i have an entity saved on the database that has 2 relevant properties, Code and Number.
the number is just an int between 1 and 99, while the code is a string representation like "01" to "99"
the problem is that some sub-entities have a code like "0103" or "3301", which is just the parent's code + it's own code.
all entities are saved on one table, there are 3 levels of hierarchy indicated only by the length of the code "00" is a level 1, "0000" is level 2, and "000000" is level 3.
I want to order them in such a way that they're presented like
and so on...
where an entity with "01" is first, followed by entities that start with "01" and under each one will be entities that start with "01xx", sort of a tree hierarchy.
note that i'm using EFcore 5, .NET 5, and C# 9
what i have right now is simply
var SearchQuery = _appDbContext.Regions.AsNoTracking().AsQueryable().OrderBy(r => r.Code);
and then i use that query to generate my DTOs
ResultData = await SearchQuery.Select(r => new DTO
{
Id = r.Id,
NameCode = r.Name + " - " + r.Code
}).ToListAsync();
should i use a custom comparer or something else? or does this approach satisfy?
I managed to make a function that collects level 1, 2, 3 entities in 3 different Lists (after applying filters) then looping through it less than a couple of times and inserting them to a List<Entity> according to the correct order
but @CharlesMager has clarified to me that the normal OrderBy(r => r.Code) will have the exact same result due to the Code property not having any whitespaces.
in other words:
OrderBy(r => r.Code) will NOT sort the string in 01, 02, 01xx as I previously thought;
Rather it'll sort them in correct order such as 01, 01xx, 02, 02xx and so on.