How can i return a dataReader using Entity Framework 6.1?

Question

Exactly as the question asks. I am using entity framework for most of my code, but i also need to execute and return a count or columns from a sql table that is not within my entity framework context.

Answer 1

You can run a raw query using Entity Framework, for example:

using (var context = new BloggingContext()) 
{ 
    var blogNames = context.Database.SqlQuery<string>( 
                       "SELECT Name FROM dbo.Blogs").ToList(); 
}

If you want to return a more complex type, you can define your own class and use that instead. As long as the properties match the names of the columns you select, it will work. So lets make a class:

public class MyClass
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string UserName { get; set; }
}

And use it:

List<MyClass> result = ctx
    .Database.SqlQuery<MyClass>("SELECT Id, UserName FROM dbo.Users")
    .ToList();