How to Handle Case Sensitivity in LINQ to Entities Queries?

LINQ to Entities and Case Sensitivity: A Comprehensive Guide

Case sensitivity in LINQ to Entities queries is heavily influenced by the underlying database. SQL Server, for instance, defaults to a case-insensitive collation. This means a query like t.Name == "ThingamaBob" will ignore case differences.

Database-Level Solution (Recommended)

The most efficient and reliable method for case-sensitive comparisons is to adjust the database column's collation. In SQL Server, this involves using the ALTER TABLE command. For example: ALTER TABLE Thingies ALTER COLUMN Name VARCHAR(25) COLLATE Latin1_General_CS_AS enforces case sensitivity on the Name column.

Client-Side Approach (Alternative)

If modifying the database collation isn't feasible, a client-side workaround utilizes LINQ to Objects for a secondary comparison:

Thingies.Where(t => t.Name == "ThingamaBob")
        .AsEnumerable()
        .First(t => t.Name == "ThingamaBob");

Important Notes:

• Employing ObjectQuery.ToTraceString() allows inspection of the generated SQL, revealing any applied collations.
• LINQ to Entities translates expressions into a command tree processed by the database provider.
• Remember that Object Services translate query results into Entity Objects. Case sensitivity might not be consistently maintained during this process.

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