Вы должны использовать метод расширения как
public static class StringHelper
{
public static string FormatCourseTitle(this string courseTitle)
{
//find if last three characters are " or"
string[] words = courseTitle.Trim().ToLower().Split(' ');
int j = words.Count();
string tempStr = string.Empty;
if (words[j] == "or")
{
tempStr = courseTitle.Substring(0, courseTitle.Length - 3);
}
else
{
tempStr = courseTitle;
}
return tempStr;
}
}
Изменить запрос на
var searchResults = (from a in db.Courses
join b in db.Summary on
new { subject = a.subject, catalog = a.catalog, coursetitle = a.coursetitle.FormatCourseTitle() } equals
new { subject = b.Subject, catalog = b.Catalogno, coursetitle = b.CourseTitle } into ab
from b in ab.DefaultIfEmpty()
where a.Active == true
select new JoinModel
{
Courses = a,
Summary2020 = b
} ).ToList();