title: Strange collation issue using LINQ to SQL
body: <p>I have the strangest collation error in LINQ-SQL. I have this query that performs a left-outer join on 2 parameters. From the query, I want to extract a column for the left joined table if it's NOT null, and otherwise from the first table. The field in question is a <strong>char</strong>, and both table have the same collation. The LINQ code is show below, and I have put in bold the line that is causing the error.</p>
  
  <pre><code>from contentList in dc.ContentList  
     join portalPriceClass in dc.PortalContentPriceClass  
     on contentList.ContentID equals portalPriceClass.ContentID  
     into ppc 
  from portalSpecificPriceClass in ppc.Where(portalPriceClass =&gt; 
     portalPriceClass.PortalID==portalId).DefaultIfEmpty()  
  where contentListPriority.PortalID == portalId  
  select new  
  {  
     ID = content.ID,  
     PriceClass = (portalSpecificPriceClass == null) ? contentGame.PriceClass : portalSpecificPriceClass.PriceClass 
  }; 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Unfortunately, I get the following error, and cannot find anything to account for it:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Implicit conversion of char value to char cannot be performed because the collation of the value is unresolved due to a collation conflict.</p>
  </blockquote>