Question

Is there a way to cap the number of records returned when an .Include() method is called on an ObjectQuery<>? Basically, if one of my entities is in a one-to-many relationship, such as a Band entity to a list of Fan entities (where a band can have any number of fans), how can I limit the number of fans returned?

In the example:

var band = ctx.Bands.Include("Fans").SingleOrDefault(b => b.BandId == someBandId);

If I use the Include, it will return all fans. How can I query that Fans navigation property to return only a subset or max? Thanks.

Answer 1

I usually query explicit instead of using include, thus returning an anonymous type instead.

from band in ctx.Bands
where band.BandId == someBandId
select new
{
    band = band,
    maxFan = band.Fans.OrderByDescending(f => f.SortingValue).FirstOrDefault(),
};