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How to: Populate Object Collections from Multiple Sources (LINQ) (Visual Basic)

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This example shows how to merge data from different sources into a sequence of new types.

Note

Don't try to join in-memory data or data in the file system with data that is still in a database. Such cross-domain joins can yield undefined results because of different ways in which join operations might be defined for database queries and other types of sources. Additionally, there is a risk that such an operation could cause an out-of-memory exception if the amount of data in the database is large enough. To join data from a database to in-memory data, first call ToList or ToArray on the database query, and then perform the join on the returned collection.

To create the data file

Example

The following example shows how to use a named type Student to store merged data from two in-memory collections of strings that simulate spreadsheet data in .csv format. The first collection of strings represents the student names and IDs, and the second collection represents the student ID (in the first column) and four exam scores. The ID is used as the foreign key.

Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq

Class Student
    Public FirstName As String
    Public LastName As String
    Public ID As Integer
    Public ExamScores As List(Of Integer)
End Class

Class PopulateCollection

    Shared Sub Main()

        ' Merge content from spreadsheets into a list of Student objects.

        ' These data files are defined in How to: Join Content from
        ' Dissimilar Files (LINQ).

        ' Each line of names.csv consists of a last name, a first name, and an
        ' ID number, separated by commas. For example, Omelchenko,Svetlana,111
        Dim names As String() = System.IO.File.ReadAllLines("../../../names.csv")

        ' Each line of scores.csv consists of an ID number and four test
        ' scores, separated by commas. For example, 111, 97, 92, 81, 60
        Dim scores As String() = System.IO.File.ReadAllLines("../../../scores.csv")

        ' The following query merges the content of two dissimilar spreadsheets
        ' based on common ID values.
        ' Multiple From clauses are used instead of a Join clause
        ' in order to store the results of scoreLine.Split.
        ' Note the dynamic creation of a list of integers for the
        ' ExamScores member. The first item is skipped in the split string
        ' because it is the student ID, not an exam score.
        Dim queryNamesScores = From nameLine In names
                          Let splitName = nameLine.Split(New Char() {","})
                          From scoreLine In scores
                          Let splitScoreLine = scoreLine.Split(New Char() {","})
                          Where Convert.ToInt32(splitName(2)) = Convert.ToInt32(splitScoreLine(0))
                          Select New Student() With {
                               .FirstName = splitName(1), .LastName = splitName(0), .ID = splitName(2),
                               .ExamScores = (From scoreAsText In splitScoreLine Skip 1
                                             Select Convert.ToInt32(scoreAsText)).ToList()}

        ' Optional. Store the query results for faster access in future
        ' queries. This could be useful with very large data files.
        Dim students As List(Of Student) = queryNamesScores.ToList()

        ' Display each student's name and exam score average.
        For Each s In students
            Console.WriteLine("The average score of " & s.FirstName & " " &
                              s.LastName & " is " & s.ExamScores.Average())
        Next

        ' Keep console window open in debug mode.
        Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit.")
        Console.ReadKey()
    End Sub
End Class

' Output:
' The average score of Svetlana Omelchenko is 82.5
' The average score of Claire O'Donnell is 72.25
' The average score of Sven Mortensen is 84.5
' The average score of Cesar Garcia is 88.25
' The average score of Debra Garcia is 67
' The average score of Fadi Fakhouri is 92.25
' The average score of Hanying Feng is 88
' The average score of Hugo Garcia is 85.75
' The average score of Lance Tucker is 81.75
' The average score of Terry Adams is 85.25
' The average score of Eugene Zabokritski is 83
' The average score of Michael Tucker is 92

In the Select Clause clause, an object initializer is used to instantiate each new Student object by using the data from the two sources.

If you don't have to store the results of a query, anonymous types can be more convenient than named types. Named types are required if you pass the query results outside the method in which the query is executed. The following example performs the same task as the previous example, but uses anonymous types instead of named types:

' Merge the data by using an anonymous type.
' Note the dynamic creation of a list of integers for the
' ExamScores member. We skip 1 because the first string
' in the array is the student ID, not an exam score.
Dim queryNamesScores2 =
    From nameLine In names
    Let splitName = nameLine.Split(New Char() {","})
    From scoreLine In scores
    Let splitScoreLine = scoreLine.Split(New Char() {","})
    Where Convert.ToInt32(splitName(2)) = Convert.ToInt32(splitScoreLine(0))
    Select New With
           {.Last = splitName(0),
            .First = splitName(1),
            .ExamScores = (From scoreAsText In splitScoreLine Skip 1
                           Select Convert.ToInt32(scoreAsText)).ToList()}

' Display each student's name and exam score average.
For Each s In queryNamesScores2
    Console.WriteLine("The average score of " & s.First & " " &
                      s.Last & " is " & s.ExamScores.Average())
Next

See also