c# - bulk insert with linq-to-sql

Question

I have a query that looks like this:

using (MyDC TheDC = new MyDC())
{
   foreach (MyObject TheObject in TheListOfMyObjects)
   {
      DBTable TheTable = new DBTable();

      TheTable.Prop1 = TheObject.Prop1;
      .....
      TheDC.DBTables.InsertOnSubmit(TheTable);

   }
   TheDC.SubmitChanges();
}

This query basically inserts a list into the database using linq-to-sql. Now I've read online that L2S does NOT support bulk operations. Does my query work by inserting each element at a time or all of them in one write?

Thanks for the clarification.

Answer 1

I modified the code from the following link to be more efficient and used it in my application. It is quite convenient because you can just put it in a partial class on top of your current autogenerated class. Instead of InsertOnSubmit add entities to a list, and instead of SubmitChanges call YourDataContext.BulkInsertAll(list).

http://www.codeproject.com/Tips/297582/Using-bulk-insert-with-your-linq-to-sql-datacontex

partial void OnCreated()
{
    CommandTimeout = 5 * 60;
}

public void BulkInsertAll<T>(IEnumerable<T> entities)
{                        
    using( var conn = new SqlConnection(Connection.ConnectionString))
    {
        conn.Open();

        Type t = typeof(T);

        var tableAttribute = (TableAttribute)t.GetCustomAttributes(
            typeof(TableAttribute), false).Single();
        var bulkCopy = new SqlBulkCopy(conn)
        {
            DestinationTableName = tableAttribute.Name
        };

        var properties = t.GetProperties().Where(EventTypeFilter).ToArray();
        var table = new DataTable();

        foreach (var property in properties)
        {
            Type propertyType = property.PropertyType;
            if (propertyType.IsGenericType &&
                propertyType.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(Nullable<>))
            {
                propertyType = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(propertyType);
            }

            table.Columns.Add(new DataColumn(property.Name, propertyType));
        }

        foreach (var entity in entities)
        {
            table.Rows.Add(
                properties.Select(
                property => property.GetValue(entity, null) ?? DBNull.Value
                ).ToArray());
        }

        bulkCopy.WriteToServer(table);
    }                                               
}

private bool EventTypeFilter(System.Reflection.PropertyInfo p)
{
    var attribute = Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(p,
        typeof(AssociationAttribute)) as AssociationAttribute;

    if (attribute == null) return true;
    if (attribute.IsForeignKey == false) return true;

    return false;
}