LINQ 2 Entities , howto check DateTime.HasValue within the linq query

Question

Hi all ... I have this method that is supposed to get the latest messages posted, from the Table (& EntitySet) called ENTRY

///method gets "days" as parameter, used in new TimeSpan(days,0,0,0);!!

using (Entities db = new Entities())
    {
        var entries = from ent in db.ENTRY
                      where ent.DATECREATE.Value > DateTime.Today.Subtract(new TimeSpan(days, 0, 0, 0))
                      select new ForumEntryGridView()
                      {
                          id = ent.id,
                          baslik = ent.header,
                          tarih = ent.entrydate.Value,
                          membername = ent.Member.ToString()
                      };
        return entries.ToList<ForumEntryGridView>();
    }

Here the DATECREATED is Nullable in the database. I cant place "if"s in this query ... any way to check for that? Thx in advance

Answer 1

Well... you can exclude entries with DATECREATED equal to null by simply using

entries = from ent in db.ENTRY 
          where ent.DATECREATED != null
          where ent.DATECREATE.Value > DateTime.Today....

and include them with

  entries = from ent in db.ENTRY 
          where ent.DATECREATED == null ||
                ent.DATECREATE.Value > DateTime.Today.....

I am not sure though if the second query actually stops checking the where clauses once the first condition is true.

Answer 2

What do you want to do in case DATECREATED is null?

If you just want to ignore these records use an additional condition(or where clause):

var entries = from ent in db.ENTRY
              where ent.DATECREATED.HasValue && ent.DATECREATED.Value > ...