SQL Lite Xamarin : Query - sqlite

Question

I'm newbie in SQLite.
I would like to query my SQLite database to get multiple rows.
When I add a new item in my local database I call this method Add:
public bool Add<T>(string key, T value)
{
return this.Insert(new SQliteCacheTable(key, this.GetBytes(value))) == 1;
}
_simpleCache.Add("favorite_1", data1);
_simpleCache.Add("favorite_2", data2);
_simpleCache.Add("favorite_3", data2);
Then,
I would like to retrieve from local database all entries where key starts with "favorite_"
to returns all objects in the database which are "favorite" objects.
I'm experienced in Linq, and I would like to do something like this:
IEnumerable<Element> = repository.Find((element) => element.Key.StartWith("favorite_"))
In the SQLiteConnection class there is a method like this:
SQLite.Net.SQLiteConnection.Find<T>(System.Linq.Expressions.Expression<System.Func<T,bool>>)
But I would like the same with in returns a collection IEnumerable<T>.
Can you help me please?
Thank you.
Jool

Answer 1

You have to build your query on the table itself, not the connection:
Assuming:
SQLiteConnection repository;
Then the code would look like:
var favorites = repository.Table<SQliteCacheTable>().Where(item => item.StartsWith("favorite_"));
The favorites variable is of type TableQuery<SQliteCacheTable> though, so it does not yet contain your data. The execution of the actual SQL query will be deferred until you try to access the results (by enumerating with foreach or converting to a list with ToList, for example).
To actually observe what's going on on the database, you can turn on tracing in sqlite-net, by setting repository.Trace = true on your SQLiteConnection object.
Finally, it's worth mentioning that you can also use the C# query syntax on TableQuery<T> objects, if your comfortable with it. So your query could become:
var favorites = from item in repository.Table<SQliteCacheTable>()
where item.StartsWith("favorite_")
select item;