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Queryable::DefaultIfEmpty<TSource> Method (IQueryable<TSource>, TSource)

Returns the elements of the specified sequence or the specified value in a singleton collection if the sequence is empty.

Namespace:  System.Linq
Assembly:  System.Core (in System.Core.dll)

[ExtensionAttribute]
public:
generic<typename TSource>
static IQueryable<TSource>^ DefaultIfEmpty(
	IQueryable<TSource>^ source, 
	TSource defaultValue
)

Type Parameters

TSource

The type of the elements of source.

Parameters

source
Type: System.Linq::IQueryable<TSource>

The IQueryable<T> to return the specified value for if empty.

defaultValue
Type: TSource

The value to return if the sequence is empty.

Return Value

Type: System.Linq::IQueryable<TSource>
An IQueryable<T> that contains defaultValue if source is empty; otherwise, source.

Usage Note

In Visual Basic and C#, you can call this method as an instance method on any object of type IQueryable<TSource>. When you use instance method syntax to call this method, omit the first parameter. For more information, see Extension Methods (Visual Basic) or Extension Methods (C# Programming Guide).

ExceptionCondition
ArgumentNullException

source is nullptr.

The DefaultIfEmpty<TSource>(IQueryable<TSource>, TSource) method generates a MethodCallExpression that represents calling DefaultIfEmpty<TSource>(IQueryable<TSource>, TSource) itself as a constructed generic method. It then passes the MethodCallExpression to the CreateQuery<TElement>(Expression) method of the IQueryProvider represented by the Provider property of the source parameter.

The query behavior that occurs as a result of executing an expression tree that represents calling DefaultIfEmpty<TSource>(IQueryable<TSource>, TSource) depends on the implementation of the type of the source parameter. The expected behavior is that it returns source if it is not empty. Otherwise, it returns an IQueryable<T> that contains defaultValue.

The following code example shows a situation in which it is useful to call DefaultIfEmpty<TSource>(IQueryable<TSource>, TSource) in a LINQ query. A default value is passed to DefaultIfEmpty<TSource>(IQueryable<TSource>, TSource) in this example.

No code example is currently available or this language may not be supported.

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5
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