LINQPad FAQ

FAQ Categories:

• Querying
• Autocompletion Licensing
• Security
• Customization and Extensibility

Querying

Why does LINQPad pluralize table and child association properties? Can I switch this off?

Pluralizing child association properties (while keeping parent associations singular) makes for the most natural queries and is what Visual Studio does by default in building typed DataContexts.

To switch off pluralization, uncheck the "Pluralize" option when adding the database connection. (If the connection has already been created, right-click it to edit the connection properties).

Why does LINQPad capitalize column names? Can I switch this off?

LINQPad capitalizes property names to avoid collisions with C# keywords. To switch this off, uncheck the "Capitalize" option when creating the database connection (or right-click to edit an existing connection).

Why is LINQPad case-sensitive? SQL isn't!

LINQPad's case-sensitivity depends on which language you select in the Language dropdown. If you want case-insensitivity, choose 'VB' instead of 'C#' (and then remember the underscores with multi-line queries). On a tangential point, SQL Server does treat table and columns names case-sensitively if the database has a case-sensitive collation.

How do I display the results of multi-statement snippets?

This is explained in the samples - work through the "5-Minute Induction".

What's the difference between LINQPad 2.x and LINQPad 4.x?

LINQPad 2.x runs on .NET Framework 3.5; LINQPad 4.x runs on .NET Framework 4.0. The latter allows you to access .NET 4.0 features such as PLINQ, TPL, Entity Framework 4.0. It also lets you reference assemblies that you've built in Visual Studio 2010.

You can run LINQPad 2.x and LINQPad 4.x side-by-side. They will each update themselves independently.

Why does LINQPad use LINQ to SQL under the covers, rather than Entity Framework?

LINQ to SQL is faster with large schemas and in most cases, emits better SQL. You can, however, use EF with EDMs that you define yourself. For querying SQLite and MySQL (via the optional plug-in), LINQPad uses Matt Warren's IQueryable toolkit, whose pipeline for converting LINQ into SQL is currently unrivaled.

Can I query XML data sources as well as SQL tables?

Certainly - click here for a simple example. There are a whole lot more examples in the "Samples" tree, under C# 3.0 in a Nutshell, Chapter 10.

Autocompletion Licensing

I understand that a single-user autocompletion license can activate up to three computers at once. Once I've hit this limit, can I transfer a license from one computer to another?

Yes - you can make up to 6 transfers over a 12-month period (pro-rata for multi-user licenses). To do this, choose 'Remove Autocompletion License' from the Help menu. If you forget, you can remotely deactivate unused machines.

I'm always reformatting and reinstalling Windows. When I reactivate LINQPad's autocompletion, will it eat up an activation?

In most cases, LINQPad won't blink an eye if you keep the same hardware. (If there's any problem, you'll be able to remotely release the old machine's activation).

Can I activate virtual machines?

Sure - right now a single-user license gives you three transferrable virtual activations in addition to your three real activations (pro-rata for multi-user licenses). Virtual activations are locked to both the virtual and host machine, and are valid for Microsoft VPC (including Windows XP mode), Hyper-V and VMWare Server & Workstation.

If I buy a 2-user license, will I get 6 activations?

Yes.

The developers in my company work in three different cities. Are the Team and Enterprise licenses valid over multiple sites?

Yes - you can use a single Team or Enterprise license in up to ten different locations.

I've lost my activation code. Can I retrieve it?

Click here to retrieve lost activation codes.

I don't want to pay for an autocompletion license. Can I steal a cracked copy?

There are numerous 'cracked' copies on the Internet: LINQPad Cracked, LINQPad Full Edition, LINQPad KeyGen, LINQPad Full Version RapidShare, LINQPad Torrent, LINQPad Crack Plus KeyGen, LINQPad Warez download.. Autocompletion works in none of these. One has an unpleasant payload.

Revenue from sales funds development and updates. I've kept the price low and the licensing terms fair: please support the product and don't steal the software.

I live in a country that doesn't support PayPal (Nigeria, Iran). What do I do?

Contact customer support.

Security

I notice LINQPad automatically patches itself when an update is released. How does it ensure updates are authentic and have not been tampered with in transit? My company is anal about security!

LINQPad will accept an update only if the assembly has a valid signature - and the public key matches that of the original assembly.

If I save a connection that uses SQL Authentication, does LINQPad store the password in plain text?

Of course not! LINQPad encrypts the password securely using the Windows Data Protection API.

Customization & Extensibility

What extensibility points does LINQPad provide?

First, you can reference custom assemblies and import custom namespaces - go to Query Properties (F4).

You can also control what fields/properties of your custom types are displayed via LINQPad's Dump method, by implementing the following interface:

namespace LINQPad
{
   public interface ICustomMemberProvider
   {
      // Each of these methods must return a sequence
      // with the same number of elements:
      IEnumerable<string> GetNames();
      IEnumerable<Type>   GetTypes();
      IEnumerable<object> GetValues();
   }	
}

Note that you don't have to reference the LINQPad assembly in order to implement this interface. Instead, you can copy and paste this interface definition into your target application - as long as it's defined in the LINQPad namespace, LINQPad will recognize the interface via "duck-typing".

LINQPad also allows you to write custom Data Context Drivers.

Will LINQPad let me run Parallel LINQ Queries?

Yes: download the .NET Framework 4.0 version of LINQPad. You'll need to download Framework 4.0, too.

I'm using LINQPad in a presentation. Can I make the query text bigger? And can I use my cordless presenter?

Yes and yes. To adjust the font size, use Control+MouseWheel, or Control+Plus / Control+Minus. (You can also adjust your Windows font size - LINQPad is fully DPI-aware.)

To use a cordless presenter, start LINQPad with the -presenter switch. You can then use the Logitech Cordless Presenter to:

• Move to the next/previous query in 'My Queries' or 'Sample Queries'
• Run a query
• Hide the results window

You can make a query display a PowerPoint slide by entering the following statement into the query:

// Second argument = slide number to start at
PowerPoint.ShowSlide (@"c:\docs\MyPresentation.ppt", 1);

Note that you must install the PowerPoint Viewer for this to work (even if you have already installed the full-blown PowerPoint). And good luck with your presentation!