Iterate through data returned from var to get names and values of columns

Question

I am using Linq to Entities in a method and returning specific columns of data from the method. I don't know what type I'll be returning so I rigged it to return a List. If someone knows a better way than the way I rigged it, PLEASE let me know. See the code below.

After returning this data, I then need to iterate through the columns to get the column name and the value. I can see the string that the object has in it and it's JSON. It has "{ Column1 : Value1, Column2 : Value2 }". How can I iterate through to not just get the value, but get the name too...without using reflection?

Here's an example of the method I'm calling off to:

    public static List<object> GetDataSource(string QueryName)
    {
        MyEntity myEntity = new MyEntity();
        switch (QueryName)
        {
            case "FirstQuery":
                var s = (from x in myEntity.TableName
                         select new
                         {
                             Column1 = x.FirstColumn,
                             Column2 = x.SecondColumn
                         }).ToList();

                return s.Cast<object>().ToList();
        }
        return null;
    }

Answer 1

Anonymous types are local scoped. You cannot use them outside the method they were defined in (besides resorting to a horrible grotty hack ). Why not just define some domain class that will represent your data in a strongly typed manner:

public class Table
{
    public string Column1 { get; set; }
    public string Column2 { get; set; }
}

public static IEnumerable<Table> GetDataSource(string QueryName)
{
    MyEntity myEntity = new MyEntity();
    switch (QueryName)
    {
        case "FirstQuery":
            return from x in myEntity.TableName
                   select new Table
                   {
                       Column1 = x.FirstColumn,
                       Column2 = x.SecondColumn
                   };
    }
    return Enumerable.Empty<Table>();
}

Answer 2

I managed to implement the way you needed. It worked for me:

public class Table{
public string Column1 { get; set; }
public int Column2 { get; set; }}

 public static IEnumerable<T> GetDataSource<T>()
    {
        MyEntity myEntity = new MyEntity();

        if (typeof(T) == typeof(Table))
        {
            IQueryable<Table> query = from x in myEntity.Table1
                   select new Table
                   {
                       Column1 = x.TheColumn1,
                       Column2 = x.TheColumn2
                   };

           return query.ToList().Cast<T>();
        }
        if (typeof(T) == typeof(Table2))
        {
            IQueryable<Table2> query = from x in myEntity.Table2
                   select new Table2
                   {
                       TestColumn1 = x.TheColumn123,
                       TestColumn2 = x.TheColumn321
                   };

            return query.ToList().Cast<T>();
        }

        return Enumerable.Empty<T>();
    }

I haven't used the QueryName parameter, but you can always add it if there is more then one data sources that can IEnumerable.