How to convert number to string in Linq to Entities without pulling into local object

Question

I have a query that fetches hierarchical data from the db into an object of structure:

class HierarchicalData {
  public int ID {get; set;}
  public string Description {get; set;}
  public IEnumerable<HierarchicalData> Children {get; set;}
}

I'm comfortable with how to query the data. The problem comes when one of my hierarchical elements needs to use a number for Description. I can't use .ToString() because Linq to Entities doesn't have a SQL translation for that. And I don't want to pull all the data into memory just so that I can call .ToString() - that would be hugely inefficient.

I just want some kind of expression that can convert a number to a string on the database side.

Answer 1

You can use SqlFunctions.StringConvert(double) in Linq to Entities

• MSDN Example: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd456858.aspx
• SqlFunctions Reference: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.data.objects.sqlclient.sqlfunctions.aspx