answer 1

Entity Framework exhibits the correct behavior when you call Contains as you describe.

Given an entity:

public class Visitor
{
    public int Id { get; set; }

    [MaxLength(2)]
    public byte[] VisitorId { get; set; }
}

The following Linq to Entities query:

var visitorIdList = new byte[][]
    {
        new byte[] { 2, 2 },
        new byte[] { 4, 4 },
    }.ToList();

var visitors = context.Visitors
    .Where(v => visitorIdList.Contains(v.VisitorId))
    .ToList();

Generates this SQL (reformatted for readability):

SELECT 
    [Extent1].[Id] AS [Id], 
    [Extent1].[VisitorId] AS [VisitorId]
FROM
    [dbo].[Visitors] AS [Extent1]
WHERE
    (
        [Extent1].[VisitorId] IN ( 0x0202 ,  0x0404 )
    )
    AND
    (
        [Extent1].[VisitorId] IS NOT NULL
    )

Your assertion that "The VisitorID field is interpreted as a byte[] by EF." may be incorrect.

It's valuable to note that Entity framework translates the c# equality operator into the SQL Equals operator. This behavior can be a little unexpected and create confusion.