How to change sql generated by linq-to-entities? - sql

Question

I am querying a MS SQL database using Linq and Entity Framework Code First. The requirement is to be able to run a WHERE SomeColumn LIKE '%sometext'clause against the table.
This, on the surface, is a simple requirement that could be accomplished using a simple Linq query like this:
var results = new List<MyTable>();
using(var context = new MyContext())
{
results = context.MyTableQueryable
.Where(x => x.SomeColumn.EndsWith("sometext"))
.ToList();
}
// use results
However, this was not effective in practice. The problem seems to be that the column SomeColumn is not varchar, rather it's a char(31). This means that if a string is saved in the column that is less than 31 characters then there will be spaces added on the end of the string to ensure a length of 31 characters, and that fouls up the .EndsWith() query.
I used SQL Profiler to lookup the exact sql that was generated from the .EndsWith() method. Here is what I found:
--previous query code removed for brevity
WHERE [Extent1].[SomeColumn] LIKE N'%sometext'
So that is interesting. I'm not sure what the N means before '%sometext'. (I'll Google it later.) But I do know that if I take the same query and run it in SSMS without the N like this:
--previous query code removed for brevity
WHERE [Extent1].[SomeColumn] LIKE '%sometext'
Then the query works fine. Is there a way to get Linq and Entity Framework to drop that N from the query?

Answer 1

Please try this...
.Where(x => x.SomeColumn.Trim().EndsWith("sometext"))

Answer 2

Just spoke to my colleague who had a similar issue, see if the following works for you:
[Column(TypeName = "varchar")]
public string SomeColumn
{
get;
set;
}
Apparently setting the type on the column mapping will force the query to recognise it as a VARCHAR, where a string is normally interpreted as an NVARCHAR.