Like in Lambda Expression and LINQ

Question

Simple Question how to have something like this

customers.where(c=>c.Name **like** "john");

i know this isn not possible but i was wondering how can i have something similar.

thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The first thought that comes to mind is Regex.IsMatch.

This would come closest to providing the kind of functionality you get from LIKE; for instance with it you could do this:

var matches = people.Where(p => Regex.IsMatch(p.Name, "A.*[mn]"));

foreach (Person match in matches)
{
    Console.WriteLine(match.Name);
}

And get output like this:

Adam
Aaron
Aidan

Going with string.Contains as others have suggested is almost certainly preferable if your intention is simply to look for a specific substring within Name.

Answer 2

customers.Where(c => c.Name.Contains("john"));

Answer 3

Actually you can generate like statements.

Look here and here for a good examples.

Answer 4

Use SqlMethods.Like:

customers.Where(c => SqlMethods.Like(c.Name, "%john%")); 

Explanation:

The compiler will generate an expression tree from the statement above. Since LIKE is a SQL specific construct and not common to all LINQ Query providers, the SqlMethods class and its members are used as a "hint" for the expression compiler (compiles expression trees to SQL) to emit a LIKE statement.

Answer 5

Use Regex.IsMatch in your where statement or for a more simpler version without wildcards etc.:

customers.where(c=>c.Name.Contains("john"));

Answer 6

using System.Data.Linq.SqlClient;
...
customers.where(c=>SqlMethods.Like(c.Name, "john"));