Include with FromSqlRaw and stored procedure in EF Core 3.1

Question

So here\'s the deal - I am currently using EF Core 3.1 and let\'s say I have an entity:

public class Entity
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public int         


        

Answer 1

In my case I was converting working EF FromSql() with a stored procedure 2.1 code to 3.1. Like so:

ctx.Ledger_Accounts.FromSql("AccountSums @from, @until, @administrationId",
                                                            new SqlParameter("from", from),
                                                            new SqlParameter("until", until),
                                                            new SqlParameter("administrationId", administrationId));

Where AccountSums is a SP.

The only thing I had to do was use FromSqlRaw() and add IgnoreQueryFilters() to get it working again. Like so:

ctx.Ledger_Accounts.FromSqlRaw("AccountSums @from, @until, @administrationId",
               new SqlParameter("from", from),
               new SqlParameter("until", until),
               new SqlParameter("administrationId", administrationId)).IgnoreQueryFilters();

This is mentioned in the comments, but I missed that at first so including this here.

Answer 2

Shortly, you can't do that (at least for SqlServer). The explanation is contained in EF Core documentation - Raw SQL Queries - Composing with LINQ:

Composing with LINQ requires your raw SQL query to be composable since EF Core will treat the supplied SQL as a subquery. SQL queries that can be composed on begin with the SELECT keyword. Further, SQL passed shouldn't contain any characters or options that aren't valid on a subquery, such as:

• A trailing semicolon
• On SQL Server, a trailing query-level hint (for example, OPTION (HASH JOIN))
• On SQL Server, an ORDER BY clause that isn't used with OFFSET 0 OR TOP 100 PERCENT in the SELECT clause

SQL Server doesn't allow composing over stored procedure calls, so any attempt to apply additional query operators to such a call will result in invalid SQL. Use AsEnumerable or AsAsyncEnumerable method right after FromSqlRaw or FromSqlInterpolated methods to make sure that EF Core doesn't try to compose over a stored procedure.

Additionally, since Include / ThenInclude require EF Core IQueryable<>, AsEnumerable / AsAsyncEnumerable etc. is not an option. You really need composable SQL, hence stored procedures are no option.

Instead of stored procedures though, you can use Table-Valued Functions (TVF) or database views because they are composable (select * from TVF(params) or select * from db_view) .