Searching through multiple tables at once (Linq to SQL)?

Question

I have a couple tables that are kind of unrelated - id like to search through both of them and create a type that i can sift through later

something like this doesnt work

var results = from dog in _dataContext.Dogs  
                      where dog.Name.Contains(search)  

                      from catin _dataContext.Cats  
                      where cat.Name.Contains(search)  

                      select new AnimalSearchResults  
                                  {  
                                      Dog = dog,  
                                      Cat = cat  
                                  };  

        return results;  

I basically want to create a list of "AnimalSearchResults" that contains all dogs and all cats that have that name

Whats the best way to do something like this?

Answer 1

Sounds like you want to Union the two results so your basic query would be something like:

var results = (from dog in _dataContext.Dogs  
                      where dog.Name.Contains(search))
                      .Union
                      (from cat in _dataContext.Cats  
                      where cat.Name.Contains(search));