CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#linq
user2038230
user2038230

Reputation:

Linq Query : Cannot convert type IEnumerable<string> to string changing .ToString() to (string)

I have a linq query that contains

select new Project()
           {                             
               Manager =  list.Employee.Select(x => x.Manager).ToString()
           }).ToList();

This COMPILES, but I don't end up with the data... I get value for "Manager" of System.Linq.Enumerable+WhereSelectListIterator<Flex.Data.Systems,System.String> So I thought I would change to (string) instead of .ToString() but this does not work

select new Project()
           {                             
               Manager =  (string)list.Employee.Select(x => x.Manager)
           }).ToList();

Gives me the error message

Cannot convert type 'System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable' to 'string'

I need it to be a collection, so that when I pass back out my List<Project> that Manager contains many Managers.

Upvotes: 6

Views: 28235

Answers (4)

Saggy
Saggy

Reputation: 624

Whenever you make a selection of columns from a collection it will return a collection. Even if you specify a where clause to match an exact record.

For your case, you can have them converted to 

Manager =   list.Employee.Select(x => x.Manager).ToList()

or

Manager =   list.Employee.Select(x => x.Manager).ToArray()

This is what Tim told above.

There could be case where you get a collection and you are sure that the first one is what you need. For that you can always use:

Manager =   list.Employee.Select(x => x.Manager).First();

Note: This might throw an error if there is nothing found as a collection along with where clause used. In such case use:

Manager =   list.Employee.Select(x => x.Manager).FirstOrDefault();

This will not give error even if noting is returned matching.

Upvotes: 0

Akxaya
Akxaya

Reputation: 844

Try this worked for me : 

 var returnCollection = (from manager in list.Employee 
     select manager).ToList();

Upvotes: 0

Magnus
Magnus

Reputation: 46947

The problem is that list.Employee.Select(x => x.Manager) returns a collection of managers and property Manager is a string (?). You need some condition of which manager you want. For example append .First() to get the first one in the collection.

Upvotes: 7

Tim Schmelter
Tim Schmelter

Reputation: 460158

What do you want Manager to be, a string with a comma separated list of values or a List<string>/String[]?

string:

Manager =  string.Join(",",list.Employee.Select(x => x.Manager))

collection:

Manager =   list.Employee.Select(x => x.Manager).ToList()
// or
Manager =   list.Employee.Select(x => x.Manager).ToArray()

Upvotes: 11

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