FindAsync and Include LINQ statements

Question

The code I have got so far works fine

public async Task<ActionResult> Details(Guid? id)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest);
            }

            ItemDetailModel model = new ItemDetailModel();
            model.Item = await db.Items.FindAsync(id);
            if (model.Item == null)
            {
                return HttpNotFound();
            }           
            return View(model);
        }

But I want to include 1 table more and cannot use FindAsync

public async Task<ActionResult> Details(Guid? id)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest);
            }

            ItemDetailModel model = new ItemDetailModel();
            model.Item = await db.Items.Include(i=>i.ItemVerifications).FindAsync(id);


            if (model.Item == null)
            {
                return HttpNotFound();
            }           

            return View(model);
        }

So I am facing this error

Severity Code Description Project File Line Suppression State Error CS1061 'IQueryable' does not contain a definition for 'FindAsync' and no extension method 'FindAsync' accepting a first argument of type 'IQueryable' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?)

Any clue how to fix it?

Answer 1

The simplest is to use FirstOrDefaultAsync or SingleOrDefaultAsync instead:

model.Item = await db.Items.Include(i => i.ItemVerifications)
    .FirstOrDefaultAsync(i => i.Id == id.Value);

The reason you are getting the error is because Find / FindAsync methods are defined for DbSet<T>, but the result of Include is IQueryable<T>.

Another way is to combine FindAsync with explicit loading:

model.Item = await db.Items.FindAsync(id);
if (model.Item == null)
{
    return HttpNotFound();
}
await db.Entry(model.Item).Collection(i => i.ItemVerifications).LoadAsync();    

Answer 2

If you are using a generic repository and you don't know the PK at runtime, this approach can help:

public interface IGenericRepository<TEntity> where TEntity : class
{
    Task<TEntity> Get(int id, string[] paths = null);
}

public class GenericRepository<TEntity> : IGenericRepository<TEntity> where TEntity : class
{
    private readonly ApplicationDbContext _context;
    private readonly DbSet<TEntity> _dbSet;

    public GenericRepository(ApplicationDbContext context)
    {
        _context = context;
        _dbSet = _context.Set<TEntity>();
    }

    public async Task<TEntity> Get(int id, string[] paths = null)
    {
        var model = await _dbSet.FindAsync(id);
        foreach (var path in paths)
        {
            _context.Entry(model).Reference(path).Load();
        }
        return model;
    }
}