Linq join on parameterized distinct key - vb.net

Question

I'm trying to LINQ two tables based on a dynamic key. User can change key via a combo box. Key may be money, string, double, int, etc. Currently I'm getting the data just fine, but without filtering out the doubles. I can filter the double in VB, but it's slooooow. I'd like to do it in the LINQ query right out of the gate.
Here's the data:
First Table:
-------------------------------------------------------------
| AppleIndex | AppleCost | AppleColor | AppleDescription |
------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 | 3 | Red | This is an apple |
| 2 | 5 | Green | This is an apple |
| 3 | 4 | Pink | This is an apple |
| 4 | 2 | Yellow | This is an apple |
| 5 | 2 | Orange | This is an apple |
| 1 | 3 | Red | This is a duplicate|
| 2 | 5 | Green | This is a duplicate|
| 3 | 4 | Pink | This is a duplicate|
| 4 | 2 | Yellow | This is a duplicate|
| 5 | 2 | Orange | This is a duplicate|
-------------------------------------------------------------
Second Table:
------------------------------------------------------------
| OrangeIndex | OrangeCost | OrangeColor | OrangeDescription |
------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 | 1 | Orange | This is an Orange |
| 2 | 3 | Orange | |
| 3 | 2 | Orange | This is an Orange |
| 4 | 3 | Orange | |
| 5 | 2 | Orange | This is an Orange |
------------------------------------------------------------
Currently, I'm using the following code to get too much data:
Dim Matches = From mRows In LinqMasterTable Join sRows In LinqSecondTable _
On mRows(ThePrimaryKey) Equals sRows(TheForignKey) _
Order By mRows(ThePrimaryKey) _
Select mRows, sRows Distinct
Outcome:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 | 3 | Red | This is an apple | 1 | Orange | This is an Orange |
| 1 | 3 | Red | This is an duplicate | 1 | Orange | This is an Orange |
| 2 | 5 | Green | This is an apple | 3 | Orange | |
| 2 | 5 | Green | This is an duplicate | 3 | Orange | |
| 3 | 4 | Pink | This is an apple | 2 | Orange | This is an Orange |
| 3 | 4 | Pink | This is an duplicate | 2 | Orange | This is an Orange |
| 4 | 2 | Yellow | This is an apple | 3 | Orange | |
| 4 | 2 | Yellow | This is an duplicate | 3 | Orange | |
| 5 | 2 | Orange | This is an apple | 2 | Orange | This is an Orange |
| 5 | 2 | Orange | This is an duplicate | 2 | Orange | This is an Orange |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Desired Outcome:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 | 3 | Red | This is an apple | 1 | 1 | Orange | This is an Orange |
| 2 | 5 | Green | This is an apple | 2 | 3 | Orange | |
| 3 | 4 | Pink | This is an apple | 3 | 2 | Orange | This is an Orange |
| 4 | 2 | Yellow | This is an apple | 4 | 3 | Orange | |
| 5 | 2 | Orange | This is an apple | 5 | 2 | Orange | This is an Orange |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have tried the following:
'Get the original Column Names into an Array List
'MasterTableColumns = GetColumns(qMasterDS, TheMasterTable) '(external code)
'Plug the Existing DataSet into a DataView:
Dim View As DataView = New DataView(qMasterTable)
'Sort by the Primary Key:
View.Sort = ThePrimaryKey
'Build a new table listing only one column:
Dim newListTable As DataTable = _
View.ToTable("UniqueData", True, ThePrimaryKey)
This returns a unique list, but no associated data:
-------------
| AppleIndex |
-------------
| 1 |
| 2 |
| 3 |
| 4 |
| 5 |
-------------
So I tried this instead:
'Build a new table with ALL the columns:
Dim newFullTable As DataTable = _
View.ToTable("UniqueData", True, _
MasterTableColumns(0), _
MasterTableColumns(1), _
MasterTableColumns(2), _
MasterTableColumns(3))
Unfortunately, it yields the following... with duplicates:
-------------------------------------------------------------
| AppleIndex | AppleCost | AppleColor | AppleDescription |
------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 | 3 | Red | This is an apple |
| 2 | 5 | Green | This is an apple |
| 3 | 4 | Pink | This is an apple |
| 4 | 2 | Yellow | This is an apple |
| 5 | 2 | Orange | This is an apple |
| 1 | 3 | Red | This is a duplicate|
| 2 | 5 | Green | This is a duplicate|
| 3 | 4 | Pink | This is a duplicate|
| 4 | 2 | Yellow | This is a duplicate|
| 5 | 2 | Orange | This is a duplicate|
-------------------------------------------------------------
Any ideas?
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Update: ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeff M suggested the following code. (Thanks Jeff) However, it gives me a error. Does anyone know the syntax for making this work in VB? I've monkeyed with it a bit and can't seem to get it right.
Dim matches = _
From mRows In (From row In LinqMasterTable _
Group row By row(ThePrimaryKey) Into g() _
Select g.First()) _
Join sRows In LinqSecondTable _
On mRows(ThePrimaryKey) Equals sRows(TheForignKey) _
Order By mRows(ThePrimaryKey) _
Select mRows, sRows
Error in Third row at "row(ThePrimaryKey)":
"Range variable name can be inferred only from a simple or qualified name with no arguments."

Answer 1

Well, the basic problem isn't the LINQ. It's the fact the your First Table contains "duplicates", which aren't really duplicates, since in your example, every row is distinctive.
So, our question to you is "How do we identify the duplicates in the original table?". Once that is answered, the rest should be trivial.
For example (In C# since I'm not sure of the VB syntax)
var Matches = from mRows in LinqMasterTable
.Where(r=>r.AppleDescription=="This is an Apple")
join sRows in LinqSecondTable
on mRows(ThePrimaryKey) equals sRows(TheForignKey)
orderby mRows(ThePrimaryKey)
select new { mRows, sRows};

Answer 2

Edit:
Here's how I would write the C# LINQ query. Here's an alternate version rather than using Distinct(), uses a nested query with grouping which should have similar semantics. It should be easily convertible to VB.
var matches = from mRows in (from row in LinqMasterTable
group row by row[ThePrimaryKey] into g
select g.First())
join sRows in LinqSecondTable
on mRows[ThePrimaryKey] Equals sRows[TheForignKey]
orderby mRows[ThePrimaryKey]
select new { mRows, sRows }
and my attempt at a VB version of the above:
Edit:
As for the most recent error, I know exactly how to deal with it. When I was playing with VB LINQ, I found that the compiler doesn't like complex grouping expressions. To get around that, assign row(ThePrimaryKey) to a temporary variable and group by that variable. It should work then.
Dim matches = From mRows In (From row In LinqMasterTable _
Let grouping = row(ThePrimaryKey)
Group row By grouping Into g() _
Select g.First()) _
Join sRows In LinqSecondTable _
On mRows(ThePrimaryKey) Equals sRows(TheForignKey) _
Order By mRows(ThePrimaryKey) _
Select mRows, sRows
Actually upon second inspection, it turns out that what is being grouped by needs a name. The following will work.
Dim matches = From mRows In (From row In LinqMasterTable _
Group row By Grouping = row(ThePrimaryKey) Into g() _
Select g.First()) _
Join sRows In LinqSecondTable _
On mRows(ThePrimaryKey) Equals sRows(TheForignKey) _
Order By mRows(ThePrimaryKey) _
Select mRows, sRows

Answer 3

Declarations and Such:
Private Sub LinqTwoTableInnerJoin(ByRef qMasterDS As DataSet, _
ByRef qMasterTable As DataTable, _
ByRef qSecondDS As DataSet, _
ByRef qSecondTable As DataTable, _
ByRef qPrimaryKey As String, _
ByRef qForignKey As String, _
ByVal qResultsName As String)
Dim TheMasterTable As String = qMasterTable.TableName
Dim TheSecondTable As String = qSecondTable.TableName
Dim ThePrimaryKey As String = qPrimaryKey
Dim TheForignKey As String = qForignKey
Dim TheNewForignKey As String = ""
MasterTableColumns = GetColumns(qMasterDS, TheMasterTable)
SecondTableColumns = GetColumns(qSecondDS, TheSecondTable)
Dim mColumnCount As Integer = MasterTableColumns.Count
Dim sColumnCount As Integer = SecondTableColumns.Count
Dim ColumnCount As Integer = mColumnCount + sColumnCount
Dim LinqMasterTable = qMasterDS.Tables(TheMasterTable).AsEnumerable
Dim LinqSecondTable = qSecondDS.Tables(TheSecondTable).AsEnumerable
Get the Data and order it by the Selected Key:
Dim Matches = From mRows In LinqMasterTable Join sRows In LinqSecondTable _
On mRows(ThePrimaryKey) Equals sRows(TheForignKey) _
Order By mRows(ThePrimaryKey) _
Select mRows, sRows
Put the Results into a Dataset Table:
' Make sure the dataset is available and/or cleared:
If dsResults.Tables(qResultsName) Is Nothing Then dsResults.Tables.Add(qResultsName)
dsResults.Tables(qResultsName).Clear() : dsResults.Tables(qResultsName).Columns.Clear()
'Adds Master Table Column Names
For x = 0 To MasterTableColumns.Count - 1
dsResults.Tables(qResultsName).Columns.Add(MasterTableColumns(x))
Next
'Rename Second Table Names if Needed:
For x = 0 To SecondTableColumns.Count - 1
With dsResults.Tables(qResultsName)
For y = 0 To .Columns.Count - 1
If SecondTableColumns(x) = .Columns(y).ColumnName Then
SecondTableColumns(x) = SecondTableColumns(x) & "_2"
End If
Next
End With
Next
'Make sure that the Forign Key is a Unique Value
If ForignKey1 = PrimaryKey Then
TheNewForignKey = ForignKey1 & "_2"
Else
TheNewForignKey = ForignKey1
End If
'Adds Second Table Column Names
For x = 0 To SecondTableColumns.Count - 1
dsResults.Tables(qResultsName).Columns.Add(SecondTableColumns(x))
Next
'Copy Results into the Dataset:
For Each Match In Matches
'Build an array for each row:
Dim NewRow(ColumnCount - 1) As Object
'Add the mRow Items:
For x = 0 To MasterTableColumns.Count - 1
NewRow(x) = Match.mRows.Item(x)
Next
'Add the srow Items:
For x = 0 To SecondTableColumns.Count - 1
Dim y As Integer = x + (MasterTableColumns.Count)
NewRow(y) = Match.sRows.Item(x)
Next
'Add the array to dsResults as a Row:
dsResults.Tables(qResultsName).Rows.Add(NewRow)
Next
Give the user an option to clean doubles or not:
If chkUnique.Checked = True Then
ReMoveDuplicates(dsResults.Tables(qResultsName), ThePrimaryKey)
End If
Remove the Duplicates if they so desire:
Private Sub ReMoveDuplicates(ByRef SkipTable As DataTable, _
ByRef TableKey As String)
'Make sure that there's data to work with:
If SkipTable Is Nothing Then Exit Sub
If TableKey Is Nothing Then Exit Sub
'Create an ArrayList of rows to delete:
Dim DeleteRows As New ArrayList()
'Fill the Array with Row Number of the items equal
'to the item above them:
For x = 1 To SkipTable.Rows.Count - 1
Dim RowOne As DataRow = SkipTable.Rows(x - 1)
Dim RowTwo As DataRow = SkipTable.Rows(x)
If RowTwo.Item(TableKey) = RowOne.Item(TableKey) Then
DeleteRows.Add(x)
End If
Next
'If there are no hits, exit this sub:
If DeleteRows.Count < 1 Or DeleteRows Is Nothing Then
Exit Sub
End If
'Otherwise, remove the rows based on the row count value:
For x = 0 To DeleteRows.Count - 1
'Start at the END and count backwards so the duplicate
'item's row count value doesn't change with each deleted row
Dim KillRow As Integer = DeleteRows((DeleteRows.Count - 1) - x)
'Delete the row:
SkipTable.Rows(KillRow).Delete()
Next
End Sub
Then clean up any leftovers:
If Not chkRetainKeys.Checked = True Then 'Removes Forign Key
dsResults.Tables(qResultsName).Columns.Remove(TheNewForignKey)
End If
'Clear Arrays
MasterTableColumns.Clear()
SecondTableColumns.Clear()
Final Analysis:
Ran this against 2 Files with 4 columns, 65,535 rows, and with some doubles. Process time, roughly 1 second. In fact it took longer to load the fields into memory than it did to parse the data.