How would I write the following query in Linq?

How would I write this query in Linq to sql

Invoice IVN = eo.Invoices.ToList().Where(x => x.InvoiceNumber == s).First();

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bmanmike39Asked:
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LordWabbitCommented: 
Invoice invoice = db.Invoices.Where(s => s.InvoiceNumber == findInvoiceNumber).OrderBy(s => s.InvoiceNumber).First();

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You would need to put some sort of order by in, otherwise you would not reliably get the record you are expecting depending on how the SQL execution plan changes (unless invoicenumber is unique).  The ToList() is not needed, since Invoices is already a collection.
LordWabbitCommented:
One more thing, First will throw a System.InvalidOperationException exception if the invoice does not exist, to avoid this you can use FirstOrDefault, if the invoice does not exist it will return null which you can then check for.  Throwing exceptions is expensive, and not a good way to check if a record exists.
käµfm³d 👽Commented:
What's wrong with what you have? Really, only the ToList could be taken out (or maybe moved to the end).
Richard LeeSoftware EnthusiastCommented:
When querying a database one of your aims is always performance since the DB can be a severe bottleneck in how your overall application performs.

ToList() forces the data to be retrieved immediately to the client before the next LINQ statement is executed. What you want is to take advantage of the IQueryable (constructing commands that execute on the server) and allow a single SQL command to be generated which will then only execute once on the DB server.

Also if InvoiceNumber is unique you will want to use Single() or SingleOrDefault() in your query instead of First(). This will optimize the SQL query and increase performance.

using(var eo = new YourDataContext())
{
   Invoice IVN = eo.Invoices
          .Where(x => x.InvoiceNumber == s)
          .SingleOrDefault();
}

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it_saigeDeveloperCommented:
Are you asking how you would re-write what you have as an Expression-Based Query?

A Method-Based Query with Lambda Expressions - 
Invoice IVN = eo.Invoices.ToList().Where(x => x.InvoiceNumber == s).FirstOrDefault();

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An Expression-Based Query - 
Invoice IVN = (from Invoice item in eo.Invoices where item.InvoiceNumber.Equals(s) select item).FirstOrDefault();

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The thing is they are both LINQ statements.

-saige-
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