Question

I am using Entity Framework 4.1 (Code First) as O/R mapping framework:

I have three Entities: Post, PostForUser and User, whereas a PostForUser is associated with exactly one Post and one User.

Now I want to fetch all Posts for a given user and additionally load the user which created the post:

var posts = _dbContext.PostsForUser
    .Include("Post.ByUser")
    .Where(x => x.WasRead == false && x.User.Id == CurrentUser.Id)
    .Select(x => x.Post)
    .ToArray();

Using the query above, the “ByUser” property is never loaded. I am not using lazy loading at all, but I still can’t get the loading working properly.

There aren’t any custom mapping configs or special conventions registered. Just the following entity definitions:

public class Post
{
    public int Id { get; set; }        
    public string Content { get; set; }
    public DateTime Date { get; set; }
    public User ByUser { get; set; }
}

public class PostForUser
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public User User { get; set; }
    public Post Post { get; set; }
    public bool WasRead { get; set; }
}

Answer 1

Your include .Include("Post.ByUser") applies to PostForUser but your are selecting Post so the the include should go to the and of the select:

var posts = _dbContext.PostsForUser
            .Where(x => x.WasRead == false && x.User.Id == CurrentUser.Id)
            .Select(x => x.Post).Include("ByUser")
            .ToArray();