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Entity Framework ​

Gridify.EntityFramework Package ​

The Gridify.EntityFramework package includes two additional methods: GridifyAsync() and GridifyQueryableAsync().

Installation ​

Package Manager ​

shell
Install-Package Gridify.EntityFramework -Version 2.20.0

.NET CLI ​

shell
dotnet add package Gridify.EntityFramework --version 2.20.0

Compatibility Layer ​

To use Gridify with Entity Framework, enable the compatibility layer:

csharp
GridifyGlobalConfiguration.EnableEntityFrameworkCompatibilityLayer();

Enabling the compatibility layer provides the following features:

  • Tweaks the internal expression builder for Entity Framework compatibility
  • EF query optimization
  • EF ServiceProvider caching support
  • Creates parameterized queries
sql
DECLARE @__Value_0 nvarchar(4000) = N'vahid';

SELECT [u].[Id], [u].[CreateDate], [u].[FkGuid], [u].[Name]
FROM [Users] AS [u]
WHERE [u].[Name] = @__Value_0

Configuration ​

EntityFrameworkCompatibilityLayer ​

Setting this property to true Enables the EntityFramework Compatibility layer to make the generated expressions compatible with entity framework.

  • type: bool
  • default: false

EnableEntityFrameworkCompatibilityLayer() ​

Simply sets the EntityFrameworkCompatibilityLayer property to true.

DisableEntityFrameworkCompatibilityLayer() ​

Simply sets the EntityFrameworkCompatibilityLayer property to false.

Composite Maps Compatibility ​

When using composite maps with Entity Framework (especially PostgreSQL), follow these guidelines for optimal compatibility:

Working with Different Data Types ​

Guid Properties

csharp
// ✅ Recommended for EF
mapper.AddCompositeMap("search", 
    x => x.FkGuid.ToString(),  // Convert to string
    x => x.Name);

// ❌ Not recommended for EF (may cause translation issues)
mapper.AddCompositeMap("search", 
    x => (object)x.FkGuid,
    x => x.Name);

Numeric Properties

csharp
// ✅ Recommended for EF
mapper.AddCompositeMap("search", 
    x => x.Name,
    x => x.Id.ToString());  // Convert to string

// ❌ Not recommended for EF (may cause type mismatch)
mapper.AddCompositeMap("search", 
    x => x.Name,
    x => (object)x.Id);

DateTime Properties (PostgreSQL)

csharp
// ✅ Required for PostgreSQL
var mapper = new GridifyMapper<User>(cfg => cfg.DefaultDateTimeKind = DateTimeKind.Utc)
    .AddCompositeMap("search", 
        x => x.Name,
        x => (object)x.CreateDate);

// ❌ Without UTC configuration, PostgreSQL will throw an error

Best Practices ​

  1. Use .ToString() for type consistency - When combining different property types (string, numeric, Guid), convert them all to strings
  2. Set UTC DateTimeKind for PostgreSQL - Configure DefaultDateTimeKind = DateTimeKind.Utc when working with DateTime properties
  3. Test with .ToQueryString() - Verify EF can translate your expressions to SQL:
    csharp
    var sql = dbContext.Users
    .ApplyFiltering("search=value", mapper)
    .ToQueryString();
  4. Keep types homogeneous - When possible, map properties of the same type together for better performance