Filter a collection with LINQ vs CollectionView - wpf

Question

I want to filter a ObservableCollection with max 3000 items in a DataGrid with 6 columns. The user should be able to filter in an "&&"-way all 6 columns.
Should I use LINQ or a CollectionView for it? LINQ seemed faster trying some www samples. Do you have any pro/cons?
UPDATE:
private ObservableCollection<Material> _materialList;
private ObservableCollection<Material> _materialListInternal;
public MaterialBrowserListViewModel()
{
_materialListInternal = new ObservableCollection<Material>();
for (int i = 0; i < 2222; i++)
{
var mat = new Material()
{
Schoolday = DateTime.Now.Date,
Period = i,
DocumentName = "Excel Sheet" + i,
Keywords = "financial budget report",
SchoolclassCode = "1",
};
_materialListInternal.Add(mat);
var mat1 = new Material()
{
Schoolday = DateTime.Now.Date,
Period = i,
DocumentName = "Word Doc" + i,
Keywords = "Economical staticstics report",
SchoolclassCode = "2",
};
_materialListInternal.Add(mat1);
}
MaterialList = CollectionViewSource.GetDefaultView(MaterialListInternal);
MaterialList.Filter = new Predicate<object>(ContainsInFilter);
}
public bool ContainsInFilter(object item)
{
if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(FilterKeywords))
return true;
Material material = item as Material;
if (DocumentHelper.ContainsCaseInsensitive(material.Keywords,FilterKeywords,StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase))
return true;
else
return false;
}
private string _filterKeywords;
public string FilterKeywords
{
get { return _filterKeywords; }
set
{
if (_filterKeywords == value)
return;
_filterKeywords = value;
this.RaisePropertyChanged("FilterKeywords");
MaterialList.Refresh();
}
}
public ICollectionView MaterialList { get; set; }
public ObservableCollection<Material> MaterialListInternal
{
get { return _materialListInternal; }
set
{
_materialListInternal = value;
this.RaisePropertyChanged("MaterialList");
}
}

Answer 1

Using ICollectionView gives you automatic collection changed notifications when you call Refresh. Using LINQ you'll need to fire your own change notifications when the filter needs to be re-run to update the UI. Not difficult, but requires a little more thought than just calling Refresh.
LINQ is more flexible that the simple yes/no filtering used by ICollectionView, but if you're not doing something complex there's not really any advantage to that flexibility.
As Henk stated, there shouldn't be a noticable performance difference in the UI.

Answer 2

For an interactive (DataGrid?) experience you should probabaly use the CollectionView. For a more code-oriented sorting, LINQ.
And with max 3000 items, speed should not be a (major) factor in a UI.

Answer 3

How about both? Thomas Levesque built a LINQ-enabled wrapper around ICollectionView.
Usage:
IEnumerable<Person> people;
// Using query comprehension
var query =
from p in people.ShapeView()
where p.Age >= 18
orderby p.LastName, p.FirstName
group p by p.Country;
query.Apply();
// Using extension methods
people.ShapeView()
.Where(p => p.Age >= 18)
.OrderBy(p => p.LastName)
.ThenBy(p => p.FirstName)
.Apply();
Code:
public static class CollectionViewShaper
{
public static CollectionViewShaper<TSource> ShapeView<TSource>(this IEnumerable<TSource> source)
{
var view = CollectionViewSource.GetDefaultView(source);
return new CollectionViewShaper<TSource>(view);
}
public static CollectionViewShaper<TSource> Shape<TSource>(this ICollectionView view)
{
return new CollectionViewShaper<TSource>(view);
}
}
public class CollectionViewShaper<TSource>
{
private readonly ICollectionView _view;
private Predicate<object> _filter;
private readonly List<SortDescription> _sortDescriptions = new List<SortDescription>();
private readonly List<GroupDescription> _groupDescriptions = new List<GroupDescription>();
public CollectionViewShaper(ICollectionView view)
{
if (view == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("view");
_view = view;
_filter = view.Filter;
_sortDescriptions = view.SortDescriptions.ToList();
_groupDescriptions = view.GroupDescriptions.ToList();
}
public void Apply()
{
using (_view.DeferRefresh())
{
_view.Filter = _filter;
_view.SortDescriptions.Clear();
foreach (var s in _sortDescriptions)
{
_view.SortDescriptions.Add(s);
}
_view.GroupDescriptions.Clear();
foreach (var g in _groupDescriptions)
{
_view.GroupDescriptions.Add(g);
}
}
}
public CollectionViewShaper<TSource> ClearGrouping()
{
_groupDescriptions.Clear();
return this;
}
public CollectionViewShaper<TSource> ClearSort()
{
_sortDescriptions.Clear();
return this;
}
public CollectionViewShaper<TSource> ClearFilter()
{
_filter = null;
return this;
}
public CollectionViewShaper<TSource> ClearAll()
{
_filter = null;
_sortDescriptions.Clear();
_groupDescriptions.Clear();
return this;
}
public CollectionViewShaper<TSource> Where(Func<TSource, bool> predicate)
{
_filter = o => predicate((TSource)o);
return this;
}
public CollectionViewShaper<TSource> OrderBy<TKey>(Expression<Func<TSource, TKey>> keySelector)
{
return OrderBy(keySelector, true, ListSortDirection.Ascending);
}
public CollectionViewShaper<TSource> OrderByDescending<TKey>(Expression<Func<TSource, TKey>> keySelector)
{
return OrderBy(keySelector, true, ListSortDirection.Descending);
}
public CollectionViewShaper<TSource> ThenBy<TKey>(Expression<Func<TSource, TKey>> keySelector)
{
return OrderBy(keySelector, false, ListSortDirection.Ascending);
}
public CollectionViewShaper<TSource> ThenByDescending<TKey>(Expression<Func<TSource, TKey>> keySelector)
{
return OrderBy(keySelector, false, ListSortDirection.Descending);
}
private CollectionViewShaper<TSource> OrderBy<TKey>(Expression<Func<TSource, TKey>> keySelector, bool clear, ListSortDirection direction)
{
string path = GetPropertyPath(keySelector.Body);
if (clear)
_sortDescriptions.Clear();
_sortDescriptions.Add(new SortDescription(path, direction));
return this;
}
public CollectionViewShaper<TSource> GroupBy<TKey>(Expression<Func<TSource, TKey>> keySelector)
{
string path = GetPropertyPath(keySelector.Body);
_groupDescriptions.Add(new PropertyGroupDescription(path));
return this;
}
private static string GetPropertyPath(Expression expression)
{
var names = new Stack<string>();
var expr = expression;
while (expr != null && !(expr is ParameterExpression) && !(expr is ConstantExpression))
{
var memberExpr = expr as MemberExpression;
if (memberExpr == null)
throw new ArgumentException("The selector body must contain only property or field access expressions");
names.Push(memberExpr.Member.Name);
expr = memberExpr.Expression;
}
return String.Join(".", names.ToArray());
}
}
Credit:
http://www.thomaslevesque.com/2011/11/30/wpf-using-linq-to-shape-data-in-a-collectionview/

Answer 4

Based on a visual complexity and number of items there really WILL be a noticable performance difference since the Refresh method recreates the whole view!!!

Answer 5

You need my ObservableComputations library. Using this library you can code like this:
ObservableCollection<Material> MaterialList = MaterialListInternal.Filtering(m =>
String.IsNullOrEmpty(FilterKeywords)
|| DocumentHelper.ContainsCaseInsensitive(
material.Keywords, FilterKeywords, StringComparison.CurrentCultureIgnoreCase));
MaterialList reflects all the changes in the MaterialListInternal collection. Do not forget to add the implementation of the INotifyPropertyChanged interface to Material class, so that MaterialList collection reflects the changes in material.Keywords property.