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Using Linq when getting value from nested list

I need to set a variable's value to the value of a property that is nested in several Lists. Each list only has one item except for one list. I'm trying to do this:
var myValue = myListA[0].myListB[0].myListC[0].
myListD.Where(x => x.Name == "Misc Expenses").myListE[0].price;
This produces a compile time error that says myListD does not contain a definition for myListE. What is the correct syntax?

After the .Where clause, you need to to .First() (or .ToList()) in order to apply the Where clause:
var myValue = myListA[0].myListB[0].myListC[0].
myListD.Where(x => x.Name == "Misc Expenses").First().myListE[0].price;
Technically, though, you can replace that .Where with .First directly, too:
var myValue = myListA[0].myListB[0].myListC[0].
myListD.First(x => x.Name == "Misc Expenses").myListE[0].price;

Using LINQ to populate a string with a single column value

I'm a newbie both to C# and to LINQ and would appreciate a small push in the right direction.
Firstly, I have an Overrides SQL table (and a corresponding EF DB context), which has a Type, Value, and Override Value. The idea is that for a particular kind ("Type") of override, the code can check a particular value and go see if there is an override value that should be used instead.
var branchOverrides = overridesSqlContext.Overrides
.Where(q => q.Type == "Branch Override")
.Select(s => new
{
s.Value,
s.OverrideValue
});
In this case, I want the list of different override values of the "Branch Override" type. From there, I would like to be able to retrieve a specific override value at a given point within my code. How can I query the branchOverrides variable I've created to be able to say something like:
string readingOverride = select OverrideValue from branchOverrides where Value = "Reading"
My code will need to be able to read various override values for different branches at different points, and being able to query the branchOverrides variable at any point would seem like the ideal approach.
Thank you for any assistance on this.

You can use Single() on the query object you have:
string readingOverride = branchOverrides
.Single(bo => bo.Value == "Reading")
.OverrideValue;
This will throw an exception if an entry doesn't exist though so you probably want to use SingleOrDefault instead and check for a null return.
Also note that the branchOverrides object here is an IQueryable<> which means that every time you use it, it will send a query to the database. You may want to materialise that to a local list by adding .ToList() after the Select(...). Alternatively, you may want to look at caching this data, especially if it's going to be used frequently.

If I understood you right, you want the entry with Value = "Reading" and Type="Branch Override":
var branchOverride = overridesSqlContext.Overrides
.SingleOrdDefault(q => q.Type == "Branch Override"
&& q.Value == "Reading")
.Select(s => new
{
s.Value,
s.OverrideValue
});
if (branchOverride != null)
{
// do whatever ...
}

For performance issue is good to put .ToList() in the end of your LINQ expression if you need to iterante over that list too many times.
var branchOverrides = overridesSqlContext.Overrides
.Where(q => q.Type == "Branch Override")
.Select(s => new
{
s.Value,
s.OverrideValue
}).ToList();
If it you will load the entire list into the memory avoiding to execute the sql query to fetch the data if you need to iterate through your list.
Other thing that you can do is:
string readingOverride = string.Empty;
var branchOverride = branchOverrides.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Value == "Reading");
if(branchOverride != null)
{
readingOverride = branchOverride.OverrideValue;
}
Hope that helps.

If Value is unique within "Branch Override" perhaps you want to turn it to a dictionary for fast lookup
var branchOverrides = overridesSqlContext.Overrides
.Where(q => q.Type == "Branch Override")
.Select(s => new
{
s.Value,
s.OverrideValue
})
.ToDictionary(k => k.Value, v => v.OverrideValue);
Then later on you can find the override value quickly and efficiently
var readingOverride = branchOverrides["Reading"];

LINQ list exclude item with latest datetime

I have a list of objects, the object contains a datetime.
I want to use LINQ to exclude the object with the latest datetime.
I'm trying something like:
var excludedList = testdata.Except(testdata.Max(c => c.registeredAt).FirstOrDefault()).ToList();
But it does not work, what should the correct linq be?

You could try something like this:
var excludedList = testdata.OrderByDescending(i => i.registeredAt).Skip(1).ToList();
This will sort the list by date, then skip the first item.

Here's a solution that doesn't perform a whole sort just to extract a single maximum value, and preserves the order of the sequence. It does still depend on the maximum value being unique.
var maxRegisteredAt = testdata.Max(c => c.registeredAt);
var excludedList = testdata
.Where(c => c.registeredAt != maxRegisteredAt)
.ToList();

This is one possible approach if duplicate registeredAt datetimes aren't possible:
var maxObj = testdata.OrderByDescending(x => x?.registeredAt).First();
var excludedList = testdata.FindAll(x => x != maxObj);
This keeps the original order.

Select 1 column from a Group By LINQ query

I think what I need is relatively simple but every example I Google just returns results using First(), which I'm already doing. Here is my expression:
var options = configData.AsEnumerable().GroupBy(row => row["myColumn"]).Select(grp => grp.First());
What I need is only ONE column from the grp portion and to be able to suffix .ToList() on there without an error. As it stands I receive 4 columns, but only need a specific one, kind of like if this (grp => grp["myColumn"]), didn't result in error the Error 153 Cannot apply indexing with [] to an expression of type 'System.Linq.IGrouping<object,System.Data.DataRow>'
Also, Key does not work in the grouping portion as these results are from a DataTable object. See here - >

If you want only the keys, you can use
var options = configData.AsEnumerable().Select(row=>row["myColumn"]).Distinct();

I think that this is what you want:
configData.AsEnumerable()
.GroupBy(r => r["myColumn"])
.Select(g => new
{
myColumnValue = g.Key,
myColumnItems = g.Select(r => r["OtherColumn"]).ToList()
});
Do you understand how/what this does though? Try it out and inspect the resulting IEnumerable. I'm not sure you have a perfect understanding on how GroupBy works but take your time with above example.
See this part:
new
{
myColumnValue = g.Key,
myColumnItems = g.Select(r => r["OtherColumn"]).ToList()
}
This creates an anonymous type which outputs the values of "OtherColumn" column into a list grouped by "myColumn" where value of "myColumn" is in the myColumnValue property.
I'm not sure this answers your question but it looks like this is what you want.
The variable g is of the type IGrouping<object, DataRow>, it's not DataRow. The IGrouping interface is designed to provide a list of DataRow's grouped by object values - it does not produce a flat list, if it did then it would just be a Sort, not GroupBy.

Just specify the field you want after your call to First() e.g.
.Select(grp => grp.FirstOrDefault()["MyFieldName"]);
This will take the first record from the grouping and select the specified field from that record.

how to select an item from generic list by linq

I have a LINQ query which contains a method GetInstanceForDatabase()
principlesList.Select(p => p.GetInstanceForDatabase()).ToList()
where
List<PrincipleInstance>() principlesList = ...
// (contains list of principle like "Manual Trades", "OPM", "Flora")
GetInstanceForDatabase() is a method which takes all other info about a principle (like manual trades).
My problem is that I want to sort out only principle like only "Manual Trades".
I want to put a where clause. I tried but it is fails.

To get a single item use:
query.First(x => x.property == "Manual Trades");
// or
query.FirstOrDefault(x => x.property == "Manual Trades");

var list = p.GetInstanceForDatabase().where(x => x.propertyName == "Manual Trades").ToList();
I'm sure you're GetInstanceForDatabase needs to return your collection that you then filter for the 'Manual Trades' but I can't really tell how you get your list of PrincipalInstances from the question.

This is the correct syntax of using Where in LINQ
principlesList.Select(p => p.GetInstanceForDatabase()).Where(p => p.SomeProperty == "SomeValue").ToList();