How to get results from another query list if first linq query returns empty? - entity-framework

Question

In this EF query, for the contacts list, I'm trying to query to get records for ContactTypeA and populate results in contacts list. If there are no records for ContactTypeA, then I want it to query for records for ContactTypeB and populate results in contacts list. I tried to use DefaultIfEmpty but that method only accepts single value and not a list. 'contacts' is a List object. Any ideas or even an alternative to DefaultIfEmpty? Thanks.
select(i => new transaction{
....
contacts = contactRepository.All.Where(c => c.AccountId == i.Account.Id && contactTypeRepository.All.Any(ct => ct.ContactId == c.Id && ct.Type == ContactType.ContactTypeA)).ToList().DefaultIfEmpty((contactRepository.All.Where(c => c.AccountId == i.Account.Id && contactTypeRepository.All.Any(ct => ct.ContactId == c.Id && ct.Type == ContactType.ContactTypeB)).ToList()
}
)

Answer 1

Firstly, make absolutely sure your contactRepository.All() method returns IQueryable<Contact> and not IEnumerable<Contact>, IList<Contact> or the like, otherwise you are automatically loading all contacts into memory.
From there, don't be afraid to simplify your query across multiple statements to make it a lot easier to understand. You should also leverage navigation properties rather than relying on completely disconnected entities and generic repositories and manually joining these all up in huge expressions.
Ideally an Account could have a collection of Contacts, but if not, at a minimum a Contact should have ContactType references:
var accountContactsQuery = contactRepository.All
.Where(c => c.AccountId == i.AccountId); //Remains IQueryable
var contacts = accountContactsQuery
.Where(c => c.ContactTypes.Any(ct => c.Type == ContactType.ContactTypeA)
.ToList(); // Gets List of Contacts where contains at least 1 ContactTypeA type.
// If we have none, replace with results for ContactTypeB
if (!contacts.Any())
contacts = accountContactsQuery
.Where(c => c.ContactTypes.Any(ct => c.Type == ContactType.ContactTypeB)
.ToList();
This looked a bit odd in that your ContactType appears to have a ContactId, (As opposed to Contact containing a ContactTypeId?) But the above reflects the relationship in your example.
With Account containing Contacts collection:
var accountContactsQuery = accountRepoitory.All
.Where(a => true /* replace with relevant criteria */);
var contacts = accountContactsQuery
.SelectMany(a => a.Contacts)
.Where(c => c.ContactTypes.Any(ct => c.Type == ContactType.ContactTypeA)
.ToList(); // Gets List of Contacts where contains at least 1 ContactTypeA type.
// If we have none, replace with results for ContactTypeB
if (!contacts.Any())
contacts = accountContactsQuery
.SelectMany(a => a.Contacts)
.Where(c => c.ContactTypes.Any(ct => c.Type == ContactType.ContactTypeB)
.ToList();
When dealing with conditions in expressions, I can suggest returning all relevant details, then building your final "payload" based on the conditions.
For example, if querying accounts to build transactions but wanting to load ContactAs if available and Bs for each account if not available:
var transactionData = accountRepoitory.All
.Where(a => true /* replace with relevant criteria */);
.Select(a => new
{
a.AccountId,
/* populate account and common details.. */
ContactAs = a.Contacts
.Where(c => c.ContactTypes.Any(ct => c.Type == ContactType.ContactTypeA).ToList(), // Consider a Select to get relevant details...
ContactBs = a.Contacts
.Where(c => c.ContactTypes.Any(ct => c.Type == ContactType.ContactTypeB).ToList()
}).ToList(); // Executes query against DB to load relevant data...
var transactions = transactionData
.Select( t => new Transaction
{
AccountId = t.AccountId,
/* Other fields */
Contacts = t.ContactAs.Any() ? t.ContactAs : t.ContactBs
}).ToList();
Essentially use the EF Linq expressions to load the possible data, so include results for both ContactA and ContactB, then afterwards build your final projection using that data and conditionally use the ContactA or B as suited. Generally I don't advise passing Entities back (Actual Contact entities) but project into minimally viable view models in the first EF query using Select.