Good afternoon,
I have a listview filled using linqdatasource + entity framework iqueryable query.
The query uses a take (top on t-sql) like this:
context.Categories().OrderBy(c=>c.Name).Take(20);
So it brings me the 20 records I want ordered by name.
Now I want to show those 20 records on a random order. Whats the best approach acomplish this?
I believe the answer in this post is what you need:
Linq to Entities, random order
EDIT:
Get your top 20 records first. Then with the top 20 items you've already fetched, randomize them all in C#, not involving the database at all:
var yourRecords = context.Categories().OrderBy(c=>c.Name).Take(20); // I believe .Take() triggers the actual database call
yourRecords = yourRecords.OrderBy(a => Guid.NewGuid()); // then randomize the items now that they are in C# memory
this turned out to be very simple using extension methods, ordering by name first, then calling Take (top on T-sql) and randomizing later
context.Categories().OrderByName().Take(20).OrderByRandom();
public static IQueryable<Category> OrderByName(this IQueryable<Category> query)
{
return from c in query
orderby c.Name
select c;
}
public static IQueryable<T> OrderByRandom<T>(this IQueryable<T> query)
{
return (from q in query
orderby Guid.NewGuid()
select q);
}