How to convert LINQ query result to DataTable using C#

In this article we will learn about How to convert LINQ query result to DataTable using C#. For example we have the List of Customers and we want to extract this customers using Linq and convert the result to datatable in C#. Following below steps we can achieve that. Please read our all C# articles here.

Step-1

Let's first create the Model that hold the Customer details like below,

	public class Customer
	{
	public int CustomerId { get; set; }
	public string Name { get; set; }
	public int Age { get; set; }
	public string Country { get; set; }
	}

view raw Customer.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Create another Model class that will responsible to convert Linq result to DataTable.

• A DataTable is created by determining the name of the Class.
• Then the properties of the Class are read and then Columns are created in the DataTable after determining the names of the properties.
• Now, a loop is executed over the items of the IEnumerable collection and inside the loop, a DataRow is created with values and added to the DataTable and it returned.

	public class Utility
	{
	//Generic function to convert Linq query to DataTable.
	public DataTable ConvertLinqToDataTable<T>(IEnumerable<T> items)
	{
	//Createa DataTable with the Name of the Class i.e. Customer class.
	DataTable dt = new DataTable(typeof(T).Name);
	//Read all the properties of the Class i.e. Customer class.
	PropertyInfo[] propInfos = typeof(T).GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance);
	//Loop through each property of the Class i.e. Customer class.
	foreach (PropertyInfo propInfo in propInfos)
	{
	//Add Columns in DataTable based on Property Name and Type.
	dt.Columns.Add(new DataColumn(propInfo.Name, propInfo.PropertyType));
	}
	//Loop through the items if the Collection.
	foreach (T item in items)
	{
	//Add a new Row to DataTable.
	DataRow dr = dt.Rows.Add();
	//Loop through each property of the Class i.e. Customer class.
	foreach (PropertyInfo propInfo in propInfos)
	{
	//Add value Column to the DataRow.
	dr[propInfo.Name] = propInfo.GetValue(item, null);
	}
	}
	return dt;
	}
	}

view raw Utility.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Step-2

On below we added some dummy data into List<customer> and using Linq query we extract and call the convert method to use in dataTable.

	public partial class Default : System.Web.UI.Page
	{
	Utility _util = new Utility();
	protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
	{
	getCustomers();
	}
	public void getCustomers()
	{
	List<Customer> customers = new List<Customer>();
	customers.Add(new Customer { CustomerId = 1, Name = "John Smith", Age=59, Country = "United States" });
	customers.Add(new Customer { CustomerId = 2, Name = "Aakash Burman", Age = 30, Country = "India" });
	customers.Add(new Customer { CustomerId = 3, Name = "Tim David", Age = 24, Country = "UK" });
	customers.Add(new Customer { CustomerId = 4, Name = "Kadir syed", Age = 36, Country = "Pakistan" });
	customers.Add(new Customer { CustomerId = 4, Name = "Ravi", Age = 34, Country = "India" });
	//Linq query.
	var query = from customer in customers
	select customer;
	DataTable dt = _util.ConvertLinqToDataTable<Customer>(query);
	}
	}

view raw Default.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Output

Now debug the application we can see in debug visualizer the result like below. On the next article we can see how to display it in Gridview.

</> Find the Source Code in Github

  Summary

In this tutorial we discussed about How to convert LINQ query result to DataTable using C#. If have any question related to this topic then give your feedback.