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Query Expression Syntax Examples: Ordering

The examples in this topic demonstrate how to use the OrderBy and OrderByDescending methods to query the AdventureWorks Sales Model using query expression syntax. The AdventureWorks Sales Model used in these examples is built from the Contact, Address, Product, SalesOrderHeader, and SalesOrderDetail tables in the AdventureWorks sample database.

The examples in this topic use the following using/Imports statements:

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Data.Objects;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Data.EntityClient;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Data.Common;

Option Explicit On
Option Strict On
Imports System.Data.Objects
Imports System.Globalization

OrderBy

Example

The following example uses OrderBy to return a list of contacts ordered by last name.

using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    IQueryable<Contact> sortedNames =
        from n in context.Contacts
        orderby n.LastName
        select n;

    Console.WriteLine("The sorted list of last names:");
    foreach (Contact n in sortedNames)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(n.LastName);
    }
}
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities
    Dim contacts As ObjectSet(Of Contact) = context.Contacts

    Dim sortedContacts = _
        From contact In contacts _
        Order By contact.LastName _
        Select contact

    Console.WriteLine("The sorted list of last names:")
    For Each n As Contact In sortedContacts
        Console.WriteLine(n.LastName)
    Next
End Using

Example

The following example uses OrderBy to sort a list of contacts by length of last name.

using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    IQueryable<Contact> sortedNames =
        from n in context.Contacts
        orderby n.LastName.Length
        select n;

    Console.WriteLine("The sorted list of last names (by length):");
    foreach (Contact n in sortedNames)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(n.LastName);
    }
}
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities
    Dim contacts As ObjectSet(Of Contact) = context.Contacts

    Dim sortedNames = _
        From n In contacts _
        Order By n.LastName.Length _
        Select n

    Console.WriteLine("The sorted list of last names (by length):")
    For Each n As Contact In sortedNames
        Console.WriteLine(n.LastName)
    Next
End Using

OrderByDescending

Example

The following example uses orderby… descending (Order By … Descending in Visual Basic), which is equivalent to the OrderByDescending method, to sort the price list from highest to lowest.

using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    IQueryable<Decimal> sortedPrices =
        from p in context.Products
        orderby p.ListPrice descending
        select p.ListPrice;

    Console.WriteLine("The list price from highest to lowest:");
    foreach (Decimal price in sortedPrices)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(price);
    }
}
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities
    Dim products As ObjectSet(Of Product) = context.Products

    Dim sortedPrices = _
        From product In products _
        Order By product.ListPrice Descending _
        Select product.ListPrice

    Console.WriteLine("The list price from highest to lowest:")
    For Each price As Decimal In sortedPrices
        Console.WriteLine(price)
    Next
End Using

ThenBy

Example

The following example uses OrderBy and ThenBy to return a list of contacts ordered by last name and then by first name.

using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    IQueryable<Contact> sortedContacts =
        from contact in context.Contacts
        orderby contact.LastName, contact.FirstName
        select contact;

    Console.WriteLine("The list of contacts sorted by last name then by first name:");
    foreach (Contact sortedContact in sortedContacts)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(sortedContact.LastName + ", " + sortedContact.FirstName);
    }
}
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities
    Dim contacts As ObjectSet(Of Contact) = context.Contacts

    Dim sortedContacts = _
        From contact In contacts _
        Order By contact.LastName, contact.FirstName _
        Select contact

    Console.WriteLine("The list of contacts sorted by last name then by first name:")
    For Each sortedContact As Contact In sortedContacts
        Console.WriteLine(sortedContact.LastName + ", " + sortedContact.FirstName)
    Next
End Using

ThenByDescending

Example

The following example uses OrderBy… Descending, which is equivalent to the ThenByDescending method, to sort a list of products, first by name and then by list price from highest to lowest.

using (AdventureWorksEntities context = new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
    IQueryable<Product> query =
        from product in context.Products
        orderby product.Name, product.ListPrice descending
        select product;

    foreach (Product product in query)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Product ID: {0} Product Name: {1} List Price {2}",
            product.ProductID,
            product.Name,
            product.ListPrice);
    }
}
Using context As New AdventureWorksEntities
    Dim products As ObjectSet(Of Product) = context.Products

    Dim query As IQueryable(Of Product) = _
        From product In products _
        Order By product.Name, product.ListPrice Descending _
        Select product

    For Each prod As Product In query
        Console.WriteLine("Product ID: {0} Product Name: {1} List Price {2}", _
            prod.ProductID, _
            prod.Name, _
            prod.ListPrice)
    Next
End Using

See also