How do I get this Linq query with custom join into a DataSet?

Question

I cannot seem to get past the anonymous type used by Linq's select clause when using join. I want to put my query result into a datatable. Here's what I have in memory at runtime...

DataTable1 (source)
----------
col1A <int> (acting PK, not explicitly defined as such)
col1B <string>
col1C <string>
col1D <string> (FK -> dt2.col2A, also not explicitly defined)
col1E <string>

DataTable2 (source)
----------
col2A <string> (acting PK, also not explicitly defined)
col2B <string>

DataTable3 (destination)
----------
colA <int>
colB <string>
colC <string>
colD <string>

Here's what I want (SQL equivelant to what I'm looking for)...

INSERT INTO DataTable3 (colA, colB, colC, colD)
SELECT  dt1.col1A, dt1.col1B, dt1.col1C, dt2.col2B
FROM DataTable1 dt1
LEFT JOIN DataTable2 dt2 ON (dt1.col1D = dt2.col2A)

Working backwards, I see this simple line to place an enumerated query result set into a datatable:

DataTable DataTable3 = query.CopyToDataTable();

Here's what I tried... I don't know how to build 'query' in a way that will allow me to use this. Attempt 1 (using var query; this worked, read further):

var query =
    from dt1 in DataTable1.AsEnumerable()
    join dt2 in DataTable2.AsEnumerable()
        on dt1.Field<string>("col1D") equals dt2.Field<string>("col2A")
    select new { col1A = dt1.Field<int>("col1A"),
        col1B = dt1.Field<string>("col1B"),
        col1C = dt1.Field<string>("col1C"),
        col2B = dt2.Field<string>("col2B") };

But that gives me this error on 'query.CopyToDataTable()':

"Error 1 The type 'AnonymousType#1' cannot be used as type parameter 'T' in the generic type or method 'System.Data.DataTableExtensions.CopyToDataTable(System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable)'. There is no implicit reference conversion from 'AnonymousType#1' to 'System.Data.DataRow'."

From what I can surmise, this error is because 'select new' doesn't build DataRows into 'query', which .CopyToDataTable() demands; it just builds anonymous records. Furthermore, I don't know how to just cast query elements into DataRow because "it is inaccessible due to protection level".

Attempt 2 (using IEnumerable query; don't bother trying this):

IEnumerable<DataRow> query =
    from dt1 in DataTable1.AsEnumerable()
    join dt2 in DataTable2.AsEnumerable()
        on dt1.Field<string>("col1D") equals dt2.Field<string>("col2A")
    select new { col1A = dt1.Field<int>("col1A"),
        col1B = dt1.Field<string>("col1B"),
        col1C = dt1.Field<string>("col1C"),
        col2B = dt2.Field<string>("col2B") };

This gives an error on 'join':

"Error 5 Cannot implicitly convert type 'System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable' to 'System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable'. An explicit conversion exists (are you missing a cast?)"

On a side note, if I comment out the 'join' clause (and the corresponding dt2 column in the 'select'), I get this error on the 'select':

"Error 2 Cannot implicitly convert type 'System.Data.EnumerableRowCollection' to 'System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable'. An explicit conversion exists (are you missing a cast?)"

I also tried pre-defining DataTable3 with columns to give the 'select' clause a real DataRow to go off of, but I still couldn't get the 'select' to take advantage of it.

---

Edits, Details, Solution: Thanks Tim for the help. I went with Attempt 1 (var query). I also pre-defined DataTable3 as such:

DataTable DataTable3 = new DataTable();
DataTable3.Columns.Add("colA", System.Type.GetType("System.Int32"));
DataTable3.Columns.Add("colB", System.Type.GetType("System.String"));
DataTable3.Columns.Add("colC", System.Type.GetType("System.String"));
DataTable3.Columns.Add("colD", System.Type.GetType("System.String"));

I stored the results from 'query' using a foreach loop as Tim suggested:

foreach (var x in query)
{
    DataRow newRow = DataTable3.NewRow();
    newRow.SetField("colA", x.col1A);
    newRow.SetField("colB", x.col1B);
    newRow.SetField("colC", x.col1C);
    newRow.SetField("colD", x.col2B);
    DataTable3.Rows.Add(newRow);
}

This could be genericized in a few ways with some additional effort, but this was good enough for my purposes.

Answer 1

Linq should be used for queries only. Use it to query the source and build your anonymous types. Then use a foreach to add the DataRows. In general: you cannot use CopyToDataTable for anything else than IEnumerable<DataRow>. That's the reason for the error on the anonymous type.

( There is a workaround using reflection that i wouldn't suggest in general:

Implement CopyToDataTable<T> Where the Generic Type T Is Not a DataRow )

Imho a foreach is the best you can do since it's very readable:

var query =
    from dt1 in DataTable1.AsEnumerable()
    join dt2 in DataTable2.AsEnumerable()
        on dt1.Field<string>("col1D") equals dt2.Field<string>("col2A")
    select new
    {
        col1A = dt1.Field<int>("col1A"),
        col1B = dt1.Field<string>("col1B"),
        col1C = dt1.Field<string>("col1C"),
        col2B = dt2.Field<string>("col2B")
    };

foreach (var x in query)
{
    DataRow newRow = DataTable3.Rows.Add();
    newRow.SetField("col1A", x.col1A);
    newRow.SetField("col1B", x.col1B);
    newRow.SetField("col1C", x.col1C);
    newRow.SetField("col2B", x.col2B);
}

Answer 2

I believe you can utilize the CopyToDataTable as follows:

dt1.AsEnumerable()
    .Join(dt2.AsEnumerable(),
        d => d.Field<string>("col1D"),
        d => d.Field<string>("col2A"),
        (d1, d2) => new { Dt1 = d1, Dt2 = d2 })
    .Select(a => {
            DataRow newRow = dt3.NewRow();
            newRow.SetField("colA", a.Dt1.Field<int>("col1A"));
            newRow.SetField("colB", a.Dt1.Field<string>("col1B"));
            newRow.SetField("colC", a.Dt1.Field<string>("col1C"));
            newRow.SetField("colD", a.Dt2.Field<string>("col2B"));
            return newRow;
        })
    .CopyToDataTable(dt3, LoadOption.OverwriteChanges);

Please note that this is performing an Inner Join rather than a Left Join as you requested.

If you really want a Left Join I think the following meets your requirements:

dt1.AsEnumerable()
    .GroupJoin(dt2.AsEnumerable(),
        d1 => d1.Field<int>("col1D"),
        d2 => d2.Field<int>("col2A"),
        (l, r) => new { Left = l, Right = r })
    .Select(anon => {
            if(anon.Right.Any())
            {
                return anon.Right.Select(r =>
                {
                    var newRow = dt3.NewRow();
                    newRow.SetField("colA", anon.Left.Field<int>("col1A"));
                    newRow.SetField("colB", anon.Left.Field<string>("col1B"));
                    newRow.SetField("colC", anon.Left.Field<string>("col1C"));
                    newRow.SetField("colD", r.Field<string>("col2B"));
                    return newRow;
                });
            }
            else
            {
                var newRow = dt3.NewRow();
                newRow.SetField("colA", anon.Left.Field<int>("col1A"));
                newRow.SetField("colB", anon.Left.Field<string>("col1B"));
                newRow.SetField("colC", anon.Left.Field<string>("col1C"));
                return new DataRow[] { newRow };
            }
        })
    .Aggregate((accum, next) => accum.Union(next))
    .CopyToDataTable(dt3, LoadOption.OverwriteChanges);