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Linq Query Failing - "'Contact' entity doesn't contain attribute with Name = <entity referennce name>."

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I ran across a linq error today where by a seemling straightforward linq query failed.

The query in question was on customised entities, however I have recreated the same error using the OTB account and contact entities.

The query below fails with the error "'Contact' entity doesn't contain attribute with Name = 'parentaccountid'."

            using (var ctx = new OrganizationServiceContext (_serviceProxy))
            {
                var accounts = (from a in ctx.CreateQuery<Account>()
                           join c in ctx.CreateQuery<Contact>()
                               on a.AccountId equals c.AccountId.Id
                           where c.BirthDate == null
                                && a.ParentAccountId != null
                           select c
                    ).ToList();
            }

Interesting enough - this query fails with the error: "'Account' entity doesn't contain attribute with Name = 'birthdate'."

(I just swapped the order of the parameters in the where clause)

            using (var ctx = new OrganizationServiceContext (_serviceProxy))
            {
                var accounts = (from a in ctx.CreateQuery<Account>()
                           join c in ctx.CreateQuery<Contact>()
                               on a.AccountId equals c.AccountId.Id
                           where a.ParentAccountId != null
                                && c.BirthDate == null
                           select c
                    ).ToList();
            }

Finally the query works where I only include one of the filters in the where clause - it doesnt matter which one is included.

This only seems to occur where one of the parameters is an entity reference - if i changed the filter from ParentAccountId to AccountName it works fine.

As far as I am aware there is no valid reason for this query failing - I would imagine that it would work if I were to manually build the QueryExpression in the old CRM 4 manner - I am wondering if I am missing something obvious?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 7:19 PM

Answers

Hi Malachy,

The reason your linq is failing is that when compiled into a query expression, the where clause ends up being a filter on the linkentity from account to contact, but the contact entity doesn't have parentaccountid.

This is what the query expression looks like when compiled:

<QueryExpression xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/xrm/2011/Contracts">
  <ColumnSet>
    <AllColumns>true</AllColumns>
    <Columns xmlns:d3p1="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/Serialization/Arrays" />
  </ColumnSet>
  <Criteria>
    <Conditions />
    <FilterOperator>And</FilterOperator>
    <Filters />
  </Criteria>
  <Distinct>false</Distinct>
  <EntityName>account</EntityName>
  <LinkEntities>
    <LinkEntity>
      <Columns>
        <AllColumns>true</AllColumns>
        <Columns xmlns:d5p1="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/Serialization/Arrays" />
      </Columns>
      <EntityAlias>c_0</EntityAlias>
      <JoinOperator>Inner</JoinOperator>
      <LinkCriteria>
        <Conditions />
        <FilterOperator>And</FilterOperator>
        <Filters>
          <FilterExpression>
            <Conditions>
              <ConditionExpression>
                <AttributeName>birthdate</AttributeName>
                <Operator>Null</Operator>
                <Values xmlns:d9p1="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/Serialization/Arrays" />
              </ConditionExpression>
              <ConditionExpression>
                <AttributeName>parentaccountid</AttributeName>
                <Operator>NotNull</Operator>
                <Values xmlns:d9p1="http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/Serialization/Arrays" />
              </ConditionExpression>
            </Conditions>
            <FilterOperator>And</FilterOperator>
            <Filters />
          </FilterExpression>
        </Filters>
      </LinkCriteria>
      <LinkEntities />
      <LinkFromAttributeName>accountid</LinkFromAttributeName>
      <LinkFromEntityName>account</LinkFromEntityName>
      <LinkToAttributeName>accountid</LinkToAttributeName>
      <LinkToEntityName>contact</LinkToEntityName>
    </LinkEntity>
  </LinkEntities>
  <Orders />
  <PageInfo>
    <Count>0</Count>
    <PageNumber>1</PageNumber>
    <PagingCookie i:nil="true" />
    <ReturnTotalRecordCount>false</ReturnTotalRecordCount>
  </PageInfo>
  <NoLock>false</NoLock>
</QueryExpression>

You can see that the filter for parentaccountid is in the wrong place - hence the error.

To fix, luckily it's quite simple. You need:

using (var ctx = new OrganizationServiceContext (_serviceProxy))
            {
                var accounts = (from a in ctx.CreateQuery<Account>()
                           join c in ctx.CreateQuery<Contact>()
                               on a.AccountId equals c.AccountId.Id
                           where c.BirthDate == null
                           where a.ParentAccountId != null
                           select c
                    ).ToList();
            }

Notice that there are two where clauses - which reflects the fact that there needs to be two separate filters - one on the main entity and one on the link entity in the Query Expression.

hth,

Scott

Scott Durow
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Proposed as answer by Scott Durow (MVP)MVP, Editor Wednesday, February 22, 2012 9:09 PM
Marked as answer by Malachy O Connor Wednesday, February 22, 2012 10:37 PM

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 9:09 PM

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