Get table-data from table-name in LINQ DataContext

Question

I need to get table data from table name from Linq DataContext.

Instead of this

var results = db.Authors;

I need to do something like this.

string tableName = "Authors";

var results = db[tableName];

It could be any table name that is available in DataContext.

Answer 1

I am not sure if passing strings is an elegant solution. I would rather send the Type of entity as an argument to a method. Something on these lines :

var table = _dataCont.GetTable(typeof(Customer));

Here is the MSDN documentation.

Answer 2

I am not sure I'd suggest it as a GOOD solution, but if you really need it, you could do something like this:

MyDBContext db = new MyDBContext();
Type t = db.GetType();
PropertyInfo p = t.GetProperty("Authors");
var table = p.GetValue(db, null);

That will give you the Authors table, as pr. Table.

Answer 3

Here's an extension method that will do what you want.

static class DataContextExtensions {
    public static ITable GetTableByName(this DataContext context, string tableName) {
        if (context == null) {
            throw new ArgumentNullException("context");
        }
        if (tableName == null) {
            throw new ArgumentNullException("tableName");
        }
        return (ITable)context.GetType().GetProperty(tableName).GetValue(context, null);
    }
}

Sample:

TextContext db = new TestContext();
db.GetTableByName("MyObjects");