Q:

Entity Framework ToList Method TSource

im using entity framewok and who have a problem.
when i get data,i dont use return type a model class.so who have created a class and entity framework returns type of my class as below:
List<MixedArticle> lstMxa=new List<MixedArticle>();

 Model.BlogDBEntities bdbe = new Model.BlogDBEntities();
                SqlParameter sp = new SqlParameter("@count", count);
                object[] parameters = new object[1] { sp };

                lstMxa = bdbe.Database.SqlQuery<Facade.MixedArticle>("select * from fn_GetLastXArticles(@count)", parameters).ToList();

but i can use toList method as like
lstMxa=bdbe.Articles...where(x=x.Count==count).ToList<Facade.MixedArticle>();

when i tried this way visual studio rejects and says that it was not TSource.
so,how do i use ToList() method?

A:

You can use a projection that selects the properties you have in MixedArticle from the Articles table in the database:
lstMxa = bdbe.Articles
    .Where(x => x.Count == count)
    .Select(x => new Facade.MixedArticle
    {
        SomePropertyInMixedArticle1 = x.SomeProperty1,
        SomePropertyInMixedArticle2 = x.SomeProperty2,
        // etc.
    })
    .ToList();

You could also load the full Article entity from the database and then map the needed properties over to MixedArticle (for example using a tool like AutoMapper). But the benefit of a projection with Select is that it doesn't load more column values from the database than you actually need in MixedArticle - but at the expense that you have to list and assign all those properties manually in the Select expression.

