entity sql count null

Question

I'm having trouble with counting null values using Entity SQL.

Code in SQL:

SELECT Table.City, COUNT(*)
FROM Table
GROUP BY Table.City

and in Linq to Entities:

var query1 = from g in context.Table
             group g by g.City into mygroup
             select new { mygroup, c = mygroup.Count() };

both return correct values:

NULL    4
Boston  7
Canberra    1
London  5
Melbourne   5
New York    4
Paris   15
Sydney  4

However, Entity SQL code written like:

string queryString1 = "SELECT city, COUNT(g.City)" +
                      "FROM Entities.Table AS g " +
                      "GROUP BY g.City as city";

returns:

NULL    0
Boston  7
Canberra    1
London  5
Melbourne   5
New York    4
Paris   15
Sydney  4

Why are the NULLs not counted properly? How can I fix it?

Answer 1

How Entity SQL Differs from Transact-SQL

Entity SQL does not support the count(*) aggregate. Use count(0) instead.

Usually COUNT(*) counts rows while COUNT(g.City) gives you NOT NULL values amount.