BulkDeleteByKey

This method deletes rows from the database using a list of primary keys in bulk. It is supported for EnterpriseDB.

Unlike BulkDelete, this operation takes the target table name directly (BulkDeleteByKey<TPrimaryKey>(connection, tableName, primaryKeys, ...)) rather than an entity type parameter — there is no BulkDeleteByKey<TEntity, TPrimaryKey> overload.

Call Flow Diagram

The diagram below shows the flow when calling this operation.

flowchart TD
    Client["Client<br/>(RepoDB)"] -->|BulkDeleteByKey| Keys["Primary Keys<br/>IEnumerable&lt;TPrimaryKey&gt;"]
    Keys --> Pseudo["Create Pseudo Table<br/>(Auto/Memory/Physical) +<br/>Index on key column"]
    Pseudo --> Loader["EDBBulkCopy<br/>(Npgsql binary COPY,<br/>key column only)"]
    Loader -->|Write| PseudoTable[("Pseudo Table")]
    PseudoTable -->|"DELETE FROM Target<br/>USING Pseudo S<br/>WHERE (key matches)"| Table[("Target Table")]
    PseudoTable -->|Drop| Cleanup(["Pseudo Table Dropped"])

Use Case

Use this method to delete rows by primary key against EnterpriseDB at high speed. It leverages RepoDb.Connector.EnterpriseDb’s EDBBulkCopy, itself built on top of Npgsql’s native binary COPY protocol — a genuine bulk load, not a client-side loop of single-row statements.

A pseudo (staging) table, containing only the key column and indexed on it, is created for every call and dropped afterward — see Operations (EnterpriseDB) for the underlying mechanics.

Special Arguments

The bulkCopyTimeout, batchSize and pseudoTableType arguments are available for this operation.

bulkCopyTimeout overrides the command timeout, in seconds, applied to the underlying EDBBulkCopy write while staging.

batchSize overrides the number of rows written per batch. When not set, the provider’s default batch size is used.

pseudoTableType (via EDBBulkImportPseudoTableType) controls the kind of staging table used — Auto (default) picks Physical once the row count reaches the internal threshold (5000), otherwise Memory.

Usability

Pass the target table name and the list of primary keys to the operation.

using (var connection = new EDBConnection(connectionString))
{
    var primaryKeys = connection.Query<Person>(p => p.IsActive == false).Select(p => p.Id);
    var deletedRows = connection.BulkDeleteByKey<long>("\"Person\"", primaryKeys);
}

It returns the number of rows deleted from the underlying table.

To specify a batch size:

using (var connection = new EDBConnection(connectionString))
{
    var primaryKeys = connection.Query<Person>(p => p.IsActive == false).Select(p => p.Id);
    var deletedRows = connection.BulkDeleteByKey<long>("\"Person\"", primaryKeys,
        batchSize: 100);
}

Async Method

An equivalent BulkDeleteByKeyAsync method is also available.

using (var connection = new EDBConnection(connectionString))
{
    var primaryKeys = connection.Query<Person>(p => p.IsActive == false).Select(p => p.Id);
    var deletedRows = await connection.BulkDeleteByKeyAsync<long>("\"Person\"", primaryKeys);
}