LINQ to Entities does not recognize the method 

Question

I'm migrating some stuff from one mysql server to a sql server but i can't figure out how to make this code work:

using (var context = new Context())
{
    ...

    foreach (var item in collection)
    {
        IQueryable<entity> pages = from p in context.pages
                                   where  p.Serial == item.Key.ToString()
                                   select p;
        foreach (var page in pages)
        {
            DataManager.AddPageToDocument(page, item.Value);
        }
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Done!");
    Console.Read();
}

When it enters into the second foreach (var page in pages) it throws an exception saying:

LINQ to Entities does not recognize the method 'System.String ToString()' method, and this method cannot be translated into a store expression.

Anyone know why this happens?

Answer 1

If you really want to type ToString inside your query, you could write an expression tree visitor that rewrites the call to ToString with a call to the appropriate StringConvert function:

using System.Linq;
using System.Data.Entity.SqlServer;
using System.Linq.Expressions;
using static System.Linq.Expressions.Expression;
using System;

namespace ToStringRewriting {
    class ToStringRewriter : ExpressionVisitor {
        static MethodInfo stringConvertMethodInfo = typeof(SqlFunctions).GetMethods()
                 .Single(x => x.Name == "StringConvert" && x.GetParameters()[0].ParameterType == typeof(decimal?));

        protected override Expression VisitMethodCall(MethodCallExpression node) {
            var method = node.Method;
            if (method.Name=="ToString") {
                if (node.Object.GetType() == typeof(string)) { return node.Object; }
                node = Call(stringConvertMethodInfo, Convert(node.Object, typeof(decimal?));
            }
            return base.VisitMethodCall(node);
        }
    }
    class Person {
        string Name { get; set; }
        long SocialSecurityNumber { get; set; }
    }
    class Program {
        void Main() {
            Expression<Func<Person, Boolean>> expr = x => x.ToString().Length > 1;
            var rewriter = new ToStringRewriter();
            var finalExpression = rewriter.Visit(expr);
            var dcx = new MyDataContext();
            var query = dcx.Persons.Where(finalExpression);

        }
    }
}

Answer 2

I got the same error in this case:

var result = Db.SystemLog
.Where(log =>
    eventTypeValues.Contains(log.EventType)
    && (
        search.Contains(log.Id.ToString())
        || log.Message.Contains(search)
        || log.PayLoad.Contains(search)
        || log.Timestamp.ToString(CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture).Contains(search)
    )
)
.OrderByDescending(log => log.Id)
.Select(r => r);

After spending way too much time debugging, I figured out that error appeared in the logic expression.

The first line search.Contains(log.Id.ToString()) does work fine, but the last line that deals with a DateTime object made it fail miserably:

|| log.Timestamp.ToString(CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture).Contains(search)

Remove the problematic line and problem solved.

I do not fully understand why, but it seems as ToString() is a LINQ expression for strings, but not for Entities. LINQ for Entities deals with database queries like SQL, and SQL has no notion of ToString(). As such, we can not throw ToString() into a .Where() clause.

But how then does the first line work? Instead of ToString(), SQL have CAST and CONVERT, so my best guess so far is that linq for entities uses that in some simple cases. DateTime objects are not always found to be so simple...

Answer 3

Just save the string to a temp variable and then use that in your expression:

var strItem = item.Key.ToString();

IQueryable<entity> pages = from p in context.pages
                           where  p.Serial == strItem
                           select p;

The problem arises because ToString() isn't really executed, it is turned into a MethodGroup and then parsed and translated to SQL. Since there is no ToString() equivalent, the expression fails.

Note:

Make sure you also check out Alex's answer regarding the SqlFunctions helper class that was added later. In many cases it can eliminate the need for the temporary variable.

Answer 4

Cast table to Enumerable, then you call LINQ methods with using ToString() method inside:

    var example = contex.table_name.AsEnumerable()
.Select(x => new {Date = x.date.ToString("M/d/yyyy")...)

But be careful, when you calling AsEnumerable or ToList methods because you will request all data from all entity before this method. In my case above I read all table_name rows by one request.

Answer 5

Upgrading to Entity Framework Version 6.2.0 worked for me.

I was previously on Version 6.0.0.

Hope this helps,