Need Input | SQL Dynamic Query - sql

Question

Have a requirement where I need to build a dynamic query based on user input and send the count of records from result set.
So there are 6 tables which I needs to make a join Inner for sure and rest table join will be based on user input and this should be performance oriented.
Here is the requirement
select count(A.A1) from table A
INNER JOIN table B on B.B1=A.A1
INNER JOIN table B on C.C1=B.B1
INNER JOIN table D on D.D1=C.C1
INNER JOIN table E on E.E1=D.D1
INNER JOIN table F on F.F1=E.E1
Now if user select some value in UI , then have to execute query as
select count(A.A1) from table A
INNER JOIN table B on B.B1=A.A1
INNER JOIN table B on C.C1=B.B1
INNER JOIN table D on D.D1=C.C1
INNER JOIN table E on E.E1=D.D1
INNER JOIN table F on F.F1=E.E1
INNER JOIN table B on G.G1=F.F1
Where G.Name like '%Germany%'
User can send 1- 5 choices and have to build the query and accordingly and send the result set
So if I add all the joins first and then add where clause as per the choice , then query will be easy and serve the purpose, but if user did not select any query then I am creating unnecessary join for the user choices.
So which will be better way to write having all the joins in advance and then filtering it or on demand join and with filters using dynamic query.
Could be great if someone can provide valuable inputs.

Answer 1

When SQL Server executes a query, there is a first step which is planning the query, i.e. deciding an strategy to get the query result.
If you use "inner joins" you're making it compulsory to include all the tables, becasuse "inner join" means that there must be matching rows on both tables of the join, so the query planner can't dicard any tables.
However, if you change the inner joins by left outer joins, it's not compulsory that there are matching rows on both sides of the join, so the query planner can decide if it includes or not the tables on the right. So, if you use left outer joins, and you don't select, or filter, or do any operation on fields on the right side of the joins, the query planner can discard then when executing the query. That's the easiest way to get rid of your concerns.
On the other hand, if you want to control what tables to inclued or not to include, and create a custom query for each case, you can use several techniques:
making a graph that includes the definition of the table relations, and using some graph manipulation library that allows you to get the necessary tables from the graph.I did this one, but is quite hard to achieve if you don't have experience with graps.
using Entity Framework. You must build a simple model including all the tables. And then, to run each query, you can programmatically build the query in LINQ, and EF will take care to generate and execute the SQL query for you.