Develop Reference

How to read the values of a property in expression tree?

I'd like to read the value of some of the properties in the expression tree some I can proceed to some calculations.
var products = db.Products
.Where(GetPredicate())
.ToList();
private Expression<Func<Product, bool>> GetPredicate()
{
ParameterExpression pe = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Product), "p");
Expression exp0 = Expression.Property(pe, "Price");
//I'd like to know the value of the 'Price'
// so I can do some calculation, then check whether
//this particular product meet the criteria...
Expression body = Expression.Constant(Result); //result is a boolean
var expr = Expression.Lambda<Func<Product, bool>>(body, new ParameterExpression[] { pe });
return expr;
}

You seem to be using a database query provider (LINQ2SQL, EF, etc.)
Before you try to use expressions to solve your problem you need to make sure the expression is understood by the query provider. In your case many of the Math methods can be converted to T-SQL valid statements. Also, if you are using Entity Framework you might want to leverage the System.Data.Objects.SqlClient.SqlFunctions class to create an expression and execute your logic on the SQL Server side against native T-SQL functions.
Now, something to understand on expression trees, is that values cannot be obtained from constructing expressions unless this is a LambdaExpression, once compiled you invoke it, in your case you can obtain the bool value.
If you need to work with the price value, you need to create more expressions representing the call to the other logic, in your example the expressions calling the static Sqrt method of the Math class.
private Expression<Func<Product, bool>> GetPredicate()
{
var pe = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Product), "p");
var price = Expression.Property(pe, "Price");
var priceDouble = Expression.Convert(price, typeof(double));
var sqrtMethod = typeof(Math).GetMethod("Sqrt");
var sqrtCall = Expression.Call(sqrtMethod, priceDouble);
var constant = Expression.Constant(4d);
var gtThan = Expression.GreaterThan(sqrtCall, constant);
var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<Product, bool>>(gtThan, pe);
return lambda;
}
As you can see all the logic is an expression and the provider can consume the whole expression and convert it to syntax that can be understood by the target process. The prior expression generates p => Math.Sqrt((double)p.Price) > 4d

How to build a simple property selector expression in ef6

How can I create a property selector for entity framework like this?
public static List<T> StandardSearchAlgorithm<T>(this IQueryable<T> queryable, Func<T, string> property, string query)
{
return queryable.Where(e => property(e).ToLower().IndexOf(query) > -1).ToList();
}
I want the calling code to be able to be clean and simple like this:
var usernameResults = _db.Users.StandardSearchAlgorithm(u => u.Username, query);
I get a "The LINQ expression node type 'Invoke' is not supported in LINQ to Entities." error. I cannot work out how to get the expression built.
UPDATE:
Based on the answer by MBoros here is the code I ended up with. It works great.
The key to expression trees is to understand expression trees are all about breaking up what you normally write in code (like "e => e.Username.IndexOf(query)") into a series of objects: "e" gets its own object, "Username" its own object, "IndexOf()" its own object, the "query" constant its own object, and so on. The second key is to know that you can use a series of static methods on the Expression class to create various kinds of these objects, as shown below.
PropertyInfo pinfo = (PropertyInfo)((MemberExpression)property.Body).Member;
ParameterExpression parameter = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "e");
MemberExpression accessor = Expression.Property(parameter, pinfo);
ConstantExpression queryString = Expression.Constant(query, typeof(string));
ConstantExpression minusOne = Expression.Constant(-1, typeof(int));
MethodInfo indexOfInfo = typeof(string).GetMethod("IndexOf", new[] { typeof(string) }); // easiest way to do this
Expression indexOf = Expression.Call(accessor, indexOfInfo, queryString);
Expression expression = Expression.GreaterThan(indexOf, minusOne);
Expression<Func<T, bool>> predicate = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(expression, parameter);
//return predicate.Body.ToString(); // returns "e => e.Username.IndexOf(query) > -1" which is exactly what we want.
var results = queryable.Where(predicate).ToList();
return results;
Now I have a real problem, but I will ask it in a separate question. My real query looks like this:
public static List<T> StandardSearchAlgorithm<T>(this IQueryable<T> queryable, Func<T, string> property, string query)
{
return queryable.Where(e => property(e).IndexOf(query) > -1).Select(e=> new { Priority = property(e).IndexOf(query), Entity = e } ).ToList();
}
So I need to build an expression that returns an Anonymous Type!! Or even if I create a class to help, I need to write an expression that returns a new object. But I will include this in a separate question.

You cannot invoke CLR delegates so simply in sql. But you can pass in the property selector as an Expression tree., so your signature would be:
public static List<T> StandardSearchAlgorithm<T>(this IQueryable<T> queryable, Expression<Func<T, string>> property, string query)
Calling would look the same. But now that you have an expression in your hand, you can have a look at this answer:
Pass expression parameter as argument to another expression
It gives you the tools to simply put an expression tree inside another one. In your case it would look like:
Expression<Func<T, bool>> predicate = e => property.AsQuote()(e).Contains(query);
predicate = predicate.ResolveQuotes();
return queryable.Where(predicate).ToList();
Once you are there, you still have the .ToLower().Contains() calls (use .Contains instead of the .IndexOf()> 1). This is actually tricky. Normally the db uses its default collation, so if it set to CI (case insensitive), then it will do the compare that way. If you don't have any constraints, and can adjust the db collation, I would go for that. In this case you can omit the .ToLower() call.
Otherwise check out this anser: https://stackoverflow.com/a/2433217/280562

Maybe a Really simple, Dynamic Linq To Entities Select statement?

What I want basically is to be able to to the following (following is psuedo code)
string SelectField = cb1.Name.Substring(2);
MyContext.Items.Select(x=>x.SelectField )
I tried the following:
string SelectField = cb1.Name.Substring(2);
ParameterExpression pe = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Item), "p");
var expr = Expression.Lambda(Expression.Property(pe, SelectField), pe);
query = MyContext.Items.Select(p=>expr)
but it gave me the error:
The LINQ expression node type 'Lambda' is not supported in LINQ to Entities.
Is this possible? I just want to be able to select a single entity property based on the selection of my combobox.

I was able to get my desired results using the following code (not much different then my original attempt)
string SelectField = cb1.Name.Substring(2);
ParameterExpression pe = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Item), "p");
Expression expr = Expression.Lambda(Expression.Property(pe, SelectField), pe);
Expression<Func<Item, string>> expression = (Expression<Func<Item, string>>)expr;
var query = MyContext.Items.Select(expression);
All I was missing was the Func line. It now works as I wanted.

Ok, so with this type of solution you're likely going to have to do a bunch of reflection to get it to work dynamically.
string SelectField = cb1.Name.Substring(2);
ParameterExpression pe = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Item), "p");
First you have to invoke the lambda method without knowing the complete return type. The return type is Expression<Func<Item, ?>> (with the question mark being a placeholder for the property type.
var propertyType = typeof(Item).GetProperty(SelectField).GetGetMethod().ReturnType;
var lambdaMethodParamType = typeof(Func<,>).MakeGenericType(typeof(Item), propertyType);
var lambdaMethod = typeof(Expression).GetMethods().First(x => x.Name == "Lambda" && x.IsGenericMethod).MakeGenericMethod(lambdaMethodParamType);
var expr = lambdaMethod.Invoke(null, new object[] { Expression.Property(pe, SelectField), new ParameterExpression[] { pe } });
Then we have to invoke the select method in a similar fashion because the property type isn't know until runtime.
var selectMethod = typeof(Queryable).GetMethods().First(x => x.Name == "Select").MakeGenericMethod(typeof(Item), propertyType);
var query = (IQueryable)selectMethod.Invoke(null, new object[] { MyContext.Items, expr });
I don't know what you're doing with the query variable so I can't provide any further guidance with that at this time. Again, in this example we don't know what type will be contained in the collection until runtime because it is a collection of the property values.
FYI: My method for selecting the correct lambda and select was a total hack. You really should create a more robust search method examing the signature more completely to ensure you've found the correct method you are needing. I can provide a better example later if you need it when I have more time.

Converting a Linq expression tree that relies on SqlMethods.Like() for use with the Entity Framework

I recently switched from using Linq to Sql to the Entity Framework. One of the things that I've been really struggling with is getting a general purpose IQueryable extension method that was built for Linq to Sql to work with the Entity Framework. This extension method has a dependency on the Like() method of SqlMethods, which is Linq to Sql specific. What I really like about this extension method is that it allows me to dynamically construct a Sql Like statement on any object at runtime, by simply passing in a property name (as string) and a query clause (also as string). Such an extension method is very convenient for using grids like flexigrid or jqgrid. Here is the Linq to Sql version (taken from this tutorial: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/aspnet/MVCFlexigrid.aspx):
public static IQueryable<T> Like<T>(this IQueryable<T> source,
string propertyName, string keyword)
{
var type = typeof(T);
var property = type.GetProperty(propertyName);
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(type, "p");
var propertyAccess = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(parameter, property);
var constant = Expression.Constant("%" + keyword + "%");
var like = typeof(SqlMethods).GetMethod("Like",
new Type[] { typeof(string), typeof(string) });
MethodCallExpression methodExp =
Expression.Call(null, like, propertyAccess, constant);
Expression<Func<T, bool>> lambda =
Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(methodExp, parameter);
return source.Where(lambda);
}
With this extension method, I can simply do the following:
someList.Like("FirstName", "mike");
or
anotherList.Like("ProductName", "widget");
Is there an equivalent way to do this with Entity Framework?
Thanks in advance.

The SQL method PATINDEX provides the same functionality as LIKE. Therefore, you can use the SqlFunctions.PatIndex method.
.Where(x => SqlFunctions.PatIndex("%123%ABC", x.MySearchField) > 0)
or
var miSqlPatIndex = typeof(SqlFunctions).GetMethod(
"PatIndex",
BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.IgnoreCase,
null,
new Type[] { typeof(string), typeof(string) },
null);
expr = Expression.GreaterThan(
Expression.Call(
miSqlPatIndex,
new Expression[] { Expression.Constant("%123%ABC"), MySearchField }),
Expression.Convert(Expression.Constant(0), typeof(int?)));

You could consider looking at this:
http://naspinski.net/post/Universal-IQueryable-Search-Version-2-with-Reflection.aspx

I was able to find a good solution here: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/aspnet/AspNetMVCandJqGrid.aspx
It essentially uses the "Contains" method of the string class instead of the Like method of the SqlMethods class.
Expression condition = Expression.Call(memberAccess, typeof(string).GetMethod("Contains"), Expression.Constant(keyword));

Troubles creating a proper lambda expression

This is the code I need to alter:
var xParam = Expression.Parameter(typeof(E), typeof(E).Name);
MemberExpression leftExpr = MemberExpression.Property(xParam, this._KeyProperty);
Expression rightExpr = Expression.Constant(id);
BinaryExpression binaryExpr = MemberExpression.Equal(leftExpr, rightExpr);
//Create Lambda Expression for the selection
Expression<Func<E, bool>> lambdaExpr = Expression.Lambda<Func<E, bool>>(binaryExpr, new ParameterExpression[] { xParam });
Right now the expression I'm getting out of this is (x => x.RowId == id) and what I want to change it to is (x => x.RowId) so that I can use it in an OrderBy for the ObjectContext.CreateQuery(T) method called later on.
Does anyone know how to change the above code so the lambda is correct to use in an OrderBy to order by the ID field?
Side Notes: The RowId is coming from this._KeyProperty I believe. This is part of a generic repository using the entity framework on Asp.Net MVC

Just omit creating the constant and "=":
var xParam = Expression.Parameter(typeof(E), "x");
var propertyAccessExpr = Expression.Property(xParam, this._KeyProperty);
var lambdaExpr = Expression.Lambda<Func<E, bool>>(propertyAccessExpr, xParam);
This assumes that _KeyProperty has type 'bool'. If it has a different type, just change Func<E, bool> to the appropriate type.
(Edited to incorporate asgerhallas and LukLed's good suggestions)