Question

Lets say I have a table called Projects in my SQL server.
My dbml file has the Project object, and I use a list of Projects in multiple views of my MVC application.

The thing is: Ordering.

By default then you use linq the Projects are ordered by ID.

lets say I want them ordered by Name and then by Code.

_db.Projects.Ordery(q=>q.Name).ThenBy(q=>q.Code)

easy.

Now, I use this list of projects in several views, with different statements in the Where clause.

everywhere i need to add the same .Ordery(q=>q.Name).ThenBy(q=>q.Code)

this is not DRY.

If I were to change the order to make it first by code then by name i need to change that in several places.

What is my question: How do I DRY up the ordering. How would I have 1 place, where I define how the ordering of a list of Projects should be done.

surely I cant be the first with this kind of question. Tips will be very welcome.

Answer 1

You could easily write your own extension method (or even normal method) to do this:

public static IQueryable<Project> InStandardOrder
    (this IQueryable<Project> source)
{
    return source.OrderBy(q => q.Name).ThenBy(q => q.Code);
}

then just use:

_db.Projects.InStandardOrder()