Microsoft ADO.NET Entity Framework Step by Step

Chapter 10. Interaction with Table-Valued Functions

After completing the chapter, you’ll be able to

• Understanding TVFs

• Adding TVFs to your model

• Calling a TVF using Entity SQL

• Calling a TVF using LINQ

• Mapping a TVF to an entity type collection

Many developers haven’t even heard of TVFs yet because they’re a relatively new technology, and organizations are often slow to adopt new technologies. A TVF is a User-Defined Function (UDF) that returns a table instead of a scalar type. The technology has actually been around since Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Any Database Administrators (DBAs) reading this introduction are probably rolling their eyes, but developers usually focus on what is available, and TVFs haven’t been available for use until this latest version ...