Entity Framework Distinct Values - entity-framework

While developing an application I realized by queries was really show for getting only 200 values from a database. It showed out it was my distinct that slowed it down. As far as I can read Distinct takes all elements from database and do a distinct afterwards and thats the reason. Tried with group by, but also slow performance. What is the right way to do this ?
model.AlarmLevelDistinct = myDbCtx.StatusView.GroupBy(p => p.AlarmLevel).First().Select(p => p.AlarmLevel).ToList();
model.ParametersDistinct = myDbCtx.StatusView.Select(p => p.Parameter).Distinct().ToList();

Try this:
var model.AlarmLevelDistinct = myDbCtx.StatusView.GroupBy(c=> c.AlarmLevel).Select(x=> x.Key);

Related

How to optimise this ef core query?

I'm using EF Core 3.0 code first with MSSQL database. I have big table that has ~5 million records. I have indexes on ProfileId, EventId and UnitId. This query takes ~25-30 seconds to execute. Is it normal or there is a way to optimize it?
await (from x in _dbContext.EventTable
where x.EventId == request.EventId
group x by new { x.ProfileId, x.UnitId } into grouped
select new
{
ProfileId = grouped.Key.ProfileId,
UnitId = grouped.Key.UnitId,
Sum = grouped.Sum(a => a.Count * a.Price)
}).AsNoTracking().ToListAsync();
I tried to loos through profileIds, adding another WHERE clause and removing ProfileId from grouping parameter, but it worked slower.
Capture the SQL being executed with a profiling tool (SSMS has one, or Express Profiler) then run that within SSMS /w execution plan enabled. This may highlight an indexing improvement. If the execution time in SSMS roughly correlates to what you're seeing in EF then the only real avenue of improvement will be hardware on the SQL box. You are running a query that will touch 5m rows any way you look at it.
Operations like this are not that uncommon, just not something that a user would expect to sit and wait for. This is more of a reporting-type request so when faced with requirements like this I would look at options to have users queue up a request where they can receive a notification when the operation completes to fetch the results. This would be set up to prevent users from repeatedly requesting updates ("not sure if I clicked" type spams) or also considerations to ensure too many requests from multiple users aren't kicked off simultaneously. Ideally this would be a candidate to run off a read-only reporting replica rather than the read-write production DB to avoid locks slowing/interfering with regular operations.
Try to remove ToListAsync(). Or replace it with AsQueryableAsync(). Add ToList slow performance down.
await (from x in _dbContext.EventTable
where x.EventId == request.EventId
group x by new { x.ProfileId, x.UnitId } into grouped
select new
{
ProfileId = grouped.Key.ProfileId,
UnitId = grouped.Key.UnitId,
Sum = grouped.Sum(a => a.Count * a.Price)
});

Entityframework 6.2.0 IQueryable.Count VS IQueryable.ToList().Count

This is a very weird problem
In short
var q = (some query).Count();
Gives my a number and
var q = (some query).ToList().Count();
Gives me entirely different number...
with mentioning that (some query) has two includes (joins)
is there a sane explanation for that???
EDIT: here is my query
var q = db.membership_renewals.Include(i => i.member).Include(i => i.sport).Where(w => w.isDeleted == false).Count();
this gives me a wrong number
and this:
var q = db.membership_renewals.Include(i => i.member).Include(i => i.sport).Where(w => w.isDeleted == false).ToList().Count();
Gives me accurate number..
EDIT 2
Wher I wrote my query as linq query it worked perfectly...
var q1 = (from d in db.membership_renewals where d.isDeleted == false join m in db.members on d.mr_memberId equals m.m_id join s in db.sports on d.mr_sportId equals s.s_id select d.mr_id).Count();
I think the problem that entity framework doesn't execute the joins in the original query but forced to execute them in (ToList())...
I Finally figured out what's going on...
The database tables are not linked together in the database (there are no relationship or constraints defined in the database itself) so the code doesn't execute the (inner join) part.
However my classes on the other hand are well written so when I perform (ToList()) it automatically ignores the unbound rows...
And when I wrote the linq query defining the relation ship keys (primary and foreign) it worked alright because now the database understands my relation between tables...
Thanks everyone you've been great....
My guess is IQueryable gives a smaller number cause not all the objects are loaded, kind of like a stream in Java, but IQueryable.toList().count() forces the Iqueryable to load all the data and it is traversed by the list constructor and stored in the list so IQueryable.toList().Count() is the accurate answer. This is based on 5 minutes of search on MSDN.
The idea is the underlying datastore of the IQueryable is a database iterator so it executes differently every time because it executes the query again on the database, so if you call it twice against the same table, and the data has changed you get different results. This is called delayed execution. But when you say IQueryable.ToList() you force the iterator to do the whole iteration once and dump the results in a list which is constant

Squeryl select top

I would like to do something like the following but using Squeryl:
select top 10 *
from table
where conditionA = a
so far I can only get to:
table.where(x => x.conditionA = a).head
The problem with this is the db call gets all the records that meets the condition from the db, while I only need the top one.
I cannot find another way to do the select top in Squeryl which only brings the necessary amount of records back from db.
Anyone know how to do this?
Thanks.
Squeryl has a method called page which you can use to specify a LIMIT and OFFSET for the query.
In your example; table.where(x => x.conditionA === a).page(0, 10).toList should achieve what you are looking to do.

C# Comparing lists of data from two separate databases using LINQ to Entities

I have 2 SQL Server databases, hosted on two different servers. I need to extract data from the first database. Which is going to be a list of integers. Then I need to compare this list against data in multiple tables in the second database. Depending on some conditions, I need to update or insert some records in the second database.
My solution:
(WCF Service/Entity Framework using LINQ to Entities)
Get the list of integers from 1st db, takes less than a second gets 20,942 records
I use the list of integers to compare against table in the second db using the following query:
List<int> pastDueAccts; //Assuming this is the list from Step#1
var matchedAccts = from acct in context.AmAccounts
where pastDueAccts.Contains(acct.ARNumber)
select acct;
This above query is taking so long that it gives a timeout error. Even though the AmAccount table only has ~400 records.
After I get these matchedAccts, I need to update or insert records in a separate table in the second db.
Can someone help me, how I can do step#2 more efficiently? I think the Contains function makes it slow. I tried brute force too, by putting a foreach loop in which I extract one record at a time and do the comparison. Still takes too long and gives timeout error. The database server shows only 30% of the memory has been used.
Profile the sql query being sent to the database by using SQL Profiler. Capture the SQL statement sent to the database and run it in SSMS. You should be able to capture the overhead imposed by Entity Framework at this point. Can you paste the SQL Statement emitted in step #2 in your question?
The query itself is going to have all 20,942 integers in it.
If your AmAccount table will always have a low number of records like that, you could just return the entire list of ARNumbers, compare them to the list, then be specific about which records to return:
List<int> pastDueAccts; //Assuming this is the list from Step#1
List<int> amAcctNumbers = from acct in context.AmAccounts
select acct.ARNumber
//Get a list of integers that are in both lists
var pastDueAmAcctNumbers = pastDueAccts.Intersect(amAcctNumbers);
var pastDueAmAccts = from acct in context.AmAccounts
where pastDueAmAcctNumbers.Contains(acct.ARNumber)
select acct;
You'll still have to worry about how many ids you are supplying to that query, and you might end up needing to retrieve them in batches.
UPDATE
Hopefully somebody has a better answer than this, but with so many records and doing this purely in EF, you could try batching it like I stated earlier:
//Suggest disabling auto detect changes
//Otherwise you will probably have some serious memory issues
//With 2MM+ records
context.Configuration.AutoDetectChangesEnabled = false;
List<int> pastDueAccts; //Assuming this is the list from Step#1
const int batchSize = 100;
for (int i = 0; i < pastDueAccts.Count; i += batchSize)
{
var batch = pastDueAccts.GetRange(i, batchSize);
var pastDueAmAccts = from acct in context.AmAccounts
where batch.Contains(acct.ARNumber)
select acct;
}

Linq To Entities - Any VS First VS Exists

I am using Entity Framework and I need to check if a product with name = "xyz" exists ...
I think I can use Any(), Exists() or First().
Which one is the best option for this kind of situation? Which one has the best performance?
Thank You,
Miguel
Okay, I wasn't going to weigh in on this, but Diego's answer complicates things enough that I think some additional explanation is in order.
In most cases, .Any() will be faster. Here are some examples.
Workflows.Where(w => w.Activities.Any())
Workflows.Where(w => w.Activities.Any(a => a.Title == "xyz"))
In the above two examples, Entity Framework produces an optimal query. The .Any() call is part of a predicate, and Entity Framework handles this well. However, if we make the result of .Any() part of the result set like this:
Workflows.Select(w => w.Activities.Any(a => a.Title == "xyz"))
... suddenly Entity Framework decides to create two versions of the condition, so the query does as much as twice the work it really needed to. However, the following query isn't any better:
Workflows.Select(w => w.Activities.Count(a => a.Title == "xyz") > 0)
Given the above query, Entity Framework will still create two versions of the condition, plus it will also require SQL Server to do an actual count, which means it doesn't get to short-circuit as soon as it finds an item.
But if you're just comparing these two queries:
Activities.Any(a => a.Title == "xyz")
Activities.Count(a => a.Title == "xyz") > 0
... which will be faster? It depends.
The first query produces an inefficient double-condition query, which means it will take up to twice as long as it has to.
The second query forces the database to check every item in the table without short-circuiting, which means it could take up to N times longer than it has to, depending on how many items need to be evaluated before finding a match. Let's assume the table has 10,000 items:
If no item in the table matches the condition, this query will take roughly half the time as the first query.
If the first item in the table matches the condition, this query will take roughly 5,000 times longer than the first query.
If one item in the table is a match, this query will take an average of 2,500 times longer than the first query.
If the query is able to leverage an index on the Title and key columns, this query will take roughly half the time as the first query.
So in summary, IF you are:
Using Entity Framework 4 (since newer versions might improve the query structure) Entity Framework 6.1 or earlier (since 6.1.1 has a fix to improve the query), AND
Querying directly against the table (as opposed to doing a sub-query), AND
Using the result directly (as opposed to it being part of a predicate), AND
Either:
You have good indexes set up on the table you are querying, OR
You expect the item not to be found the majority of the time
THEN you can expect .Any() to take as much as twice as long as .Count(). For example, a query might take 100 milliseconds instead of 50. Or 10 instead of 5.
IN ANY OTHER CIRCUMSTANCE .Any() should be at least as fast, and possibly orders of magnitude faster than .Count().
Regardless, until you have determined that this is actually the source of poor performance in your product, you should care more about what's easy to understand. .Any() more clearly and concisely states what you are really trying to figure out, so stick with that.
Any translates into "Exists" at the database level. First translates into Select Top 1 ... Between these, Exists will out perform First because the actual object doesn't need to be fetched, only a Boolean result value.
At least you didn't ask about .Where(x => x.Count() > 0) which requires the entire match set to be evaluated and iterated over before you can determine that you have one record. Any short-circuits the request and can be significantly faster.
One would think Any() gives better results, because it translates to an EXISTS query... but EF is awfully broken, generating this (edited):
SELECT
CASE WHEN ( EXISTS (SELECT
1 AS [C1]
FROM [MyTable] AS [Extent1]
WHERE Condition
)) THEN cast(1 as bit) WHEN ( NOT EXISTS (SELECT
1 AS [C1]
FROM [MyTable] AS [Extent2]
WHERE Condition
)) THEN cast(0 as bit) END AS [C1]
FROM ( SELECT 1 AS X ) AS [SingleRowTable1]
Instead of:
SELECT
CASE WHEN ( EXISTS (SELECT
1 AS [C1]
FROM [MyTable] AS [Extent1]
WHERE Condition
)) THEN cast(1 as bit)
ELSE cast(0 as bit) END AS [C1]
FROM ( SELECT 1 AS X ) AS [SingleRowTable1]
...basically doubling the query cost (for simple queries; it's even worse for complex ones)
I've found using .Count(condition) > 0 is faster pretty much always (the cost is exactly the same as a properly-written EXISTS query)
Ok, I decided to try this out myself. Mind you, I'm using the OracleManagedDataAccess provider with the OracleEntityFramework, but I'm guessing it produces compliant SQL.
I found that First() was faster than Any() for a simple predicate. I'll show the two queries in EF and the SQL that was generated. Mind you, this is a simplified example, but the question was asking whether any, exists or first was faster for a simple predicate.
var any = db.Employees.Any(x => x.LAST_NAME.Equals("Davenski"));
So what does this resolve to in the database?
SELECT
CASE WHEN ( EXISTS (SELECT
1 AS "C1"
FROM "MYSCHEMA"."EMPLOYEES" "Extent1"
WHERE ('Davenski' = "Extent1"."LAST_NAME")
)) THEN 1 ELSE 0 END AS "C1"
FROM ( SELECT 1 FROM DUAL ) "SingleRowTable1"
It's creating a CASE statement. As we know, ANY is merely syntatic sugar. It resolves to an EXISTS query at the database level. This happens if you use ANY at the database level as well. But this doesn't seem to be the most optimized SQL for this query.
In the above example, the EF construct Any() isn't needed here and merely complicates the query.
var first = db.Employees.Where(x => x.LAST_NAME.Equals("Davenski")).Select(x=>x.ID).First();
This resolves to in the database as:
SELECT
"Extent1"."ID" AS "ID"
FROM "MYSCHEMA"."EMPLOYEES" "Extent1"
WHERE ('Davenski' = "Extent1"."LAST_NAME") AND (ROWNUM <= (1) )
Now this looks like a more optimized query than the initial query. Why? It's not using a CASE ... THEN statement.
I ran these trivial examples several times, and in ALMOST every case, (no pun intended), the First() was faster.
In addition, I ran a raw SQL query, thinking this would be faster:
var sql = db.Database.SqlQuery<int>("SELECT ID FROM MYSCHEMA.EMPLOYEES WHERE LAST_NAME = 'Davenski' AND ROWNUM <= (1)").First();
The performance was actually the slowest, but similar to the Any EF construct.
Reflections:
EF Any doesn't exactly map to how you might use Any in the database. I could have written a more optimized query in Oracle with ANY than what EF produced without the CASE THEN statement.
ALWAYS check your generated SQL in a log file or in the debug output window.
If you're going to use ANY, remember it's syntactic sugar for EXISTS. Oracle also uses SOME, which is the same as ANY. You're generally going to use it in the predicate as a replacement for IN. In this case it generates a series of ORs in your WHERE clause. The real power of ANY or EXISTS is when you're using Subqueries and are merely testing for the EXISTENCE of related data.
Here's an example where ANY really makes sense. I'm testing for the EXISTENCE of related data. I don't want to get all of the records from the related table. Here I want to know if there are Surveys that have Comments.
var b = db.Survey.Where(x => x.Comments.Any()).ToList();
This is the generated SQL:
SELECT
"Extent1"."SURVEY_ID" AS "SURVEY_ID",
"Extent1"."SURVEY_DATE" AS "SURVEY_DATE"
FROM "MYSCHEMA"."SURVEY" "Extent1"
WHERE ( EXISTS (SELECT
1 AS "C1"
FROM "MYSCHEMA"."COMMENTS" "Extent2"
WHERE ("Extent1"."SURVEY_ID" = "Extent2"."SURVEY_ID")
))
This is optimized SQL!
I believe the EF does a wonderful job generating SQL. But you have to understand how the EF constructs map to DB constructs else you can create some nasty queries.
And probably the best way to get a count of related data is to do an explicit Load with a Collection Query count. This is far better than the examples provided in prior posts. In this case you're not loading related entities, you're just obtaining a count. Here I'm just trying to find out how many Comments I have for a particular Survey.
var d = db.Survey.Find(1);
var e = db.Entry(d).Collection(f => f.Comments)
.Query()
.Count();
Any() and First() is used with IEnumerable which gives you the flexibility for evaluating things lazily. However Exists() requires List.
I hope this clears things out for you and help you in deciding which one to use.