How to: Find the Minimum Value in a Numeric Sequence (LINQ to SQL)
Use the Min operator to return the minimum value from a sequence of numeric values.
Example
The following example finds the lowest unit price of any product.
If you run this query against the Northwind sample database, the output is: 2.5000.
Dim lowestUnitPrice = Aggregate prod In db.Products _
Into Min(prod.UnitPrice)
Console.WriteLine(lowestUnitPrice)
System.Nullable<Decimal> lowestUnitPrice =
(from prod in db.Products
select prod.UnitPrice)
.Min();
Console.WriteLine(lowestUnitPrice);
The following example finds the lowest freight amount for any order.
If you run this query against the Northwind sample database, the output is: 0.0200.
Dim lowestFreight = Aggregate ord In db.Orders _
Into Min(ord.Freight)
Console.WriteLine(lowestFreight)
System.Nullable<Decimal> lowestFreight =
(from ord in db.Orders
select ord.Freight)
.Min();
Console.WriteLine(lowestFreight);
The following example uses Min to find the Products that have the lowest unit price in each category. The output is arranged by category.
Dim minQuery = From prod In db.Products() _
Group prod By prod.CategoryID Into grouping = Group _
Select CategoryID, LeastExpensiveProducts = _
From prod2 In grouping _
Where prod2.UnitPrice = grouping.Min(Function(prod3) _
prod3.UnitPrice)
For Each grp In minQuery
Console.WriteLine(grp.CategoryID)
For Each listing In grp.LeastExpensiveProducts
Console.WriteLine(listing.ProductName)
Next
Next
var minQuery =
from prod in db.Products
group prod by prod.CategoryID into grouping
select new
{
grouping.Key,
LeastExpensiveProducts =
from prod2 in grouping
where prod2.UnitPrice == grouping.Min(prod3 =>
prod3.UnitPrice)
select prod2
};
foreach (var grp in minQuery)
{
Console.WriteLine(grp.Key);
foreach (var listing in grp.LeastExpensiveProducts)
{
Console.WriteLine(listing.ProductName);
}
}
If you run the previous query against the Northwind sample database, your results will resemble the following:
1
Guaraná Fantástica
2
Aniseed Syrup
3
Teatime Chocolate Biscuits
4
Geitost
5
Filo Mix
6
Tourtière
7
Longlife Tofu
8
Konbu
See Also
Concepts
Downloading Sample Databases (LINQ to SQL)