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FetchXML vs. QueryExpression

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Hi everybody,

As all you know with FetchXML we are able to retrieve different entity's different attributes in a single fetch with link entity. i.e: result xml could be 2 attribute from contact entity, 3 attribute from account entity and 6 entity from activity entity, but since it's returning xml which can be used as a dataset/datatable is useless for me, I need to get data as crm objects.

QueryExpression and LinkEntity is the correct answer which will return BusinessEntity typed data but here is the limitation: if you use QueryExpression /RetrieveMultiple it returns only one entity type like "contact" but I need to get other entities as well (account, activity) in same/singe query.

Can someone tell me, is there any way to do that ?

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:23 AM

Answers

Hi

We have a C# library called XrmLinq, it automatically does this for you. Take a look here http://www.xrmlinq.com

For example:

var activities = (from t in _crm.Tasks

                  join account in _crm.Accounts on t.RegardingObjectId equals account.AccountId into aj

                  from a in aj.DefaultIfEmpty()

                  join contact in _crm.Contacts on t.RegardingObjectId equals contact.ContactId into cj

                  from c in cj.DefaultIfEmpty()

                  where t.RegardingObjectId == Guid.Empty

                  orderby t.CreatedOn descending

                  select new

                      t.Subject,

                      a.Name,

                      c.FullName

                  }).ToList();

The above is an example of what you can do with XrmLinq, it does a left outer join to accounts and contacts, gets all the tasks you specify for a uniqueidentifer (can be an account or a contact), orders by the newest task first and return an anonymous list.

As you can see it's all strongly typed, you don't need to know anything about FetchXml or QueryExpressions, it's all handled for you

XrmLinq - LINQ to Dynamics CRM http://www.xrmlinq.com - The smart way to query crm

Marked as answer by DavidJennawayMVP, Moderator Friday, February 19, 2010 5:59 PM

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:37 AM

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Query for the ids and make 3 seperate retrieve(multiple)s for the BusinessEntities.

No, you can't retrieve one thing and get 3 things.
- Proposed as answer by mardukes Friday, January 15, 2010 5:09 PM
- Marked as answer by DavidJennawayMVP, Moderator Friday, February 19, 2010 5:59 PM
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 5:41 PM

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Hi.

Way I see - you can convert entity from FetchXml result to DynamicEntities. But it seems to be complicated...
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:29 AM

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