How can I Left Outer Join two data tables with the following tables and conditions while keeping all columns from both tables?
dtblLeft:
id col1 anotherColumn2
1 1 any2
2 1 any2
3 2 any2
4 3 any2
5 3 any2
6 3 any2
7 any2
dtblRight:
col1 col2 anotherColumn1
1 Hi any1
2 Bye any1
3 Later any1
4 Never any1
dtblJoined:
id col1 col2 anotherColumn1 anotherColumn2
1 1 Hi any1 any2
2 1 Hi any1 any2
3 2 Bye any1 any2
4 3 Later any1 any2
5 3 Later any1 any2
6 3 Later any1 any2
7 any2
Conditions:
I can use regular DataTable operations, LINQ, or whatever.
I tried this but it removes duplicates:
dtblA.PrimaryKey = new DataColumn[] {dtblA.Columns["col1"]}
DataTable dtblJoined = new DataTable();
dtblJoined.Merge(dtblA, false, MissingSchemaAction.AddWithKey);
dtblJoined.Merge(dtblB, false, MissingSchemaAction.AddWithKey);
EDIT 1:
This is close to I what I want but it only has columns from one of the tables ( found at this link ):
dtblJoined = (from t1 in dtblA.Rows.Cast<DataRow>()
join t2 in dtblB.Rows.Cast<DataRow>() on t1["col1"] equals t2["col1"]
select t1).CopyToDataTable();
EDIT 2:
An answer from this link seems to work for me but I had to change it a bit as follows:
DataTable targetTable = dtblA.Clone();
var dt2Columns = dtblB.Columns.OfType<DataColumn>().Select(dc =>
new DataColumn(dc.ColumnName, dc.DataType, dc.Expression, dc.ColumnMapping));
var dt2FinalColumns = from dc in dt2Columns.AsEnumerable()
where targetTable.Columns.Contains(dc.ColumnName) == false
select dc;
targetTable.Columns.AddRange(dt2FinalColumns.ToArray());
var rowData = from row1 in dtblA.AsEnumerable()
join row2 in dtblB.AsEnumerable()
on row1["col1"] equals row2["col1"]
select row1.ItemArray.Concat(row2.ItemArray.Where(r2 => row1.ItemArray.Contains(r2) == false)).ToArray();
foreach (object[] values in rowData)
targetTable.Rows.Add(values);
I also found this link and I might try that out since it seems more concise.
EDIT 3 (11/18/2013):
Updated tables to reflect more situations.
Thanks all for your help. Here is what I came up with based on multiple resources:
public static class DataTableHelper
{
public enum JoinType
{
/// <summary>
/// Same as regular join. Inner join produces only the set of records that match in both Table A and Table B.
/// </summary>
Inner = 0,
/// <summary>
/// Same as Left Outer join. Left outer join produces a complete set of records from Table A, with the matching records (where available) in Table B. If there is no match, the right side will contain null.
/// </summary>
Left = 1
}
/// <summary>
/// Joins the passed in DataTables on the colToJoinOn.
/// <para>Returns an appropriate DataTable with zero rows if the colToJoinOn does not exist in both tables.</para>
/// </summary>
/// <param name="dtblLeft"></param>
/// <param name="dtblRight"></param>
/// <param name="colToJoinOn"></param>
/// <param name="joinType"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
/// <remarks>
/// <para>http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2379747/create-combined-datatable-from-two-datatables-joined-with-linq-c-sharp?rq=1</para>
/// <para>http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/bb397895.aspx</para>
/// <para>http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/10/a-visual-explanation-of-sql-joins.html</para>
/// <para>http://stackoverflow.com/questions/406294/left-join-and-left-outer-join-in-sql-server</para>
/// </remarks>
public static DataTable JoinTwoDataTablesOnOneColumn(DataTable dtblLeft, DataTable dtblRight, string colToJoinOn, JoinType joinType)
{
//Change column name to a temp name so the LINQ for getting row data will work properly.
string strTempColName = colToJoinOn + "_2";
if (dtblRight.Columns.Contains(colToJoinOn))
dtblRight.Columns[colToJoinOn].ColumnName = strTempColName;
//Get columns from dtblLeft
DataTable dtblResult = dtblLeft.Clone();
//Get columns from dtblRight
var dt2Columns = dtblRight.Columns.OfType<DataColumn>().Select(dc => new DataColumn(dc.ColumnName, dc.DataType, dc.Expression, dc.ColumnMapping));
//Get columns from dtblRight that are not in dtblLeft
var dt2FinalColumns = from dc in dt2Columns.AsEnumerable()
where !dtblResult.Columns.Contains(dc.ColumnName)
select dc;
//Add the rest of the columns to dtblResult
dtblResult.Columns.AddRange(dt2FinalColumns.ToArray());
//No reason to continue if the colToJoinOn does not exist in both DataTables.
if (!dtblLeft.Columns.Contains(colToJoinOn) || (!dtblRight.Columns.Contains(colToJoinOn) && !dtblRight.Columns.Contains(strTempColName)))
{
if (!dtblResult.Columns.Contains(colToJoinOn))
dtblResult.Columns.Add(colToJoinOn);
return dtblResult;
}
switch (joinType)
{
default:
case JoinType.Inner:
#region Inner
//get row data
//To use the DataTable.AsEnumerable() extension method you need to add a reference to the System.Data.DataSetExtension assembly in your project.
var rowDataLeftInner = from rowLeft in dtblLeft.AsEnumerable()
join rowRight in dtblRight.AsEnumerable() on rowLeft[colToJoinOn] equals rowRight[strTempColName]
select rowLeft.ItemArray.Concat(rowRight.ItemArray).ToArray();
//Add row data to dtblResult
foreach (object[] values in rowDataLeftInner)
dtblResult.Rows.Add(values);
#endregion
break;
case JoinType.Left:
#region Left
var rowDataLeftOuter = from rowLeft in dtblLeft.AsEnumerable()
join rowRight in dtblRight.AsEnumerable() on rowLeft[colToJoinOn] equals rowRight[strTempColName] into gj
from subRight in gj.DefaultIfEmpty()
select rowLeft.ItemArray.Concat((subRight== null) ? (dtblRight.NewRow().ItemArray) :subRight.ItemArray).ToArray();
//Add row data to dtblResult
foreach (object[] values in rowDataLeftOuter)
dtblResult.Rows.Add(values);
#endregion
break;
}
//Change column name back to original
dtblRight.Columns[strTempColName].ColumnName = colToJoinOn;
//Remove extra column from result
dtblResult.Columns.Remove(strTempColName);
return dtblResult;
}
}
EDIT 3:
This method now works correctly and it is still fast when the tables have 2000+ rows. Any recommendations/suggestions/improvements would be appreciated.
EDIT 4:
I had a certain scenario that led me to realize the previous version was really doing an inner join. The function has been modified to fix that problem. I used info at this link to figure it out.