Related
Let me use the following example to explain my question:
public string ExampleFunction(string Variable) {
return something;
}
string WhatIsMyName = "Hello World";
string Hello = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName);
When I pass the variable WhatIsMyName to the ExampleFunction, I want to be able to get a string of the original variable's name. Perhaps something like:
Variable.OriginalName.ToString() // == "WhatIsMyName"
Is there any way to do this?
What you want isn't possible directly but you can use Expressions in C# 3.0:
public void ExampleFunction(Expression<Func<string, string>> f) {
Console.WriteLine((f.Body as MemberExpression).Member.Name);
}
ExampleFunction(x => WhatIsMyName);
Note that this relies on unspecified behaviour and while it does work in Microsoft’s current C# and VB compilers, and in Mono’s C# compiler, there’s no guarantee that this won’t stop working in future versions.
This isn't exactly possible, the way you would want. C# 6.0 they Introduce the nameof Operator which should help improve and simplify the code. The name of operator resolves the name of the variable passed into it.
Usage for your case would look like this:
public string ExampleFunction(string variableName) {
//Construct your log statement using c# 6.0 string interpolation
return $"Error occurred in {variableName}";
}
string WhatIsMyName = "Hello World";
string Hello = ExampleFunction(nameof(WhatIsMyName));
A major benefit is that it is done at compile time,
The nameof expression is a constant. In all cases, nameof(...) is evaluated at compile-time to produce a string. Its argument is not evaluated at runtime, and is considered unreachable code (however it does not emit an "unreachable code" warning).
More information can be found here
Older Version Of C 3.0 and above
To Build on Nawfals answer
GetParameterName2(new { variable });
//Hack to assure compiler warning is generated specifying this method calling conventions
[Obsolete("Note you must use a single parametered AnonymousType When Calling this method")]
public static string GetParameterName<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
return typeof(T).GetProperties()[0].Name;
}
I know this post is really old, but since there is now a way in C#10 compiler, I thought I would share so others know.
You can now use CallerArgumentExpressionAttribute as shown
// Will throw argument exception if string IsNullOrEmpty returns true
public static void ValidateNotNullorEmpty(
this string str,
[CallerArgumentExpression("str")]string strName = null
)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(str))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{strName}' cannot be null or empty.", strName);
}
}
Now call with:
param.ValidateNotNullorEmpty();
will throw error: "param cannot be null or empty."
instead of "str cannot be null or empty"
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Name is '{0}'", GetName(new {args}));
Console.ReadLine();
}
static string GetName<T>(T item) where T : class
{
var properties = typeof(T).GetProperties();
Enforce.That(properties.Length == 1);
return properties[0].Name;
}
More details are in this blog post.
Three ways:
1) Something without reflection at all:
GetParameterName1(new { variable });
public static string GetParameterName1<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
return item.ToString().TrimStart('{').TrimEnd('}').Split('=')[0].Trim();
}
2) Uses reflection, but this is way faster than other two.
GetParameterName2(new { variable });
public static string GetParameterName2<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
return typeof(T).GetProperties()[0].Name;
}
3) The slowest of all, don't use.
GetParameterName3(() => variable);
public static string GetParameterName3<T>(Expression<Func<T>> expr)
{
if (expr == null)
return string.Empty;
return ((MemberExpression)expr.Body).Member.Name;
}
To get a combo parameter name and value, you can extend these methods. Of course its easy to get value if you pass the parameter separately as another argument, but that's inelegant. Instead:
1)
public static string GetParameterInfo1<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
var param = item.ToString().TrimStart('{').TrimEnd('}').Split('=');
return "Parameter: '" + param[0].Trim() +
"' = " + param[1].Trim();
}
2)
public static string GetParameterInfo2<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
var param = typeof(T).GetProperties()[0];
return "Parameter: '" + param.Name +
"' = " + param.GetValue(item, null);
}
3)
public static string GetParameterInfo3<T>(Expression<Func<T>> expr)
{
if (expr == null)
return string.Empty;
var param = (MemberExpression)expr.Body;
return "Parameter: '" + param.Member.Name +
"' = " + ((FieldInfo)param.Member).GetValue(((ConstantExpression)param.Expression).Value);
}
1 and 2 are of comparable speed now, 3 is again sluggish.
Yes! It is possible. I have been looking for a solution to this for a long time and have finally come up with a hack that solves it (it's a bit nasty). I would not recommend using this as part of your program and I only think it works in debug mode. For me this doesn't matter as I only use it as a debugging tool in my console class so I can do:
int testVar = 1;
bool testBoolVar = True;
myConsole.Writeline(testVar);
myConsole.Writeline(testBoolVar);
the output to the console would be:
testVar: 1
testBoolVar: True
Here is the function I use to do that (not including the wrapping code for my console class.
public Dictionary<string, string> nameOfAlreadyAcessed = new Dictionary<string, string>();
public string nameOf(object obj, int level = 1)
{
StackFrame stackFrame = new StackTrace(true).GetFrame(level);
string fileName = stackFrame.GetFileName();
int lineNumber = stackFrame.GetFileLineNumber();
string uniqueId = fileName + lineNumber;
if (nameOfAlreadyAcessed.ContainsKey(uniqueId))
return nameOfAlreadyAcessed[uniqueId];
else
{
System.IO.StreamReader file = new System.IO.StreamReader(fileName);
for (int i = 0; i < lineNumber - 1; i++)
file.ReadLine();
string varName = file.ReadLine().Split(new char[] { '(', ')' })[1];
nameOfAlreadyAcessed.Add(uniqueId, varName);
return varName;
}
}
Continuing with the Caller* attribute series (i.e CallerMemberName, CallerFilePath and CallerLineNumber), CallerArgumentExpressionAttribute is available since C# Next (more info here).
The following example is inspired by Paul Mcilreavy's The CallerArgumentExpression Attribute in C# 8.0:
public static void ThrowIfNullOrWhitespace(this string self,
[CallerArgumentExpression("self")] string paramName = default)
{
if (self is null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(paramName);
}
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(self))
{
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(paramName, self, "Value cannot be whitespace");
}
}
This would be very useful to do in order to create good exception messages causing people to be able to pinpoint errors better. Line numbers help, but you might not get them in prod, and when you do get them, if there are big statements in code, you typically only get the first line of the whole statement.
For instance, if you call .Value on a nullable that isn't set, you'll get an exception with a failure message, but as this functionality is lacking, you won't see what property was null. If you do this twice in one statement, for instance to set parameters to some method, you won't be able to see what nullable was not set.
Creating code like Verify.NotNull(myvar, nameof(myvar)) is the best workaround I've found so far, but would be great to get rid of the need to add the extra parameter.
No, but whenever you find yourself doing extremely complex things like this, you might want to re-think your solution. Remember that code should be easier to read than it was to write.
System.Environment.StackTrace will give you a string that includes the current call stack. You could parse that to get the information, which includes the variable names for each call.
Well Try this Utility class,
public static class Utility
{
public static Tuple<string, TSource> GetNameAndValue<TSource>(Expression<Func<TSource>> sourceExpression)
{
Tuple<String, TSource> result = null;
Type type = typeof (TSource);
Func<MemberExpression, Tuple<String, TSource>> process = delegate(MemberExpression memberExpression)
{
ConstantExpression constantExpression = (ConstantExpression)memberExpression.Expression;
var name = memberExpression.Member.Name;
var value = ((FieldInfo)memberExpression.Member).GetValue(constantExpression.Value);
return new Tuple<string, TSource>(name, (TSource) value);
};
Expression exception = sourceExpression.Body;
if (exception is MemberExpression)
{
result = process((MemberExpression)sourceExpression.Body);
}
else if (exception is UnaryExpression)
{
UnaryExpression unaryExpression = (UnaryExpression)sourceExpression.Body;
result = process((MemberExpression)unaryExpression.Operand);
}
else
{
throw new Exception("Expression type unknown.");
}
return result;
}
}
And User It Like
/*ToDo : Test Result*/
static void Main(string[] args)
{
/*Test : primivit types*/
long maxNumber = 123123;
Tuple<string, long> longVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => maxNumber);
string longVariableName = longVariable.Item1;
long longVariableValue = longVariable.Item2;
/*Test : user define types*/
Person aPerson = new Person() { Id = "123", Name = "Roy" };
Tuple<string, Person> personVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => aPerson);
string personVariableName = personVariable.Item1;
Person personVariableValue = personVariable.Item2;
/*Test : anonymous types*/
var ann = new { Id = "123", Name = "Roy" };
var annVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => ann);
string annVariableName = annVariable.Item1;
var annVariableValue = annVariable.Item2;
/*Test : Enum tyoes*/
Active isActive = Active.Yes;
Tuple<string, Active> isActiveVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => isActive);
string isActiveVariableName = isActiveVariable.Item1;
Active isActiveVariableValue = isActiveVariable.Item2;
}
Do this
var myVariable = 123;
myVariable.Named(() => myVariable);
var name = myVariable.Name();
// use name how you like
or naming in code by hand
var myVariable = 123.Named("my variable");
var name = myVariable.Name();
using this class
public static class ObjectInstanceExtensions
{
private static Dictionary<object, string> namedInstances = new Dictionary<object, string>();
public static void Named<T>(this T instance, Expression<Func<T>> expressionContainingOnlyYourInstance)
{
var name = ((MemberExpression)expressionContainingOnlyYourInstance.Body).Member.Name;
instance.Named(name);
}
public static T Named<T>(this T instance, string named)
{
if (namedInstances.ContainsKey(instance)) namedInstances[instance] = named;
else namedInstances.Add(instance, named);
return instance;
}
public static string Name<T>(this T instance)
{
if (namedInstances.ContainsKey(instance)) return namedInstances[instance];
throw new NotImplementedException("object has not been named");
}
}
Code tested and most elegant I can come up with.
Thanks for all the responses. I guess I'll just have to go with what I'm doing now.
For those who wanted to know why I asked the above question. I have the following function:
string sMessages(ArrayList aMessages, String sType) {
string sReturn = String.Empty;
if (aMessages.Count > 0) {
sReturn += "<p class=\"" + sType + "\">";
for (int i = 0; i < aMessages.Count; i++) {
sReturn += aMessages[i] + "<br />";
}
sReturn += "</p>";
}
return sReturn;
}
I send it an array of error messages and a css class which is then returned as a string for a webpage.
Every time I call this function, I have to define sType. Something like:
output += sMessages(aErrors, "errors");
As you can see, my variables is called aErrors and my css class is called errors. I was hoping my cold could figure out what class to use based on the variable name I sent it.
Again, thanks for all the responses.
thanks to visual studio 2022 , you can use this
function
public void showname(dynamic obj) {
obj.GetType().GetProperties().ToList().ForEach(state => {
NameAndValue($"{state.Name}:{state.GetValue(obj, null).ToString()}");
});
}
to use
var myname = "dddd";
showname(new { myname });
The short answer is no ... unless you are really really motivated.
The only way to do this would be via reflection and stack walking. You would have to get a stack frame, work out whereabouts in the calling function you where invoked from and then using the CodeDOM try to find the right part of the tree to see what the expression was.
For example, what if the invocation was ExampleFunction("a" + "b")?
No. A reference to your string variable gets passed to the funcion--there isn't any inherent metadeta about it included. Even reflection wouldn't get you out of the woods here--working backwards from a single reference type doesn't get you enough info to do what you need to do.
Better go back to the drawing board on this one!
rp
You could use reflection to get all the properties of an object, than loop through it, and get the value of the property where the name (of the property) matches the passed in parameter.
Well had a bit of look. of course you can't use any Type information.
Also, the name of a local variable is not available at runtime
because their names are not compiled into the assembly's metadata.
GateKiller, what's wrong with my workaround? You could rewrite your function trivially to use it (I've taken the liberty to improve the function on the fly):
static string sMessages(Expression<Func<List<string>>> aMessages) {
var messages = aMessages.Compile()();
if (messages.Count == 0) {
return "";
}
StringBuilder ret = new StringBuilder();
string sType = ((MemberExpression)aMessages.Body).Member.Name;
ret.AppendFormat("<p class=\"{0}\">", sType);
foreach (string msg in messages) {
ret.Append(msg);
ret.Append("<br />");
}
ret.Append("</p>");
return ret.ToString();
}
Call it like this:
var errors = new List<string>() { "Hi", "foo" };
var ret = sMessages(() => errors);
A way to get it can be reading the code file and splitting it with comma and parenthesis...
var trace = new StackTrace(true).GetFrame(1);
var line = File.ReadAllLines(trace.GetFileName())[trace.GetFileLineNumber()];
var argumentNames = line.Split(new[] { ",", "(", ")", ";" },
StringSplitOptions.TrimEntries)
.Where(x => x.Length > 0)
.Skip(1).ToList();
Extending on the accepted answer for this question, here is how you'd do it with #nullable enable source files:
internal static class StringExtensions
{
public static void ValidateNotNull(
[NotNull] this string? theString,
[CallerArgumentExpression("theString")] string? theName = default)
{
if (theString is null)
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{theName}' cannot be null.", theName);
}
}
public static void ValidateNotNullOrEmpty(
[NotNull] this string? theString,
[CallerArgumentExpression("theString")] string? theName = default)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(theString))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{theName}' cannot be null or empty.", theName);
}
}
public static void ValidateNotNullOrWhitespace(
[NotNull] this string? theString,
[CallerArgumentExpression("theString")] string? theName = default)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(theString))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{theName}' cannot be null or whitespace", theName);
}
}
}
What's nice about this code is that it uses [NotNull] attribute, so the static analysis will cooperate:
If I understand you correctly, you want the string "WhatIsMyName" to appear inside the Hello string.
string Hello = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName);
If the use case is that it increases the reusability of ExampleFunction and that Hello shall contain something like "Hello, Peter (from WhatIsMyName)", then I think a solution would be to expand the ExampleFunction to accept:
string Hello = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName,nameof(WhatIsMyName));
So that the name is passed as a separate string. Yes, it is not exactly what you asked and you will have to type it twice. But it is refactor safe, readable, does not use the debug interface and the chance of Error is minimal because they appear together in the consuming code.
string Hello1 = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName,nameof(WhatIsMyName));
string Hello2 = ExampleFunction(SomebodyElse,nameof(SomebodyElse));
string Hello3 = ExampleFunction(HerName,nameof(HerName));
No. I don't think so.
The variable name that you use is for your convenience and readability. The compiler doesn't need it & just chucks it out if I'm not mistaken.
If it helps, you could define a new class called NamedParameter with attributes Name and Param. You then pass this object around as parameters.
Let me use the following example to explain my question:
public string ExampleFunction(string Variable) {
return something;
}
string WhatIsMyName = "Hello World";
string Hello = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName);
When I pass the variable WhatIsMyName to the ExampleFunction, I want to be able to get a string of the original variable's name. Perhaps something like:
Variable.OriginalName.ToString() // == "WhatIsMyName"
Is there any way to do this?
What you want isn't possible directly but you can use Expressions in C# 3.0:
public void ExampleFunction(Expression<Func<string, string>> f) {
Console.WriteLine((f.Body as MemberExpression).Member.Name);
}
ExampleFunction(x => WhatIsMyName);
Note that this relies on unspecified behaviour and while it does work in Microsoft’s current C# and VB compilers, and in Mono’s C# compiler, there’s no guarantee that this won’t stop working in future versions.
This isn't exactly possible, the way you would want. C# 6.0 they Introduce the nameof Operator which should help improve and simplify the code. The name of operator resolves the name of the variable passed into it.
Usage for your case would look like this:
public string ExampleFunction(string variableName) {
//Construct your log statement using c# 6.0 string interpolation
return $"Error occurred in {variableName}";
}
string WhatIsMyName = "Hello World";
string Hello = ExampleFunction(nameof(WhatIsMyName));
A major benefit is that it is done at compile time,
The nameof expression is a constant. In all cases, nameof(...) is evaluated at compile-time to produce a string. Its argument is not evaluated at runtime, and is considered unreachable code (however it does not emit an "unreachable code" warning).
More information can be found here
Older Version Of C 3.0 and above
To Build on Nawfals answer
GetParameterName2(new { variable });
//Hack to assure compiler warning is generated specifying this method calling conventions
[Obsolete("Note you must use a single parametered AnonymousType When Calling this method")]
public static string GetParameterName<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
return typeof(T).GetProperties()[0].Name;
}
I know this post is really old, but since there is now a way in C#10 compiler, I thought I would share so others know.
You can now use CallerArgumentExpressionAttribute as shown
// Will throw argument exception if string IsNullOrEmpty returns true
public static void ValidateNotNullorEmpty(
this string str,
[CallerArgumentExpression("str")]string strName = null
)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(str))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{strName}' cannot be null or empty.", strName);
}
}
Now call with:
param.ValidateNotNullorEmpty();
will throw error: "param cannot be null or empty."
instead of "str cannot be null or empty"
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Name is '{0}'", GetName(new {args}));
Console.ReadLine();
}
static string GetName<T>(T item) where T : class
{
var properties = typeof(T).GetProperties();
Enforce.That(properties.Length == 1);
return properties[0].Name;
}
More details are in this blog post.
Three ways:
1) Something without reflection at all:
GetParameterName1(new { variable });
public static string GetParameterName1<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
return item.ToString().TrimStart('{').TrimEnd('}').Split('=')[0].Trim();
}
2) Uses reflection, but this is way faster than other two.
GetParameterName2(new { variable });
public static string GetParameterName2<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
return typeof(T).GetProperties()[0].Name;
}
3) The slowest of all, don't use.
GetParameterName3(() => variable);
public static string GetParameterName3<T>(Expression<Func<T>> expr)
{
if (expr == null)
return string.Empty;
return ((MemberExpression)expr.Body).Member.Name;
}
To get a combo parameter name and value, you can extend these methods. Of course its easy to get value if you pass the parameter separately as another argument, but that's inelegant. Instead:
1)
public static string GetParameterInfo1<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
var param = item.ToString().TrimStart('{').TrimEnd('}').Split('=');
return "Parameter: '" + param[0].Trim() +
"' = " + param[1].Trim();
}
2)
public static string GetParameterInfo2<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
var param = typeof(T).GetProperties()[0];
return "Parameter: '" + param.Name +
"' = " + param.GetValue(item, null);
}
3)
public static string GetParameterInfo3<T>(Expression<Func<T>> expr)
{
if (expr == null)
return string.Empty;
var param = (MemberExpression)expr.Body;
return "Parameter: '" + param.Member.Name +
"' = " + ((FieldInfo)param.Member).GetValue(((ConstantExpression)param.Expression).Value);
}
1 and 2 are of comparable speed now, 3 is again sluggish.
Yes! It is possible. I have been looking for a solution to this for a long time and have finally come up with a hack that solves it (it's a bit nasty). I would not recommend using this as part of your program and I only think it works in debug mode. For me this doesn't matter as I only use it as a debugging tool in my console class so I can do:
int testVar = 1;
bool testBoolVar = True;
myConsole.Writeline(testVar);
myConsole.Writeline(testBoolVar);
the output to the console would be:
testVar: 1
testBoolVar: True
Here is the function I use to do that (not including the wrapping code for my console class.
public Dictionary<string, string> nameOfAlreadyAcessed = new Dictionary<string, string>();
public string nameOf(object obj, int level = 1)
{
StackFrame stackFrame = new StackTrace(true).GetFrame(level);
string fileName = stackFrame.GetFileName();
int lineNumber = stackFrame.GetFileLineNumber();
string uniqueId = fileName + lineNumber;
if (nameOfAlreadyAcessed.ContainsKey(uniqueId))
return nameOfAlreadyAcessed[uniqueId];
else
{
System.IO.StreamReader file = new System.IO.StreamReader(fileName);
for (int i = 0; i < lineNumber - 1; i++)
file.ReadLine();
string varName = file.ReadLine().Split(new char[] { '(', ')' })[1];
nameOfAlreadyAcessed.Add(uniqueId, varName);
return varName;
}
}
Continuing with the Caller* attribute series (i.e CallerMemberName, CallerFilePath and CallerLineNumber), CallerArgumentExpressionAttribute is available since C# Next (more info here).
The following example is inspired by Paul Mcilreavy's The CallerArgumentExpression Attribute in C# 8.0:
public static void ThrowIfNullOrWhitespace(this string self,
[CallerArgumentExpression("self")] string paramName = default)
{
if (self is null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(paramName);
}
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(self))
{
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(paramName, self, "Value cannot be whitespace");
}
}
This would be very useful to do in order to create good exception messages causing people to be able to pinpoint errors better. Line numbers help, but you might not get them in prod, and when you do get them, if there are big statements in code, you typically only get the first line of the whole statement.
For instance, if you call .Value on a nullable that isn't set, you'll get an exception with a failure message, but as this functionality is lacking, you won't see what property was null. If you do this twice in one statement, for instance to set parameters to some method, you won't be able to see what nullable was not set.
Creating code like Verify.NotNull(myvar, nameof(myvar)) is the best workaround I've found so far, but would be great to get rid of the need to add the extra parameter.
No, but whenever you find yourself doing extremely complex things like this, you might want to re-think your solution. Remember that code should be easier to read than it was to write.
System.Environment.StackTrace will give you a string that includes the current call stack. You could parse that to get the information, which includes the variable names for each call.
Well Try this Utility class,
public static class Utility
{
public static Tuple<string, TSource> GetNameAndValue<TSource>(Expression<Func<TSource>> sourceExpression)
{
Tuple<String, TSource> result = null;
Type type = typeof (TSource);
Func<MemberExpression, Tuple<String, TSource>> process = delegate(MemberExpression memberExpression)
{
ConstantExpression constantExpression = (ConstantExpression)memberExpression.Expression;
var name = memberExpression.Member.Name;
var value = ((FieldInfo)memberExpression.Member).GetValue(constantExpression.Value);
return new Tuple<string, TSource>(name, (TSource) value);
};
Expression exception = sourceExpression.Body;
if (exception is MemberExpression)
{
result = process((MemberExpression)sourceExpression.Body);
}
else if (exception is UnaryExpression)
{
UnaryExpression unaryExpression = (UnaryExpression)sourceExpression.Body;
result = process((MemberExpression)unaryExpression.Operand);
}
else
{
throw new Exception("Expression type unknown.");
}
return result;
}
}
And User It Like
/*ToDo : Test Result*/
static void Main(string[] args)
{
/*Test : primivit types*/
long maxNumber = 123123;
Tuple<string, long> longVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => maxNumber);
string longVariableName = longVariable.Item1;
long longVariableValue = longVariable.Item2;
/*Test : user define types*/
Person aPerson = new Person() { Id = "123", Name = "Roy" };
Tuple<string, Person> personVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => aPerson);
string personVariableName = personVariable.Item1;
Person personVariableValue = personVariable.Item2;
/*Test : anonymous types*/
var ann = new { Id = "123", Name = "Roy" };
var annVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => ann);
string annVariableName = annVariable.Item1;
var annVariableValue = annVariable.Item2;
/*Test : Enum tyoes*/
Active isActive = Active.Yes;
Tuple<string, Active> isActiveVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => isActive);
string isActiveVariableName = isActiveVariable.Item1;
Active isActiveVariableValue = isActiveVariable.Item2;
}
Do this
var myVariable = 123;
myVariable.Named(() => myVariable);
var name = myVariable.Name();
// use name how you like
or naming in code by hand
var myVariable = 123.Named("my variable");
var name = myVariable.Name();
using this class
public static class ObjectInstanceExtensions
{
private static Dictionary<object, string> namedInstances = new Dictionary<object, string>();
public static void Named<T>(this T instance, Expression<Func<T>> expressionContainingOnlyYourInstance)
{
var name = ((MemberExpression)expressionContainingOnlyYourInstance.Body).Member.Name;
instance.Named(name);
}
public static T Named<T>(this T instance, string named)
{
if (namedInstances.ContainsKey(instance)) namedInstances[instance] = named;
else namedInstances.Add(instance, named);
return instance;
}
public static string Name<T>(this T instance)
{
if (namedInstances.ContainsKey(instance)) return namedInstances[instance];
throw new NotImplementedException("object has not been named");
}
}
Code tested and most elegant I can come up with.
Thanks for all the responses. I guess I'll just have to go with what I'm doing now.
For those who wanted to know why I asked the above question. I have the following function:
string sMessages(ArrayList aMessages, String sType) {
string sReturn = String.Empty;
if (aMessages.Count > 0) {
sReturn += "<p class=\"" + sType + "\">";
for (int i = 0; i < aMessages.Count; i++) {
sReturn += aMessages[i] + "<br />";
}
sReturn += "</p>";
}
return sReturn;
}
I send it an array of error messages and a css class which is then returned as a string for a webpage.
Every time I call this function, I have to define sType. Something like:
output += sMessages(aErrors, "errors");
As you can see, my variables is called aErrors and my css class is called errors. I was hoping my cold could figure out what class to use based on the variable name I sent it.
Again, thanks for all the responses.
thanks to visual studio 2022 , you can use this
function
public void showname(dynamic obj) {
obj.GetType().GetProperties().ToList().ForEach(state => {
NameAndValue($"{state.Name}:{state.GetValue(obj, null).ToString()}");
});
}
to use
var myname = "dddd";
showname(new { myname });
The short answer is no ... unless you are really really motivated.
The only way to do this would be via reflection and stack walking. You would have to get a stack frame, work out whereabouts in the calling function you where invoked from and then using the CodeDOM try to find the right part of the tree to see what the expression was.
For example, what if the invocation was ExampleFunction("a" + "b")?
No. A reference to your string variable gets passed to the funcion--there isn't any inherent metadeta about it included. Even reflection wouldn't get you out of the woods here--working backwards from a single reference type doesn't get you enough info to do what you need to do.
Better go back to the drawing board on this one!
rp
You could use reflection to get all the properties of an object, than loop through it, and get the value of the property where the name (of the property) matches the passed in parameter.
Well had a bit of look. of course you can't use any Type information.
Also, the name of a local variable is not available at runtime
because their names are not compiled into the assembly's metadata.
GateKiller, what's wrong with my workaround? You could rewrite your function trivially to use it (I've taken the liberty to improve the function on the fly):
static string sMessages(Expression<Func<List<string>>> aMessages) {
var messages = aMessages.Compile()();
if (messages.Count == 0) {
return "";
}
StringBuilder ret = new StringBuilder();
string sType = ((MemberExpression)aMessages.Body).Member.Name;
ret.AppendFormat("<p class=\"{0}\">", sType);
foreach (string msg in messages) {
ret.Append(msg);
ret.Append("<br />");
}
ret.Append("</p>");
return ret.ToString();
}
Call it like this:
var errors = new List<string>() { "Hi", "foo" };
var ret = sMessages(() => errors);
A way to get it can be reading the code file and splitting it with comma and parenthesis...
var trace = new StackTrace(true).GetFrame(1);
var line = File.ReadAllLines(trace.GetFileName())[trace.GetFileLineNumber()];
var argumentNames = line.Split(new[] { ",", "(", ")", ";" },
StringSplitOptions.TrimEntries)
.Where(x => x.Length > 0)
.Skip(1).ToList();
Extending on the accepted answer for this question, here is how you'd do it with #nullable enable source files:
internal static class StringExtensions
{
public static void ValidateNotNull(
[NotNull] this string? theString,
[CallerArgumentExpression("theString")] string? theName = default)
{
if (theString is null)
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{theName}' cannot be null.", theName);
}
}
public static void ValidateNotNullOrEmpty(
[NotNull] this string? theString,
[CallerArgumentExpression("theString")] string? theName = default)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(theString))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{theName}' cannot be null or empty.", theName);
}
}
public static void ValidateNotNullOrWhitespace(
[NotNull] this string? theString,
[CallerArgumentExpression("theString")] string? theName = default)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(theString))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{theName}' cannot be null or whitespace", theName);
}
}
}
What's nice about this code is that it uses [NotNull] attribute, so the static analysis will cooperate:
If I understand you correctly, you want the string "WhatIsMyName" to appear inside the Hello string.
string Hello = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName);
If the use case is that it increases the reusability of ExampleFunction and that Hello shall contain something like "Hello, Peter (from WhatIsMyName)", then I think a solution would be to expand the ExampleFunction to accept:
string Hello = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName,nameof(WhatIsMyName));
So that the name is passed as a separate string. Yes, it is not exactly what you asked and you will have to type it twice. But it is refactor safe, readable, does not use the debug interface and the chance of Error is minimal because they appear together in the consuming code.
string Hello1 = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName,nameof(WhatIsMyName));
string Hello2 = ExampleFunction(SomebodyElse,nameof(SomebodyElse));
string Hello3 = ExampleFunction(HerName,nameof(HerName));
No. I don't think so.
The variable name that you use is for your convenience and readability. The compiler doesn't need it & just chucks it out if I'm not mistaken.
If it helps, you could define a new class called NamedParameter with attributes Name and Param. You then pass this object around as parameters.
Let me use the following example to explain my question:
public string ExampleFunction(string Variable) {
return something;
}
string WhatIsMyName = "Hello World";
string Hello = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName);
When I pass the variable WhatIsMyName to the ExampleFunction, I want to be able to get a string of the original variable's name. Perhaps something like:
Variable.OriginalName.ToString() // == "WhatIsMyName"
Is there any way to do this?
What you want isn't possible directly but you can use Expressions in C# 3.0:
public void ExampleFunction(Expression<Func<string, string>> f) {
Console.WriteLine((f.Body as MemberExpression).Member.Name);
}
ExampleFunction(x => WhatIsMyName);
Note that this relies on unspecified behaviour and while it does work in Microsoft’s current C# and VB compilers, and in Mono’s C# compiler, there’s no guarantee that this won’t stop working in future versions.
This isn't exactly possible, the way you would want. C# 6.0 they Introduce the nameof Operator which should help improve and simplify the code. The name of operator resolves the name of the variable passed into it.
Usage for your case would look like this:
public string ExampleFunction(string variableName) {
//Construct your log statement using c# 6.0 string interpolation
return $"Error occurred in {variableName}";
}
string WhatIsMyName = "Hello World";
string Hello = ExampleFunction(nameof(WhatIsMyName));
A major benefit is that it is done at compile time,
The nameof expression is a constant. In all cases, nameof(...) is evaluated at compile-time to produce a string. Its argument is not evaluated at runtime, and is considered unreachable code (however it does not emit an "unreachable code" warning).
More information can be found here
Older Version Of C 3.0 and above
To Build on Nawfals answer
GetParameterName2(new { variable });
//Hack to assure compiler warning is generated specifying this method calling conventions
[Obsolete("Note you must use a single parametered AnonymousType When Calling this method")]
public static string GetParameterName<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
return typeof(T).GetProperties()[0].Name;
}
I know this post is really old, but since there is now a way in C#10 compiler, I thought I would share so others know.
You can now use CallerArgumentExpressionAttribute as shown
// Will throw argument exception if string IsNullOrEmpty returns true
public static void ValidateNotNullorEmpty(
this string str,
[CallerArgumentExpression("str")]string strName = null
)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(str))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{strName}' cannot be null or empty.", strName);
}
}
Now call with:
param.ValidateNotNullorEmpty();
will throw error: "param cannot be null or empty."
instead of "str cannot be null or empty"
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Name is '{0}'", GetName(new {args}));
Console.ReadLine();
}
static string GetName<T>(T item) where T : class
{
var properties = typeof(T).GetProperties();
Enforce.That(properties.Length == 1);
return properties[0].Name;
}
More details are in this blog post.
Three ways:
1) Something without reflection at all:
GetParameterName1(new { variable });
public static string GetParameterName1<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
return item.ToString().TrimStart('{').TrimEnd('}').Split('=')[0].Trim();
}
2) Uses reflection, but this is way faster than other two.
GetParameterName2(new { variable });
public static string GetParameterName2<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
return typeof(T).GetProperties()[0].Name;
}
3) The slowest of all, don't use.
GetParameterName3(() => variable);
public static string GetParameterName3<T>(Expression<Func<T>> expr)
{
if (expr == null)
return string.Empty;
return ((MemberExpression)expr.Body).Member.Name;
}
To get a combo parameter name and value, you can extend these methods. Of course its easy to get value if you pass the parameter separately as another argument, but that's inelegant. Instead:
1)
public static string GetParameterInfo1<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
var param = item.ToString().TrimStart('{').TrimEnd('}').Split('=');
return "Parameter: '" + param[0].Trim() +
"' = " + param[1].Trim();
}
2)
public static string GetParameterInfo2<T>(T item) where T : class
{
if (item == null)
return string.Empty;
var param = typeof(T).GetProperties()[0];
return "Parameter: '" + param.Name +
"' = " + param.GetValue(item, null);
}
3)
public static string GetParameterInfo3<T>(Expression<Func<T>> expr)
{
if (expr == null)
return string.Empty;
var param = (MemberExpression)expr.Body;
return "Parameter: '" + param.Member.Name +
"' = " + ((FieldInfo)param.Member).GetValue(((ConstantExpression)param.Expression).Value);
}
1 and 2 are of comparable speed now, 3 is again sluggish.
Yes! It is possible. I have been looking for a solution to this for a long time and have finally come up with a hack that solves it (it's a bit nasty). I would not recommend using this as part of your program and I only think it works in debug mode. For me this doesn't matter as I only use it as a debugging tool in my console class so I can do:
int testVar = 1;
bool testBoolVar = True;
myConsole.Writeline(testVar);
myConsole.Writeline(testBoolVar);
the output to the console would be:
testVar: 1
testBoolVar: True
Here is the function I use to do that (not including the wrapping code for my console class.
public Dictionary<string, string> nameOfAlreadyAcessed = new Dictionary<string, string>();
public string nameOf(object obj, int level = 1)
{
StackFrame stackFrame = new StackTrace(true).GetFrame(level);
string fileName = stackFrame.GetFileName();
int lineNumber = stackFrame.GetFileLineNumber();
string uniqueId = fileName + lineNumber;
if (nameOfAlreadyAcessed.ContainsKey(uniqueId))
return nameOfAlreadyAcessed[uniqueId];
else
{
System.IO.StreamReader file = new System.IO.StreamReader(fileName);
for (int i = 0; i < lineNumber - 1; i++)
file.ReadLine();
string varName = file.ReadLine().Split(new char[] { '(', ')' })[1];
nameOfAlreadyAcessed.Add(uniqueId, varName);
return varName;
}
}
Continuing with the Caller* attribute series (i.e CallerMemberName, CallerFilePath and CallerLineNumber), CallerArgumentExpressionAttribute is available since C# Next (more info here).
The following example is inspired by Paul Mcilreavy's The CallerArgumentExpression Attribute in C# 8.0:
public static void ThrowIfNullOrWhitespace(this string self,
[CallerArgumentExpression("self")] string paramName = default)
{
if (self is null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(paramName);
}
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(self))
{
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(paramName, self, "Value cannot be whitespace");
}
}
This would be very useful to do in order to create good exception messages causing people to be able to pinpoint errors better. Line numbers help, but you might not get them in prod, and when you do get them, if there are big statements in code, you typically only get the first line of the whole statement.
For instance, if you call .Value on a nullable that isn't set, you'll get an exception with a failure message, but as this functionality is lacking, you won't see what property was null. If you do this twice in one statement, for instance to set parameters to some method, you won't be able to see what nullable was not set.
Creating code like Verify.NotNull(myvar, nameof(myvar)) is the best workaround I've found so far, but would be great to get rid of the need to add the extra parameter.
No, but whenever you find yourself doing extremely complex things like this, you might want to re-think your solution. Remember that code should be easier to read than it was to write.
System.Environment.StackTrace will give you a string that includes the current call stack. You could parse that to get the information, which includes the variable names for each call.
Well Try this Utility class,
public static class Utility
{
public static Tuple<string, TSource> GetNameAndValue<TSource>(Expression<Func<TSource>> sourceExpression)
{
Tuple<String, TSource> result = null;
Type type = typeof (TSource);
Func<MemberExpression, Tuple<String, TSource>> process = delegate(MemberExpression memberExpression)
{
ConstantExpression constantExpression = (ConstantExpression)memberExpression.Expression;
var name = memberExpression.Member.Name;
var value = ((FieldInfo)memberExpression.Member).GetValue(constantExpression.Value);
return new Tuple<string, TSource>(name, (TSource) value);
};
Expression exception = sourceExpression.Body;
if (exception is MemberExpression)
{
result = process((MemberExpression)sourceExpression.Body);
}
else if (exception is UnaryExpression)
{
UnaryExpression unaryExpression = (UnaryExpression)sourceExpression.Body;
result = process((MemberExpression)unaryExpression.Operand);
}
else
{
throw new Exception("Expression type unknown.");
}
return result;
}
}
And User It Like
/*ToDo : Test Result*/
static void Main(string[] args)
{
/*Test : primivit types*/
long maxNumber = 123123;
Tuple<string, long> longVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => maxNumber);
string longVariableName = longVariable.Item1;
long longVariableValue = longVariable.Item2;
/*Test : user define types*/
Person aPerson = new Person() { Id = "123", Name = "Roy" };
Tuple<string, Person> personVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => aPerson);
string personVariableName = personVariable.Item1;
Person personVariableValue = personVariable.Item2;
/*Test : anonymous types*/
var ann = new { Id = "123", Name = "Roy" };
var annVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => ann);
string annVariableName = annVariable.Item1;
var annVariableValue = annVariable.Item2;
/*Test : Enum tyoes*/
Active isActive = Active.Yes;
Tuple<string, Active> isActiveVariable = Utility.GetNameAndValue(() => isActive);
string isActiveVariableName = isActiveVariable.Item1;
Active isActiveVariableValue = isActiveVariable.Item2;
}
Do this
var myVariable = 123;
myVariable.Named(() => myVariable);
var name = myVariable.Name();
// use name how you like
or naming in code by hand
var myVariable = 123.Named("my variable");
var name = myVariable.Name();
using this class
public static class ObjectInstanceExtensions
{
private static Dictionary<object, string> namedInstances = new Dictionary<object, string>();
public static void Named<T>(this T instance, Expression<Func<T>> expressionContainingOnlyYourInstance)
{
var name = ((MemberExpression)expressionContainingOnlyYourInstance.Body).Member.Name;
instance.Named(name);
}
public static T Named<T>(this T instance, string named)
{
if (namedInstances.ContainsKey(instance)) namedInstances[instance] = named;
else namedInstances.Add(instance, named);
return instance;
}
public static string Name<T>(this T instance)
{
if (namedInstances.ContainsKey(instance)) return namedInstances[instance];
throw new NotImplementedException("object has not been named");
}
}
Code tested and most elegant I can come up with.
Thanks for all the responses. I guess I'll just have to go with what I'm doing now.
For those who wanted to know why I asked the above question. I have the following function:
string sMessages(ArrayList aMessages, String sType) {
string sReturn = String.Empty;
if (aMessages.Count > 0) {
sReturn += "<p class=\"" + sType + "\">";
for (int i = 0; i < aMessages.Count; i++) {
sReturn += aMessages[i] + "<br />";
}
sReturn += "</p>";
}
return sReturn;
}
I send it an array of error messages and a css class which is then returned as a string for a webpage.
Every time I call this function, I have to define sType. Something like:
output += sMessages(aErrors, "errors");
As you can see, my variables is called aErrors and my css class is called errors. I was hoping my cold could figure out what class to use based on the variable name I sent it.
Again, thanks for all the responses.
thanks to visual studio 2022 , you can use this
function
public void showname(dynamic obj) {
obj.GetType().GetProperties().ToList().ForEach(state => {
NameAndValue($"{state.Name}:{state.GetValue(obj, null).ToString()}");
});
}
to use
var myname = "dddd";
showname(new { myname });
The short answer is no ... unless you are really really motivated.
The only way to do this would be via reflection and stack walking. You would have to get a stack frame, work out whereabouts in the calling function you where invoked from and then using the CodeDOM try to find the right part of the tree to see what the expression was.
For example, what if the invocation was ExampleFunction("a" + "b")?
No. A reference to your string variable gets passed to the funcion--there isn't any inherent metadeta about it included. Even reflection wouldn't get you out of the woods here--working backwards from a single reference type doesn't get you enough info to do what you need to do.
Better go back to the drawing board on this one!
rp
You could use reflection to get all the properties of an object, than loop through it, and get the value of the property where the name (of the property) matches the passed in parameter.
Well had a bit of look. of course you can't use any Type information.
Also, the name of a local variable is not available at runtime
because their names are not compiled into the assembly's metadata.
GateKiller, what's wrong with my workaround? You could rewrite your function trivially to use it (I've taken the liberty to improve the function on the fly):
static string sMessages(Expression<Func<List<string>>> aMessages) {
var messages = aMessages.Compile()();
if (messages.Count == 0) {
return "";
}
StringBuilder ret = new StringBuilder();
string sType = ((MemberExpression)aMessages.Body).Member.Name;
ret.AppendFormat("<p class=\"{0}\">", sType);
foreach (string msg in messages) {
ret.Append(msg);
ret.Append("<br />");
}
ret.Append("</p>");
return ret.ToString();
}
Call it like this:
var errors = new List<string>() { "Hi", "foo" };
var ret = sMessages(() => errors);
A way to get it can be reading the code file and splitting it with comma and parenthesis...
var trace = new StackTrace(true).GetFrame(1);
var line = File.ReadAllLines(trace.GetFileName())[trace.GetFileLineNumber()];
var argumentNames = line.Split(new[] { ",", "(", ")", ";" },
StringSplitOptions.TrimEntries)
.Where(x => x.Length > 0)
.Skip(1).ToList();
Extending on the accepted answer for this question, here is how you'd do it with #nullable enable source files:
internal static class StringExtensions
{
public static void ValidateNotNull(
[NotNull] this string? theString,
[CallerArgumentExpression("theString")] string? theName = default)
{
if (theString is null)
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{theName}' cannot be null.", theName);
}
}
public static void ValidateNotNullOrEmpty(
[NotNull] this string? theString,
[CallerArgumentExpression("theString")] string? theName = default)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(theString))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{theName}' cannot be null or empty.", theName);
}
}
public static void ValidateNotNullOrWhitespace(
[NotNull] this string? theString,
[CallerArgumentExpression("theString")] string? theName = default)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(theString))
{
throw new ArgumentException($"'{theName}' cannot be null or whitespace", theName);
}
}
}
What's nice about this code is that it uses [NotNull] attribute, so the static analysis will cooperate:
If I understand you correctly, you want the string "WhatIsMyName" to appear inside the Hello string.
string Hello = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName);
If the use case is that it increases the reusability of ExampleFunction and that Hello shall contain something like "Hello, Peter (from WhatIsMyName)", then I think a solution would be to expand the ExampleFunction to accept:
string Hello = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName,nameof(WhatIsMyName));
So that the name is passed as a separate string. Yes, it is not exactly what you asked and you will have to type it twice. But it is refactor safe, readable, does not use the debug interface and the chance of Error is minimal because they appear together in the consuming code.
string Hello1 = ExampleFunction(WhatIsMyName,nameof(WhatIsMyName));
string Hello2 = ExampleFunction(SomebodyElse,nameof(SomebodyElse));
string Hello3 = ExampleFunction(HerName,nameof(HerName));
No. I don't think so.
The variable name that you use is for your convenience and readability. The compiler doesn't need it & just chucks it out if I'm not mistaken.
If it helps, you could define a new class called NamedParameter with attributes Name and Param. You then pass this object around as parameters.
Not sure if this is entirely possible; I've found some stuff about expression and predicate builders, but so far nothing that lets you run arbitrary queries without knowing them in advance.
Basically, I have a collection of objects from a large SQL database, and I'm building a webpage (ASP.NET MVC 4) to allow a user to display and filter these objects. The queries the users will be entering will vary in complexity. The simplest and neatest way to let them enter these queries is something like the way the Visual Studio TFS plugin lets you search work items: a table of conditions, where you can keep adding rows. You select "and" or "or" for the join condition, then select a field, enter a value, and select whether you want things that do or do not match it:
1. show items where [Field] [is|is not] [value]
2. [and|or] [Field] [is|is not] [value]
3. [and|or] [Field] [is|is not] [value]
etc...
What's the simplest way to turn that into something LINQ-ish that I can stick a .ToList() on the end of? The only solution I've come up with so far has involved a rather large and ugly switch block with cases to match the various fields and tack on a .Where(), but to allow the user to select "or" for a condition then I end up doing something like this:
While condition is AND:
use big switch to match the field
query = query.Where(ThisField == value);
When you hit a condition that is OR:
append current results to temporary list
new query from full unfiltered list
use big switch to match the field
query = fullList.Where(ThisField == value);
continue as before
When you run out of conditions, append your current result set to the temporary list you've been using all along, and return that list.
This seems less elegant than I'd like.
You can do it like this:
class Program
{
public enum Operator
{
And,
Or
}
public class Condition
{
public Operator Operator { get; set; }
public string FieldName { get; set; }
public object Value { get; set; }
}
public class DatabaseRow
{
public int A { get; set; }
public string B { get; set; }
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var conditions = new List<Condition>
{
new Condition { Operator = Operator.And, FieldName = "A", Value = 1 },
new Condition { Operator = Operator.And, FieldName = "B", Value = "Asger" },
new Condition { Operator = Operator.Or, FieldName = "A", Value = 2 },
};
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(typeof (DatabaseRow), "x");
var currentExpr = MakeExpression(conditions.First(), parameter);
foreach (var condition in conditions.Skip(1))
{
var nextExpr = MakeExpression(condition, parameter);
switch (condition.Operator)
{
case Operator.And:
currentExpr = Expression.And(currentExpr, nextExpr);
break;
case Operator.Or:
currentExpr = Expression.Or(currentExpr, nextExpr);
break;
default:
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException();
}
}
var predicate = Expression.Lambda<Func<DatabaseRow, bool>>(currentExpr, parameter).Compile();
var input = new[]
{
new DatabaseRow {A = 1, B = "Asger"},
new DatabaseRow {A = 2, B = "Hans"},
new DatabaseRow {A = 3, B = "Grethe"}
};
var results = input.Where(predicate).ToList();
}
static BinaryExpression MakeExpression(Condition condition, ParameterExpression parameter)
{
return Expression.Equal(
Expression.MakeMemberAccess(parameter, typeof (DatabaseRow).GetMember(condition.FieldName)[0]),
Expression.Constant(condition.Value));
}
}
This assumes you have a class as a model of the database row with the correct types. You can then parse your conditions into a list of the typed condition shown above via regex and the provided code can convert that to an expression tree. The resulting expression can either be compiled and run (as shown) or converted to SQL (just stuffing the predicate into the IQueryable.Where instead).
You can use PredicateBuilder from LINQKit to do this. Using its And() and Or() extension methods, you can build an expression tree for your query. Then you can use that expression tree as the condition of your Where(). You will also need to either call AsExpandable() or your query, or call Expand() on the created expression.
You can use Dynamic Linq to dynamically add criteria.
See http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/01/07/dynamic-linq-part-1-using-the-linq-dynamic-query-library.aspx
I have modified #asgerhallas answer to use child properties denoted with . and to convert to appropriate types as necessary
static BinaryExpression MakeExpression(Condition condition, ParameterExpression parameter)
{
var memberPath = condition.FieldName.Split(".");
var left = Expression.Property(parameter, memberPath[0]);
foreach (var mp in memberPath.Skip(1))
{
left = Expression.Property(left, ((PropertyInfo)left.Member).PropertyType.GetProperty(mp));
}
var rightType = ((PropertyInfo)left.Member).PropertyType;
var converter = TypeDescriptor.GetConverter(rightType);
if (!converter.CanConvertFrom(typeof(string))) throw new NotSupportedException();
var rightValue = converter.ConvertFrom(condition.Value);
return Expression.Equal(
left,
Expression.Constant(rightValue));
}
Then you can use "SomeProperty.SomeThing" and "anystring" and it'll create an expression based on child contents and, if it can be, convert a string to the appropriate value type.
In this question Jon Skeet offered a very interesting solution to making a LINQ-to-XML statement dynamic, but my knowledge of lambdas and delegates is not yet advanced enough to implement it:
I've got it this far, but of course I get the error "smartForm does not exist in the current context":
private void LoadWithId(int id)
{
XDocument xmlDoc = null;
try
{
xmlDoc = XDocument.Load(FullXmlDataStorePathAndFileName);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception(String.Format("Cannot load XML file: {0}", ex.Message));
}
Func<XElement, bool> whereClause = (int)smartForm.Element("id") == id";
var smartForms = xmlDoc.Descendants("smartForm")
.Where(whereClause)
.Select(smartForm => new SmartForm
{
Id = (int)smartForm.Element("id"),
WhenCreated = (DateTime)smartForm.Element("whenCreated"),
ItemOwner = smartForm.Element("itemOwner").Value,
PublishStatus = smartForm.Element("publishStatus").Value,
CorrectionOfId = (int)smartForm.Element("correctionOfId"),
IdCode = smartForm.Element("idCode").Value,
Title = smartForm.Element("title").Value,
Description = smartForm.Element("description").Value,
LabelWidth = (int)smartForm.Element("labelWidth")
});
foreach (SmartForm smartForm in smartForms)
{
_collection.Add(smartForm);
}
}
Ideally I want to be able to just say:
var smartForms = GetSmartForms(smartForm=> (int) smartForm.Element("DisplayOrder").Value > 50);
I've got it this far, but I'm just not grokking the lambda magic, how do I do this?
public List<SmartForm> GetSmartForms(XDocument xmlDoc, XElement whereClause)
{
var smartForms = xmlDoc.Descendants("smartForm")
.Where(whereClause)
.Select(smartForm => new SmartForm
{
Id = (int)smartForm.Element("id"),
WhenCreated = (DateTime)smartForm.Element("whenCreated"),
ItemOwner = smartForm.Element("itemOwner").Value,
PublishStatus = smartForm.Element("publishStatus").Value,
CorrectionOfId = (int)smartForm.Element("correctionOfId"),
IdCode = smartForm.Element("idCode").Value,
Title = smartForm.Element("title").Value,
Description = smartForm.Element("description").Value,
LabelWidth = (int)smartForm.Element("labelWidth")
});
}
I expect you mean:
public List<SmartForm> GetSmartForms(
XDocument xmlDoc, Func<XElement,bool> whereClause)
and:
Func<XElement, bool> whereClause = smartForm => (int)smartForm.Element("id") == id;
To use as a method, I would make it IEnumerable<T>:
public static IEnumerable<SmartForm> GetSmartForms(
XDocument xmlDoc, Func<XElement,bool> predicate)
{
return xmlDoc.Descendants("smartForm")
.Where(predicate)
.Select(smartForm => new SmartForm
{
... snip
});
}
and call as:
foreach (SmartForm smartForm in GetSmartForms(xmlDoc,
sf => (int)sf.Element("id") == id))
{
_collection.Add(smartForm);
}
I'm just not grokking the lambda magic,
Marc's answer addresses the scenario you have. My answer will attempt to address the lambda magic you are missing.
lambda expressions have three parts: parameters arrow methodbody
Func<int, int, int> myFunc = (x, i) => x * i ;
For parameters, these must be enclosed in parens except in the case of a single parameter. This section introduces variable names into the scope. Since you didn't supply parameters in your lambda, you didn't have any variable names.
arrow is required, since you didn't have an arrow, the compiler didn't know you were making a lambda.
For methodbody, if it's a one-liner, return is implied. Otherwise, open a curly brace and make a method body like you normally would.