comma separated column in linq where clause - asp.net-mvc-4

Question

i have string of value like "4,3,8"
and i had comma separated column in table as below.
ID | PrdID | cntrlIDs
1 | 1 | 4,8
2 | 2 | 3
3 | 3 | 3,4
4 | 4 | 5,6
5 | 5 | 10,14,18
i want only those records from above table which match in above mention string
eg.
1,2,3 this records will need in output because its match with the passing string of "4,3,8"
Note : i need this in entity framework LINQ Query.
string[] arrSearchFilter = "4,3,8".Split(',');
var query = (from prdtbl in ProductTables
where prdtbl.cntrlIDs.Split(',').Any(x=> arrSearchFilter.Contains(x))
but its not working and i got below error
LINQ to Entities does not recognize the method 'System.String[] Split(Char[])' method, and this method cannot be translated into a store expression.

Answer 1

LINQ to Entities tries to convert query expressions to SQL. String.Split is not one of the supported methods. See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/bb738534(v=vs.100).aspx
Assuming you are unable to redesign the database structure, you have to bypass the SQL filter and obtain ALL records and then apply the filter. You can do this by using ProductTables.ToList() and then using this in second query with the string split, e.g.
string[] arrSearchFilter = "4,3,8".Split(',');
var products = ProductTables.ToList();
var query = (from prdtbl in products
where prdtbl.cntrlIDs.Split(',').Any(x=> arrSearchFilter.Contains(x))
This is not a good idea if the Product table is large, as you are losing a key benefit of SQL and loading ALL the data before filtering.
Redesign
If that is a problem and you can change the database structure, you should create a child table that replaces the comma-separated values with a proper normalised structure. Comma separated variables might look like a convenient shortcut but they are not a good design and as you have found, are not easy to work with in SQL.
SQL
If the design cannot be changed and the table is large, then your only other option is to hand-roll the SQL and execute this directly, but this would lose some of the benefits of having Linq.