LIKE operator in LINQ

Question

Is there any way to compare strings in a C# LINQ expression similar to SQL\'s LIKE operator?

Suppose I have a string list. On this list I want to search

Answer 1

Regex? no. But for that query you can just use:

 string filter = "BALTIMORE";
 (blah) .Where(row => row.PortName.Contains(filter)) (blah)

If you really want SQL LIKE, you can use System.Data.Linq.SqlClient.SqlMethods.Like(...), which LINQ-to-SQL maps to LIKE in SQL Server.

Answer 2

Just add to string object extention methods.

public static class StringEx
{
    public static bool Contains(this String str, string[] Arr, StringComparison comp)
    {
        if (Arr != null)
        {
            foreach (string s in Arr)
            {
                if (str.IndexOf(s, comp)>=0)
                { return true; }
            }
        }

        return false;
    }

    public static bool Contains(this String str,string[] Arr)
    {
        if (Arr != null)
        {
            foreach (string s in Arr)
            {
                if (str.Contains(s))
                { return true; }
            }
        }

        return false;
    }
}

usage:

use namespase that contains this class;

var sPortCode = Database.DischargePorts
            .Where(p => p.PortName.Contains(new string [] {"BALTIMORE"},  StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase) )
            .Single().PortCode;