EF Core Dynamic LINQ Getting Started
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DynamicLinq is a NuGet library that is a Dynamic Linq extension for Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore which adds Async support.
Why Dynamic LINQ
Most of the database applications use dynamic SQL queries that can be created at run-time through program logic. DynamicLinq supports similar capabilities and allows you to write string-based dynamic LINQ queries on an IQueryable.
- It relies on a simple expression language for formulating expressions and queries in strings.
- It provides you with string-based extension methods that you can pass any string expression into instead of using language operators or type-safe lambda extension methods.
- It is simple and easy to use and is particularly useful in scenarios where queries are entirely dynamic, and you want to provide an end-user UI to help build them.
Installation
You can easily install it from the Package Manager Console window by running the following command.
PM> Install-Package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DynamicLinq
Environment Setup
To start using the Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DynamicLinq in your application, you will need to install the Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DynamicLinq NuGet package.
Let's open the Visual Studio and create a new project.
Select the Create a new project option.
Choose C# as language, Windows as a platform, and Console as the project type. In the template pane, select Console Application and click the Next button.
Enter the project name, you can change the location and solution name, but we will leave it and click on the Next button.
On the Additional Information dialog, select the target framework and then click on the Create button.
You can see a new console application project is created. Now, to install a Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DynamicLinq, right-click on the project in Solution Explorer, and select Manage NuGet Packages...
Select the Browse tab and search for Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DynamicLinq and install the latest version by pressing the Install button.
Once Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DynamicLinq has been successfully installed. Let's add the database provider that you want to target. We will use SQL Server, and the provider package is Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer. We can easily install that NuGet package by executing the following command in Package Manager Console.
PM> Install-Package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
You are now ready to start your application.
