Develop Reference

Expression builder for GroupBy Lamda for each property

I want to populate the itemsource of a ComboBox with items from my List, depending on which property from T is selected.
The statement should be like:
foreach property which is a string,
select the values of the property, make distinct.
public Dictionary<string, List<string>> CreateSuggestionsLists<T>(List<T> data)
{
var queryableData = data.AsQueryable();
var paramExp = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "left");
foreach (var pi in typeof(T).GetProperties().Where(p => p.PropertyType == typeof(string)))
{
var callExpr = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(paramExp, pi);
var lambdaExpr = Expression.Lambda(callExpr) ;
// From here on it goes wrong!!!
var comleteExpr = lambdaExpr as Expression<Func<T, bool>>;
var compiledExpr = comleteExpr.Compile();
var res = data.Select(compiledExpr).Distinct().ToList();
// add to results ...
}
return null;
}
The problem seems to be the casting from the lambda expression to prepare for compilation.
Thank you for your help.

First of all you need to provide paramExp to lambda. Secondly there is generic version of Lamda method which is just easier to use. Finally, you don't need to compile expression when you use IQueryable. You created queryableData variable and didn't use it.
Here is code:
public Dictionary<string, List<string>> CreateSuggestionsLists<T>(List<T> data)
{
var queryableData = data.AsQueryable();
var paramExp = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "left");
foreach (var pi in typeof(T).GetProperties().Where(p => p.PropertyType == typeof(string)))
{
var callExpr = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(paramExp, pi);
var lambdaExpr = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(callExpr, paramExp);
var res = queryableData.Select(lambdaExpr).Distinct().ToList();
// add to results ...
}
return null;
}

I think you should check if the casting result is not null :
public Dictionary<string, List<string>> CreateSuggestionsLists<T>(List<T> data)
{
IQueryable<T> queryableData = data.AsQueryable();
ParameterExpression paramExp = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "left");
foreach (PropertyInfo pi in typeof(T).GetProperties().Where(p => p.PropertyType == typeof(string)))
{
MemberExpression callExpr = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(paramExp, pi);
LambdaExpression lambdaExpr = Expression.Lambda(callExpr);
// From here on it goes wrong!!!
if (!(lambdaExpr is Expression<Func<T, bool>> comleteExpr)) continue;
Func<T, bool> compiledExpr = comleteExpr.Compile();
List<bool> res = data.Select(compiledExpr).Distinct().ToList();
// add to results ...
}
return null;
}

C# using ExpressionTree to map DataTable to List<T>

I have written a ToList(); extension Method to convert a DataTable to List. This just works under some circumstances but we have much old code which uses DataTables and sometimes it's needed. My Problem is that this method works with reflection what is ok but not that performant. I need about 1,2sek for 100.000 DataRows.
So i decided to build this with Expression Trees. At first i want to replace the Setter Call of Properties. Up to this time i could easily get the value:
var exactType = Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(propType) ?? propType;
var wert = Convert.ChangeType(zeile[spaltenname], exactType);
and set it:
propertyInfo.SetValue(tempObjekt, wert, null);
Now i searched StackOverflow and found this:
var zielExp = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T));
var wertExp = Expression.Parameter(propType);
var propertyExp = Expression.Property(zielExp, matchProp);
var zuweisungExp = Expression.Assign(propertyExp, wertExp);
var setter = Expression.Lambda<Action<T, int>>(zuweisungExp, zielExp, wertExp).Compile();
setter(tempObjekt, wert);
My big Problem is that the Lambda Action expects an integer. But i need this expecting the type of my Property. I have the Type of my Property via PropertyInfo. But can't get this to work. Thought i can easily make:
Action<T, object>
but this results in following excepion:
ArgumentException The ParameterExpression from Type "System.Int32"
cannot be used as Delegateparameter from Type "System.Object".
Someone out there knows a possible solution?

Instead of the generic Expression.Lambda method you can use this overload which takes a type:
public static LambdaExpression Lambda(
Type delegateType,
Expression body,
params ParameterExpression[] parameters
)
Then you can use the Type.MakeGenericType method to create the type for your action:
var actionType = typeof(Action<,>).MakeGenericType(typeof(T), proptype);
var setter = Expression.Lambda(actionType, zuweisungExp, zielExp, wertExp).Compile();
Edit following the comments regarding performance:
You can also just build the expression runtime to map the DataTable to your class of type T with a select, so there's only need to use reflection once, which should greatly improve performance. I wrote the following extension method to convert a DataTable to List<T> (note that this method will throw a runtime exception if you don't plan to map all datacolumns to a property in the class, so be sure to take care of that if that might happen):
public static class LocalExtensions
{
public static List<T> DataTableToList<T>(this DataTable table) where T : class
{
//Map the properties in a dictionary by name for easy access
var propertiesByName = typeof(T)
.GetProperties(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance)
.ToDictionary(p => p.Name);
var columnNames = table.Columns.Cast<DataColumn>().Select(dc => dc.ColumnName);
//The indexer property to access DataRow["columnName"] is called "Item"
var property = typeof(DataRow).GetProperties().First(p => p.Name == "Item"
&& p.GetIndexParameters().Length == 1
&& p.GetIndexParameters()[0].ParameterType == typeof(string));
var paramExpr = Expression.Parameter(typeof(DataRow), "r");
var newExpr = Expression.New(typeof(T));
//Create the expressions to map properties from your class to the corresponding
//value in the datarow. This will throw a runtime exception if your class
//doesn't contain properties for all columnnames!
var memberBindings = columnNames.Select(columnName =>
{
var pi = propertiesByName[columnName];
var indexExpr = Expression.MakeIndex(paramExpr, property,
new[] { Expression.Constant(columnName) });
//Datarow["columnName"] is of type object, cast to the right type
var convert = Expression.Convert(indexExpr, pi.PropertyType);
return Expression.Bind(pi, convert);
});
var initExpr = Expression.MemberInit(newExpr, memberBindings);
var func = Expression.Lambda<Func<DataRow, T>>(initExpr,paramExpr).Compile();
return table.Rows.Cast<DataRow>().Select(func).ToList();
}
}
Then I wrote a small testclass and some code which creates a datatable of 1,000,000 rows that get mapped to a list. Building the expression + converting to a list now only takes 486ms on my pc (granted it is a very small class of course):
class Test
{
public string TestString { get; set; }
public int TestInt { get; set; }
}
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
DataTable table = new DataTable();
table.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("TestString", typeof(string)));
table.Columns.Add(new DataColumn("TestInt", typeof(int)));
for(int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++)
{
var row = table.NewRow();
row["TestString"] = $"String number: {i}";
row["TestInt"] = i;
table.Rows.Add(row);
}
var stopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew();
var myList = table.DataTableToList<Test>();
stopwatch.Stop();
Console.WriteLine(stopwatch.Elapsed.ToString());
}
}

I think I've understood you correctly. I cannot translate your variables so I'm taking my best guess here based on what I'm seeing in your question:
For an Action<object,object> where the first parameter is the Entity itself and the second is the type of the property you can use
var instance = Expression.Parameter(typeof(object), "i");
var argument = Expression.Parameter(typeof(object), "a");
var convertObj = Expression.TypeAs(instance, propertyInfo.DeclaringType);
var convert = Expression.Convert(argument, propertyInfo.PropertyType);
var setterCall = Expression.Call(convertObj, propertyInfo.GetSetMethod(), convert);
var compiled = ((Expression<Action<object, object>>) Expression.Lambda(setterCall, instance, argument)).Compile();
If you know T (ie, the type of the Entity), you can do this instead:
var instance = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "i");
var argument = Expression.Parameter(typeof(object), "a");
var convert = Expression.Convert(argument, propertyInfo.PropertyType);
var setterCall = Expression.Call(instance , propertyInfo.GetSetMethod(), convert);
var compiled = ((Expression<Action<T, object>>) Expression.Lambda(setterCall, instance, argument)).Compile();

I comment here because I do not have the necessary reputation to comment on the response of #Alexander Derek
var memberBindings = columnNames.Select(columnName =>
{
var pi = propertiesByName[columnName];
var indexExpr = Expression.MakeIndex(paramExpr, property,
new[] { Expression.Constant(columnName) });
//Datarow["columnName"] is of type object, cast to the right type
var convert = Expression.Convert(indexExpr, pi.PropertyType);
return Expression.Bind(pi, convert);
});
in order to avoid runtime exception i added a try-catch and .where()
var memberBindings = columnNames.Select(columnName =>
{
try
{
var pi = propertiesByName[columnName];
var indexExpr = Expression.MakeIndex(paramExpr, property,
new[] { Expression.Constant(columnName) });
var convert = Expression.Convert(indexExpr, pi.PropertyType);
return Expression.Bind(pi, convert);
}
catch(Exception e)
{
return null;
}
});
var initExpr = Expression.MemberInit(newExpr, memberBindings.Where(obj => obj != null));

c# Loop through properties to build Expression tree

I'm actually working on a method that select object which at least one property contains one or multiple words.
The construction of the tree seems correct but The MethodCall fails.
Here's the code:
public List<Article> FilterArticle(string expression, ref List<Article> listeArticle)
{
IQueryable<Article> queryableData = listeArticle.AsQueryable();
string[] expressionList = expression.Split(new char[] { ' ' });
Linq.Expression predicate = null;
List<Linq.Expression> predicateList = new List<Linq.Expression>();
int i = 0;
foreach (PropertyInfo property in typeof(Article).GetProperties())
{
foreach (string ex in expressionList)
{
string propertyName = property.Name.ToString();
ParameterExpression parameterEx = Linq.Expression.Parameter(typeof(Article), "objectProperty");
MemberExpression propertyEx = Linq.Expression.Property(parameterEx, propertyName);
MethodInfo toStringMethod = typeof(object).GetMethod("ToString");
MethodInfo containsMethod = typeof(string).GetMethod("Contains", new[] { typeof(string) });
var value = Linq.Expression.Constant(ex, typeof(string));
Linq.Expression containsMethodExp = Linq.Expression.Call(Linq.Expression.Call(propertyEx, toStringMethod), containsMethod, value);
predicateList.Add(containsMethodExp);
if (i == 0) { predicate = predicateList[i]; }
if (i > 0) predicate = Linq.Expression.Or(predicate, predicateList[i]);
i = i + 1;
}
}
Func<IEnumerable<Article>, Func<Article, bool>, IEnumerable<Article>> whereDelegate = Enumerable.Where;
MethodInfo whereMethodInfo = whereDelegate.Method;
// FAIL
MethodCallExpression methodCallEx = Linq.Expression.Call(whereMethodInfo, predicate);
return queryableData.Provider.CreateQuery<Article>(methodCallEx).ToList();
}
This line:
MethodCallExpression methodCallEx = Linq.Expression.Call(whereMethodInfo, predicate);
Send this error:
An exception of type 'System.ArgumentException' occurred in
System.Core.dll but was not handled in user code
Additional information: Incorrect number of arguments supplied for
call to method
'System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable1[Colibri.Models.Article]
Where[Article](System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable1[Colibri.Models.Article],
System.Func`2[Colibri.Models.Article,System.Boolean])
'
Thanks for you help.

Linq: Group by multiple columns using Expression-tree syntax

I would like to change the following code so as to handle grouping of more than 1 property
private Expression<Func<ProfileResultView, string>> DynamicGroupBy(string propertyName)
{
var parameterExp = Expression.Parameter(typeof(ProfileResultView), "x");
var memberExp = Expression.PropertyOrField(parameterExp, propertyName);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<ProfileResultView, string>>(memberExp, parameterExp);
}
so then this would be translated to
GroupBy(x => new { x.Column1, x.Column2 })
how can I write the anonymous type in the expression-tree syntax?

If the type of the grouping key does not matter for you, you can create types dynamically and call the grouping based on those types:
public static Expression<Func<TSource, object>> DynamicGroupBy<TSource>
(params string[] properties)
{
var entityType = typeof(TSource);
var props = properties.Select(x => entityType.GetProperty(x)).ToList();
var source = Expression.Parameter(entityType, "x");
// create x=> new myType{ prop1 = x.prop1,...}
var newType = CreateNewType(props);
var binding = props.Select(p => Expression.Bind(newType.GetField(p.Name),
Expression.Property(source, p.Name))).ToList();
var body = Expression.MemberInit(Expression.New(newType), binding);
var selector = Expression.Lambda<Func<TSource, object>>(body, source);
return selector;
}
public static Type CreateNewType(List<PropertyInfo> props)
{
AssemblyName asmName = new AssemblyName("MyAsm");
AssemblyBuilder dynamicAssembly = AssemblyBuilder
.DefineDynamicAssembly(asmName, AssemblyBuilderAccess.Run);
ModuleBuilder dynamicModule = dynamicAssembly.DefineDynamicModule("MyAsm");
TypeBuilder dynamicAnonymousType = dynamicModule
.DefineType("MyType", TypeAttributes.Public);
foreach (var p in props)
{
dynamicAnonymousType.DefineField(p.Name, p.PropertyType, FieldAttributes.Public);
}
return dynamicAnonymousType.CreateType();
}
Note that the group key type is object.

LINQ Delegate Lambda Select Statement Bind Child Property

I am creating a delegate for a Select statement in LINQ. Some of the property bindings are to child properties on the object I'm selecting from.
This is the LINQ statement I want to put in my delegate:
var list = dataSet.Select(x => new ViewModel()
{
Name = x.Name,
ClassType = x.ClassType.Description
};
I can get the Name no worries with my code, but I do not know how to get the ClassType.Description.
Here is my current code:
protected Func<Student, ManagerStudentListViewModel> GetSelectStatement()
{
var studentType = typeof(Student);
var viewModelType = typeof(ManagerStudentListViewModel);
var parameterExpression = Expression.Parameter(studentType, "x");
var newInstantiationExpression = Expression.New(viewModelType);
// Name Binding
var viewModelProperty = viewModelType.GetProperty("Name");
var studentProperty = studentType.GetProperty("Name");
var nameMemberExpression = Expression.Property(parameterExpression, studentProperty);
var nameBinding = Expression.Bind(viewModelProperty, nameMemberExpression);
// ClassType.Description Binding
// ???
var bindings = new List<MemberAssignment>() { nameBinding, classTypeBinding };
var memberInitExpression = Expression.MemberInit(newInstantiationExpression, bindings);
var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<Student, ManagerStudentListViewModel>>(memberInitExpression, parameterExpression);
return lambda.Compile();
}

Accessing deeply nested members is no different than accessing any other properties, provided you know the name of the members. Just create an expression to get the first property, then add the expression to get the second.
Expression<Func<Student, ManagerStudentListViewModel>> GetSelectStatement()
{
var studentType = typeof(Student);
var viewModelType = typeof(ManagerStudentListViewModel);
var param = Expression.Parameter(studentType, "x");
var nameValue = Expression.Property(param, "Name");
var classTypeValue = Expression.Property(
Expression.Property(param, "ClassType"), // get the class type
"Description"); // get the description of the class type
var nameMemberBinding = Expression.Bind(
viewModelType.GetProperty("Name"),
nameValue);
var classTypeMemberBinding = Expression.Bind(
viewModelType.GetProperty("ClassType"),
classTypeValue);
var initializer = Expression.MemberInit(
Expression.New(viewModelType),
nameMemberBinding,
classTypeMemberBinding);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<Student, ManagerStudentListViewModel>>(initializer, param);
}