Introduction

This article explains how to display data in a GridView from two different SharePoint lists from the same or a different site collection having or not having a lookup column using LINQ.

Or

An inner join of two SharePoint Lists using LINQ.

This can also be done using a SPQuery join, provided lists are from the same site collection and properly bound with a lookup column. But if lists are from a different site collection and they do not have any lookup column then the following will definitely work.

Step-by-step Implementation

  1. Create a custom SharePoint List called States (Master List) with the following columns and data:

    Creating Custom List

    Adding Item on Table
  2. Create another custom SharePoint List called Cities (Child List) with the following columns and data:

    Create Custom List

    Add Item in Table

    Note: The State column in the Cities list may or may not be a look up column. I have created it as a lookup column as follows:

    State column setting:

    Column Setting
  3. Create an Empty SharePoint project in Visual Studio 2010 and name it as LinQJoin and click OK.
  4. Right-click on the project and add a new item as a Visual Web Part and name it as JoinSPList.
  5. Drag and drop a GridView data control to the designer from the toolbox.

    Creating GridView
  6. Write the following code in a designer source page called JoinSPListUserControl.ascx:

    Designing GridView

    GridView Design
  7. Add the following code in the Page_Load event:

    Page Load Event

    The following is the GetListItems method to get list data:

    Calling Method
  8. Build and deploy the project.
  9. Go to the SharePoint site and create a New Page.
  10. Insert a new JoinSPList WebPart from Custom category of WebPart and save the page.
  11. You will see a GridView with data from both lists.

    Getting GridView Data