Question

I’m running > 50K simple selects on a table in sql server and I’d really like to speed it up. I’ve read that you can pull the data into memory and use something like a dataview to query against.

Is there a way to use something in Linq to end up with –

var dv = CreateTheDataViewFromDatabase();

var result = dv.Where("CategoryId=2 And Uncle='bob'");

And would this be a lot faster than querying the database so many times? I’m concerned there’s no index on the dataview so the gains of having it in memory might be lost.

Answer 1

Yes, you can use Linq against your DataTable by using AsEnumerable. For example:

var rows = from row in dt.AsEnumerable()
            where row.Field<int>("CategoryId") == 2 && row.Field<string>("Uncle") == "bob" 
            select row;

Make sure you add a reference to System.Data.DataSetExtensions

Update: Dynamic SQL

It is possible to build your conditions on the fly. Have a look at Dynamic LINQ and Predicate Builder