How to filter "Include" entities in entity framework?

Question

Entities:

    public class Room
    {
        public Room()
        {
            this.Reservations = new HashSet<Reservation>();
        }

        public int Id { get; set; }

        public decimal Rate { get; set; }

        public int HotelId { get; set; }

        public virtual Hotel Hotel { get; set; }

        public virtual ICollection<Reservation> Reservations { get; set; }
    }

    public class Hotel
    {
        public Hotel()
        {
            this.Rooms = new HashSet<Room>();
        }

        public int Id { get; set; }

        public string Name { get; set; }

        public virtual ICollection<Room> Rooms { get; set; }
    }

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

        public DateTime StartDate { get; set; }

        public DateTime EndDate { get; set; }

        public string ContactName { get; set; }

        public int RoomId { get; set; }

        public virtual Room Room { get; set; }
    }

  public class ExecutiveSuite : Room
  {
  }

  public class DataContext : DbContext
    {
        public DbSet<Hotel> Hotels { get; set; }

        public DbSet<Reservation> Reservations { get; set; }

        public DbSet<Room> Rooms { get; set; }

        protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
        {
            modelBuilder.Entity<Room>()
                .HasKey(r => r.Id)
                .HasRequired(r => r.Hotel)
                .WithMany(r => r.Rooms)
                .HasForeignKey(r => r.HotelId);

            modelBuilder.Entity<Hotel>()
                .HasKey(h => h.Id);

            modelBuilder.Entity<Room>()
                .HasMany(r => r.Reservations)
                .WithRequired(r => r.Room)
                .HasForeignKey(r => r.RoomId);

        }
    }

The client code(console app):

static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // initialize and seed the database
            using (var context = new DataContext())
            {
                var hotel = new Hotel { Name = "Grand Seasons Hotel" };
                var r101 = new Room { Rate = 79.95M, Hotel = hotel };
                var es201 = new ExecutiveSuite { Rate = 179.95M, Hotel = hotel };
                var es301 = new ExecutiveSuite { Rate = 299.95M, Hotel = hotel };

                var res1 = new Reservation
                {
                    StartDate = DateTime.Parse("3/12/2010"),
                    EndDate = DateTime.Parse("3/14/2010"),
                    ContactName = "Roberta Jones",
                    Room = es301
                };
                var res2 = new Reservation
                {
                    StartDate = DateTime.Parse("1/18/2010"),
                    EndDate = DateTime.Parse("1/28/2010"),
                    ContactName = "Bill Meyers",
                    Room = es301
                };
                var res3 = new Reservation
                {
                    StartDate = DateTime.Parse("2/5/2010"),
                    EndDate = DateTime.Parse("2/6/2010"),
                    ContactName = "Robin Rosen",
                    Room = r101
                };

                es301.Reservations.Add(res1);
                es301.Reservations.Add(res2);
                r101.Reservations.Add(res3);

                hotel.Rooms.Add(r101);
                hotel.Rooms.Add(es201);
                hotel.Rooms.Add(es301);

                context.Hotels.Add(hotel);
                context.SaveChanges();
            }

            using (var context = new DataContext())
            {
                context.Configuration.LazyLoadingEnabled = false;
                // Assume we have an instance of hotel
                var hotel = context.Hotels.First();

                // Explicit loading with Load() provides opportunity to filter related data 
                // obtained from the Include() method 
                context.Entry(hotel)
                       .Collection(x => x.Rooms)
                       .Query()
                       .Include(y => y.Reservations)
                       .Where(y => y is ExecutiveSuite && y.Reservations.Any())
                       .Load();

                Console.WriteLine("Executive Suites for {0} with reservations", hotel.Name);

                foreach (var room in hotel.Rooms)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("\nExecutive Suite {0} is {1} per night", room.Id,
                                      room.Rate.ToString("C"));
                    Console.WriteLine("Current reservations are:");
                    foreach (var res in room.Reservations.OrderBy(r => r.StartDate))
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("\t{0} thru {1} ({2})", res.StartDate.ToShortDateString(),
                                          res.EndDate.ToShortDateString(), res.ContactName);
                    }
                }
            }

            Console.WriteLine("Press <enter> to continue...");
            Console.ReadLine();
        }



using ( var context = new DataContext() )
{

        //context.Configuration.LazyLoadingEnabled = false;

        // Assume we have an instance of hotel
        var hotel = context.Hotels.First();
        var rooms = context.Rooms.Include( r => r.Reservations ).Where( r => r is ExecutiveSuite && r.Reservations.Any() ).Where( r => r.Hotel.Id == hotel.Id );
        Console.WriteLine( "Executive Suites for {0} with reservations", hotel.Name );

        foreach ( var room in hotel.Rooms )
        {
           Console.WriteLine( "\nExecutive Suite {0} is {1} per night", room.Id,
                             room.Rate.ToString( "C" ) );
           Console.WriteLine( "Current reservations are:" );
           foreach ( var res in room.Reservations.OrderBy( r => r.StartDate ) )
           {
              Console.WriteLine( "\t{0} thru {1} ({2})", res.StartDate.ToShortDateString(),
                                res.EndDate.ToShortDateString(), res.ContactName );
           }
        }
     }

I tried projecting and putting it in an anonymous object:

       var hotel = context.Hotels.Select(h =>
        new 
        {   
            Id = h.Id,
            Name = h.Name,
            Rooms = h.Rooms.Where(r => r.Reservations is ExecutiveSuite && r.Reservations.Any())
        }).First();

but I get an exception: "DbIsOfExpression requires an expression argument with a polymorphic result type that is compatible with the type argument."

Now, if you would notice, I implemented it in two different ways, first was by explicitly loading the related entities, second was by having two different queries, my question would be, is there a way I can load my object graph and filter the entities I "Include" with just a single trip from the database?

Answer 1

There are two ways to filter include Entity.

• Using a projection (See @Eldho answer)
• Using a third party library

Disclaimer : I'm the owner of the project Entity Framework Plus

The EF+ Query IncludeFilter allows to easily filter included entities.

context.Entry(hotel)
       .Collection(x => x.Rooms)
       .Query()
       .IncludeFilter(y => y.Reservations
                            .Where(z => z is ExecutiveSuite && z.Reservations.Any())
       .Load();

Under the hood, the library does exactly a projection.

Wiki: EF+ Query Include Filter

EDIT : Answer subquestion

You almost did it. The rooms were included and filtered, but you didn't include the reservations.

var hotel = context.Hotels
    // Include only executive suite with a reservation
    .IncludeFilter(x => x.Rooms.Where(y => y is ExecutiveSuite && y.Reservations.Any()))
    // Include only reservation from executive suite
    .IncludeFilter(x => x.Rooms.Where(y => y is ExecutiveSuite).Select(z => z.Reservations))
    .First();

---

EDIT: Answer Comment

How can we include multilevel properties with include filter

You can include multilevel by specifying each path (one per IncludeFilter)

So qry.Include("Rooms.Hotel") become:

qry.IncludeFilter(x => x.Rooms)
   .IncludeFilter(x => x.Rooms.Select(y => y.Hotel))

---

EDIT: Answer Comment

does EF+ have dotnet 5.0 support?

Yes, it supports dotnet 5.0 and EF Core 5.0. However, for IncludeFilter, you should also look at the filtered include built-in directly in EF Core 5: https://www.learnentityframeworkcore5.com/whats-new-in-ef-core-5/filtered-included

Answer 2

Note that it is not currently possible to filter which related entities are loaded. Include will always bring in all related entities Msdn reference

Request this feature here

In order to filter child collection you can try to select that to model or anonymous projection.

var anonymousProjection = dbContext.CustomerEntity
                                 .Where(c => ! c.IsDeleted)
                                 .Select(x=> new 
                                  {
                                       customers = x,
                                       orders = x.Orders.Where(h=>h.IsDeleted)
                                  }).ToList();

Similar answers

Answer 3

At all costs upgrade to EF 5.0+ and take advantage of EF 5.0+ eager loading capabilities, specifically Microsoft Docs Eager Loading - Filtered Include

Example:

context.hotel.Include(y => y.Reservations.Where(resy=>resy.type==ExecutiveSuite && resy.Any())).ToListAsync();

Answer 4

I was thinking of bringing a new perspective to this. Even though this will not solve the problem, it might help you. Using AutoMapper, you can filter the collections before putting them in destination object. I have setup my solution in a way that everything is mapped in DTOs before any action so I'm using AutoMapper as a filter for those Includes. Works like a charm...