Aggregate Clause (Visual Basic)

Applies one or more aggregate functions to a collection.

Aggregate element [As type] In collection _
  [, element2 [As type2] In collection2, [...]]
  [ clause ]
  Into expressionList

Parts

Remarks

The Aggregate clause can be used to include aggregate functions in your queries. Aggregate functions perform checks and computations over a set of values and return a single value. You can access the computed value by using a member of the query result type. The standard aggregate functions that you can use are the All, Any, Average, Count, LongCount, Max, Min, and Sum functions. These functions are familiar to developers who are familiar with aggregates in SQL. They are described in the following section of this topic.

The result of an aggregate function is included in the query result as a field of the query result type. You can supply an alias for the aggregate function result to specify the name of the member of the query result type that will hold the aggregate value. If no alias is supplied, the name of the aggregate function is used.

The Aggregate clause can begin a query, or it can be included as an additional clause in a query. If the Aggregate clause begins a query, the result is a single value that is the result of the aggregate function specified in the Into clause. If more than one aggregate function is specified in the Into clause, the query returns a single type with a separate property to reference the result of each aggregate function in the Into clause. If the Aggregate clause is included as an additional clause in a query, the type returned in the query collection will have a separate property to reference the result of each aggregate function in the Into clause.

Aggregate Functions

The following list describes the standard aggregate functions that can be used with the Aggregate clause.

Dim customerList1 = Aggregate order In orders
                    Into AllOrdersOver100 = All(order.Total >= 100)

Dim customerList2 = From cust In customers
                    Aggregate order In cust.Orders
                    Into AnyOrderOver500 = Any(order.Total >= 500)

Dim customerOrderAverage = Aggregate order In orders
                           Into Average(order.Total)

Dim customerOrderAfter1996 = From cust In customers
                             Aggregate order In cust.Orders
                             Into Count(order.OrderDate > #12/31/1996#)

Dim customerMaxOrder = Aggregate order In orders
                       Into MaxOrder = Max(order.Total)

Dim customerMinOrder = From cust In customers
                       Aggregate order In cust.Orders
                       Into MinOrder = Min(order.Total)

Dim customerTotals = From cust In customers
                     Aggregate order In cust.Orders
                     Into Sum(order.Total)

Example

The following code example shows how to use the Aggregate clause to apply aggregate functions to a query result.

Public Sub AggregateSample()
  Dim customers = GetCustomerList()

  Dim customerOrderTotal =
      From cust In customers
      Aggregate order In cust.Orders
      Into Sum(order.Total), MaxOrder = Max(order.Total),
      MinOrder = Min(order.Total), Avg = Average(order.Total)

  For Each customer In customerOrderTotal
    Console.WriteLine(customer.cust.CompanyName & vbCrLf &
                     vbTab & "Sum = " & customer.Sum & vbCrLf &
                     vbTab & "Min = " & customer.MinOrder & vbCrLf &
                     vbTab & "Max = " & customer.MaxOrder & vbCrLf &
                     vbTab & "Avg = " & customer.Avg.ToString("#.##"))
  Next 
End Sub

Creating User-Defined Aggregate Functions

You can include your own custom aggregate functions in a query expression by adding extension methods to the IEnumerable<T> type. Your custom method can then perform a calculation or operation on the enumerable collection that has referenced your aggregate function. For more information about extension methods, see Extension Methods (Visual Basic).

For example, the following code example shows a custom aggregate function that calculates the median value of a collection of numbers. There are two overloads of the Median extension method. The first overload accepts, as input, a collection of type IEnumerable(Of Double). If the Median aggregate function is called for a query field of type Double, this method will be called. The second overload of the Median method can be passed any generic type. The generic overload of the Median method takes a second parameter that references the Func(Of T, Double) lambda expression to project a value for a type (from a collection) as the corresponding value of type Double. It then delegates the calculation of the median value to the other overload of the Median method. For more information about lambda expressions, see Lambda Expressions (Visual Basic).

Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices

Module UserDefinedAggregates

    ' Calculate the median value for a collection of type Double.
    <Extension()>
    Function Median(ByVal values As IEnumerable(Of Double)) As Double 
        If values.Count = 0 Then 
            Throw New InvalidOperationException("Cannot compute median for an empty set.")
        End If 

        Dim sortedList = From number In values
                         Order By number

        Dim medianValue As Double 

        Dim itemIndex = CInt(Int(sortedList.Count / 2))

        If sortedList.Count Mod 2 = 0 Then 
            ' Even number of items in list.
            medianValue = ((sortedList(itemIndex) + sortedList(itemIndex - 1)) / 2)
        Else 
            ' Odd number of items in list.
            medianValue = sortedList(itemIndex)
        End If 

        Return medianValue
    End Function 

    ' "Cast" the collection of generic items as type Double and call the  
    ' Median() method to calculate the median value.
    <Extension()>
    Function Median(Of T)(ByVal values As IEnumerable(Of T),
                          ByVal selector As Func(Of T, Double)) As Double 
        Return (From element In values Select selector(element)).Median()
    End Function 

End Module

The following code example shows sample queries that call the Median aggregate function on a collection of type Integer, and a collection of type Double. The query that calls the Median aggregate function on the collection of type Double calls the overload of the Median method that accepts, as input, a collection of type Double. The query that calls the Median aggregate function on the collection of type Integer calls the generic overload of the Median method.

Module Module1

    Sub Main()
        Dim numbers1 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

        Dim query1 = Aggregate num In numbers1 Into Median(num)

        Console.WriteLine("Median = " & query1)

        Dim numbers2 = {1.9, 2, 8, 4, 5.7, 6, 7.2, 0}

        Dim query2 = Aggregate num In numbers2 Into Median()

        Console.WriteLine("Median = " & query2)
    End Sub 

End Module

See Also

Reference

Select Clause (Visual Basic)

From Clause (Visual Basic)

Where Clause (Visual Basic)

Group By Clause (Visual Basic)

Concepts

Introduction to LINQ in Visual Basic

Other Resources

Queries (Visual Basic)