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Can I create a generic GroupBy() in C# LINQ?

I am trying to modify the a generic IQueryable extension method to perform a GroupBy operation. The method I have performs a generic Where on a dynamically defined column:
public static IQueryable<TEntity> WhereById<TEntity, TKey>(
this IQueryable<TEntity> query, TKey value, string colName)
where TEntity : class
{
var param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(TEntity), "e");
var propAccess = Expression.PropertyOrField(param, colName);
var valExpr = Expression.Constant(value);
BinaryExpression predicate;
predicate = Expression.Equal(propAccess, valExpr);
var predicateLambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<TEntity, bool>>(predicate, param);
return query.Where(predicateLambda);
}
This works perfectly as in:
IQueryable<TEntity> entities = _crudApiDbContext.Set<TEntity>()
.WhereById<TEntity, int>(id, selectField);
Now I need a generic GroupBy(). I am trying the following:
public static IQueryable<TEntity> GroupBy<TEntity>(this IQueryable<TEntity> query, string colName)
where TEntity : class
{
var param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(TEntity), "e");
var propAccess = Expression.PropertyOrField(param, colName);
BinaryExpression predicate;
predicate = Expression.XXX(propAccess); <=what should XXX be?
var predicateLambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<TEntity, int>>(propAccess);
return (IQueryable<TEntity>)query.GroupBy(predicateLambda);
}
and I guess my question is what should XXX be? Or maybe because GroupBy() is an extension method the approach needs to be different?
Update
There is a lot of interest as to why I need this - I am building a generic Blazor form for faceted browsing. So I have a generic method for filtered and sorted search, but I also need to know for certain columns with options, how many options remain after applying the search conditions. To that end I will perform a GroupBy on each of those columns with the IQueryable which has the search conditions applied to it. Example of faceted search:

This is solution how to do grouping by dynamic field. Since we don't know type of grouping key, I've decided to make it as object.
public static class QueryableExtensions
{
static Expression MakePropPath(Expression objExpression, string path)
{
return path.Split('.').Aggregate(objExpression, Expression.PropertyOrField);
}
public static IQueryable<IGrouping<object, TEntity>> GroupBy<TEntity>(this IQueryable<TEntity> query, string colName)
where TEntity : class
{
var param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(TEntity), "e");
var propAccess = MakePropPath(param, colName);
var keyLambda = Expression.Lambda(Expression.Convert(propAccess, typeof(object)), param);
var groupCall = Expression.Call(typeof(Queryable), nameof(Queryable.GroupBy),
new[] { typeof(TEntity), typeof(object) }, query.Expression,
keyLambda);
return query.Provider.CreateQuery<IGrouping<object, TEntity>>(groupCall);
}
}
Usage is simple in your case:
var result = query.GroupBy("Genre")
.Select(g => new
{
g.Key,
Count = g.Count()
})
.ToList();

How to make a dynamic order in Entity Framework

I have a dictionary declared like this:
private Dictionary<string, Expression<Func<Part, object>>> _orders = new Dictionary<string, Expression<Func<Part, object>>>()
{
{"Name", x => x.Name}, //string
{"Code", x => x.Code}, //string
{"EnterPrice", x => x.EnterPrice}, //decimal
{"ExitPrice", x => x.ExitPrice}, //decimal
{"IsActive", x => (bool)x.Active }, //bool
{"Quantity", x => x.Quantity}, //decimal
{"Reserved", x => x.Reserved}, //decimal
};
I try to bring data using the following code:
NameValueCollection filter = HttpUtility.ParseQueryString(Request.RequestUri.Query);
string sortField = filter["sortField"];
string sortOrder = filter["sortOrder"];
Func<IQueryable<Part>, IOrderedQueryable<Part>> orderBy = x => x.OrderBy(p => p.Id);
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(sortField) && _orders.ContainsKey(sortField))
{
bool sortMode = !string.IsNullOrEmpty(sortOrder) && sortOrder != "desc";
if (sortMode)
{
orderBy = x => x.OrderBy(_orders[sortField]);
}
else
{
orderBy = x => x.OrderByDescending(_orders[sortField]);
}
}
return Ok(this.DbService.Query(null, filterQuery));
And Query method is:
public IQueryable<TEntity> Query(Expression<Func<TEntity, bool>> filter = null,
Func<IQueryable<TEntity>, IOrderedQueryable<TEntity>> orderBy = null, bool noTracking = true)
{
IQueryable<TEntity> query = DbContext.Set<TEntity>();
if (filter != null)
{
query = query.Where(filter);
}
if (orderBy != null) query = orderBy(query);
return noTracking ? query.AsNoTracking() : query;
}
But when the sort column is not string I obtain the following exception
"Unable to cast the type 'System.Boolean' to type 'System.Object'. LINQ to Entities only supports casting EDM primitive or enumeration types.","ExceptionType":"System.NotSupportedException","StackTrace":" at System.Web.Http.ApiController.<InvokeActionWithExceptionFilters>d__1.MoveNext()\r\n--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---\r\n at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task)\r\n at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)\r\n at System.Web.Http.Dispatcher.HttpControllerDispatcher.<SendAsync>d__0.MoveNext()"}
I think that the dictionary declaration and/or initialization is wrong because if I do not have any sort set by browser then the default order will be x=>x.Id (which is declared inline) and it doesn't crash even if Id is long. Can I declare the dictionary in a different way to solve my problem?
PROBLEM SOLVED
I removed the dictionary and I added the following extension which receive the field name and sort mode as parametters
public static class LinqExtension
{
public static IQueryable<T> OrderBy<T>(this IQueryable<T> source, string ordering, bool ascending = true)
{
var type = typeof(T);
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(type, "p");
PropertyInfo property;
Expression propertyAccess;
if (ordering.Contains('.'))
{
// support to be sorted on child fields.
String[] childProperties = ordering.Split('.');
property = type.GetProperty(childProperties[0]);
propertyAccess = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(parameter, property);
for (int i = 1; i < childProperties.Length; i++)
{
property = property.PropertyType.GetProperty(childProperties[i]);
propertyAccess = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(propertyAccess, property);
}
}
else
{
property = typeof(T).GetProperty(ordering);
propertyAccess = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(parameter, property);
}
var orderByExp = Expression.Lambda(propertyAccess, parameter);
MethodCallExpression resultExp = Expression.Call(typeof(Queryable),
ascending ? "OrderBy" : "OrderByDescending",
new[] { type, property.PropertyType }, source.Expression,
Expression.Quote(orderByExp));
//return source.OrderBy(x => orderByExp);
return source.Provider.CreateQuery<T>(resultExp);
}
}
Also solution provided by Ivan Stoev works

The dictionary definition is ok - there is no good way to declare it to have values with different type.
The problem is that Expression<Func<T, object>> definition generates additional Expression.Convert for value type properties. To make it work with EF, the convert expression must be removed and corresponding Queryable method must be called dynamically. It can be encapsulated in a custom extension method like this:
public static class QueryableExtensions
{
public static IQueryable<T> OrderBy<T>(this IQueryable<T> source, Expression<Func<T, object>> keySelector, bool ascending)
{
var selectorBody = keySelector.Body;
// Strip the Convert expression
if (selectorBody.NodeType == ExpressionType.Convert)
selectorBody = ((UnaryExpression)selectorBody).Operand;
// Create dynamic lambda expression
var selector = Expression.Lambda(selectorBody, keySelector.Parameters);
// Generate the corresponding Queryable method call
var queryBody = Expression.Call(typeof(Queryable),
ascending ? "OrderBy" : "OrderByDescending",
new Type[] { typeof(T), selectorBody.Type },
source.Expression, Expression.Quote(selector));
return source.Provider.CreateQuery<T>(queryBody);
}
}
and the usage in your scenario could be like this:
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(sortField) && _orders.ContainsKey(sortField))
orderBy = x => x.OrderBy(_orders[sortField], sortOrder != "desc");

Generic Linq to Entities filter method that accepts filter criteria and properties to be filtered

I've looked into many generic linq filtering questions and their answers here in SO but none of them satisfy my needs so I thought I should create a question.
I've created many of what I call "filter provider" classes, one for each entity class in my model, to provide a simplistic search for my application. I didn't want to go into more advanced solutions like Lucene.Net because a basic filtering with matching score would suffice.
Inside each one of these provider classes there are multiple methods that will receive the filtering terms and query specific properties, returning a score for each match based on the relevance of the property. Most methods will filter multiple properties at once, but not all.
Here are two of these methods:
private IQueryable<Retailer> MatchHighRelevanceFields(string searchTerm, IQueryable<Retailer> retailers)
{
var results = retailers.Where(r =>
(r.CompanyName != null && r.CompanyName.ToUpper().Contains(searchTerm))
|| (r.TradingName != null && r.TradingName.ToUpper().Contains(searchTerm))
);
return results;
}
private IQueryable<Retailer> MatchMediumRelevanceFields(string searchTerm, IQueryable<Retailer> retailers)
{
var results = retailers.Where(r =>
(r.Address.Street != null && r.Address.Street.ToUpper().Contains(searchTerm))
|| (r.Address.Complement != null && r.Address.Complement.ToUpper().Contains(searchTerm))
);
return results;
}
These methods are replicated ad nauseum throughout each provider class and I hope I could replace them for a single method that would receive the properties to be included in the query.
Something like:
public static IQueryable<T> Match<T>(string searchTerm, IQueryable<T> data, Expression<Func<T, string>> filterProperties)
{
var results = **build the query for each property in filterProperties**
return results;
}
But I really can't figure it out. I tried using reflection but it only worked with Linq to Objects and I need a solution for Linq to Entities.

So to solve this problem we need a few puzzle pieces first. The first puzzle piece is a method that can take an expression that computes a value, and then another expression that computes a new value taking the same type the first returns, and creates a new expression that represents the result of passing the result of the first function as the parameter to the second. This allows us to Compose expressions:
public static Expression<Func<TFirstParam, TResult>>
Compose<TFirstParam, TIntermediate, TResult>(
this Expression<Func<TFirstParam, TIntermediate>> first,
Expression<Func<TIntermediate, TResult>> second)
{
var param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(TFirstParam), "param");
var newFirst = first.Body.Replace(first.Parameters[0], param);
var newSecond = second.Body.Replace(second.Parameters[0], newFirst);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<TFirstParam, TResult>>(newSecond, param);
}
This relies on the following tool to replace all instances of one expression with another:
public static Expression Replace(this Expression expression,
Expression searchEx, Expression replaceEx)
{
return new ReplaceVisitor(searchEx, replaceEx).Visit(expression);
}
internal class ReplaceVisitor : ExpressionVisitor
{
private readonly Expression from, to;
public ReplaceVisitor(Expression from, Expression to)
{
this.from = from;
this.to = to;
}
public override Expression Visit(Expression node)
{
return node == from ? to : base.Visit(node);
}
}
We'll also need a tool to help us OR two predicate expressions together:
public static class PredicateBuilder
{
public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> True<T>() { return f => true; }
public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> False<T>() { return f => false; }
public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> Or<T>(
this Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr1,
Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr2)
{
var secondBody = expr2.Body.Replace(
expr2.Parameters[0], expr1.Parameters[0]);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>
(Expression.OrElse(expr1.Body, secondBody), expr1.Parameters);
}
public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> And<T>(
this Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr1,
Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr2)
{
var secondBody = expr2.Body.Replace(
expr2.Parameters[0], expr1.Parameters[0]);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>
(Expression.AndAlso(expr1.Body, secondBody), expr1.Parameters);
}
}
Now that we have this we can use Compose on each property selector to map it from the property results to whether or not that property value is non-null and contains the search term. We can then OR all of those predicates together to get a filter for your query:
public static IQueryable<T> Match<T>(
IQueryable<T> data,
string searchTerm,
IEnumerable<Expression<Func<T, string>>> filterProperties)
{
var predicates = filterProperties.Select(selector =>
selector.Compose(value =>
value != null && value.Contains(searchTerm)));
var filter = predicates.Aggregate(
PredicateBuilder.False<T>(),
(aggregate, next) => aggregate.Or(next));
return data.Where(filter);
}

You can do it with expression trees but it's not as simple as you might think.
public static IQueryable<T> Match<T>(this IQueryable<T> data, string searchTerm,
params Expression<Func<T, string>>[] filterProperties)
{
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(typeof (T), "source");
Expression body = null;
foreach (var prop in filterProperties)
{
// need to replace all the expressions with the one parameter (gist taken from Colin Meek blog see link on top of class)
//prop.body should be the member expression
var propValue =
prop.Body.ReplaceParameters(new Dictionary<ParameterExpression, ParameterExpression>()
{
{prop.Parameters[0], parameter}
});
// is null check
var isNull = Expression.NotEqual(propValue, Expression.Constant(null, typeof(string)));
// create a tuple so EF will parameterize the sql call
var searchTuple = Tuple.Create(searchTerm);
var matchTerm = Expression.Property(Expression.Constant(searchTuple), "Item1");
// call ToUpper
var toUpper = Expression.Call(propValue, "ToUpper", null);
// Call contains on the ToUpper
var contains = Expression.Call(toUpper, "Contains", null, matchTerm);
// And not null and contains
var and = Expression.AndAlso(isNull, contains);
// or in any additional properties
body = body == null ? and : Expression.OrElse(body, and);
}
if (body != null)
{
var where = Expression.Call(typeof (Queryable), "Where", new[] {typeof (T)}, data.Expression,
Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, parameter));
return data.Provider.CreateQuery<T>(where);
}
return data;
}
public static Expression ReplaceParameters(this Expression exp, IDictionary<ParameterExpression, ParameterExpression> map)
{
return new ParameterRebinder(map).Visit(exp);
}
Now you need to have a expressionvisitor to make all the expressions use one parameter
//http://blogs.msdn.com/b/meek/archive/2008/05/02/linq-to-entities-combining-predicates.aspx
public class ParameterRebinder : ExpressionVisitor
{
private readonly IDictionary<ParameterExpression, ParameterExpression> _map;
public ParameterRebinder(IDictionary<ParameterExpression, ParameterExpression> map)
{
_map = map;
}
protected override Expression VisitParameter(ParameterExpression node)
{
if (_map.ContainsKey(node))
{
return _map[node];
}
return base.VisitParameter(node);
}
}
Would use it like
var matches = retailers.Match("7", r => r.Address.Street, x => x.Address.Complement).ToList();
Warning - I checked this with linq to objects using the AsQueryable but didn't run it against EF.

You can use Linq.Dynamic to build the query.
public static IQueryable<T> Match<T>(
string searchTerm,
IQueryable<T> data,
params Expression<Func<T, string>>[] filterProperties) where T : class
{
var predicates = new List<string>();
foreach (var prop in filterProperties)
{
var lambda = prop.ToString();
var columnName = lambda.Substring(lambda.IndexOf('.') + 1);
var predicate = string.Format(
"({0} != null && {0}.ToUpper().Contains(#0))", columnName);
predicates.Add(predicate);
}
var filter = string.Join("||", predicates);
var results = data.Where(filter, searchTerm);
return results;
}
Usage.
var retailers = Match(
"asd", db.Retailers, r => r.CompanyName, r => r.TradingName);
var retailers = Match(
"asd", db.Retailers, r => r.Address.Street, r => r.Address.Complement);
Limitation.
The filter can only accept basic expression.
r => r.Name
r => r.PropA.Name
r => r.PropA.PropB.Name

Try to use Expressions like those all
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/493917/Dynamic-Querying-with-LINQ-to-Entities-and-Express

LINQ to Entities does not recognize the method 'Method name' method

I'm having a similar problem that was asked here:
LINQ to Entities does not recognize the method 'System.String ToString()' method, and this method cannot be translated into a store expression
I'm trying to paginate my source, but in my case, I can't put the result of GetPropertyValue in a variable, because I need x to do that:
public IEnumerable<TModel> Paginate(IQueryable<TModel> source, ref int totalPages, int pageIndex, int pageSize, string sortfield, SortDirection? sortdir)
{
totalPages = (int)Math.Ceiling(source.Count() / (double)pageSize);
if (sortdir == SortDirection.Descending)
{
return source.OrderByDescending(x => GetPropertyValue(x, sortfield)).Skip(pageIndex * pageSize).Take(pageSize).ToList();
}
else
{
return source.OrderBy(x => GetPropertyValue(x, sortfield)).Skip(pageIndex * pageSize).Take(pageSize).ToList();
}
}
private static object GetPropertyValue(object obj, string name)
{
return obj == null ? null : obj.GetType().GetProperty(name).GetValue(obj, null);
}
What could I do, in this case?

Lambda Expressions (Those are used within Where, OrderBy etc) cannot contain any C# specific code, they can only contain expression tree, which is translated to SQL. You cannot call any arbitrary methods there, except the ones that are mentioned by EF documentation such as SqlFunctions etc.
In order to do sorting with a field name at runtime, you have to create a lambda expression at runtime and pass it on.
public IEnumerable<TModel> Paginate(IQueryable<TModel> source, ref int totalPages, int pageIndex, int pageSize, string sortfield, SortDirection? sortdir)
{
totalPages = (int)Math.Ceiling(source.Count() / (double)pageSize);
if (sortdir == SortDirection.Descending)
{
return source.OrderByDescending(sortfield).Skip(pageIndex * pageSize).Take(pageSize).ToList();
}
else
{
return source.OrderBy(sortfield).Skip(pageIndex * pageSize).Take(pageSize).ToList();
}
}
public static class QueryableHelper
{
public static IQueryable<TModel> OrderBy<TModel>(this IQueryable<TModel> q, string name)
{
Type entityType = typeof(TModel);
PropertyInfo p = entityType.GetProperty(name);
MethodInfo m = typeof(QueryableHelper).GetMethod("OrderByProperty").MakeGenericMethod(entityType, p.PropertyType);
return(IQueryable<TModel>) m.Invoke(null, new object[] { q, p });
}
public static IQueryable<TModel> OrderByDescending<TModel>(this IQueryable<TModel> q, string name)
{
Type entityType = typeof(TModel);
PropertyInfo p = entityType.GetProperty(name);
MethodInfo m = typeof(QueryableHelper).GetMethod("OrderByPropertyDescending").MakeGenericMethod(entityType, p.PropertyType);
return (IQueryable<TModel>)m.Invoke(null, new object[] { q, p });
}
public static IQueryable<TModel> OrderByPropertyDescending<TModel, TRet>(IQueryable<TModel> q, PropertyInfo p)
{
ParameterExpression pe = Expression.Parameter(typeof(TModel));
Expression se = Expression.Convert(Expression.Property(pe, p), typeof(object));
return q.OrderByDescending(Expression.Lambda<Func<TModel, TRet>>(se, pe));
}
public static IQueryable<TModel> OrderByProperty<TModel, TRet>(IQueryable<TModel> q, PropertyInfo p)
{
ParameterExpression pe = Expression.Parameter(typeof(TModel));
Expression se = Expression.Convert(Expression.Property(pe, p), typeof(object));
return q.OrderBy(Expression.Lambda<Func<TModel, TRet>>(se, pe));
}
}
This solution only works on single level of property, but if you want nested levels than it needs more work, perhaps you can look at following SDK which does all of that.
However if you take a look at Entity REST SDK itself, it has many things and all the things that you might need. Disclaimer: I am the Author.
https://entityrestsdk.codeplex.com

Instead of using reflection, you should dynamically create an Expression<Func<TSource, TOrder>> and pass it to OrderBy.
Take a look here to understand how create a dynamic query.

Creating a dynamic sort method for linq to entities [duplicate]

I found an example in the VS2008 Examples for Dynamic LINQ that allows you to use a SQL-like string (e.g. OrderBy("Name, Age DESC")) for ordering. Unfortunately, the method included only works on IQueryable<T>. Is there any way to get this functionality on IEnumerable<T>?

Just stumbled into this oldie...
To do this without the dynamic LINQ library, you just need the code as below. This covers most common scenarios including nested properties.
To get it working with IEnumerable<T> you could add some wrapper methods that go via AsQueryable - but the code below is the core Expression logic needed.
public static IOrderedQueryable<T> OrderBy<T>(
this IQueryable<T> source,
string property)
{
return ApplyOrder<T>(source, property, "OrderBy");
}
public static IOrderedQueryable<T> OrderByDescending<T>(
this IQueryable<T> source,
string property)
{
return ApplyOrder<T>(source, property, "OrderByDescending");
}
public static IOrderedQueryable<T> ThenBy<T>(
this IOrderedQueryable<T> source,
string property)
{
return ApplyOrder<T>(source, property, "ThenBy");
}
public static IOrderedQueryable<T> ThenByDescending<T>(
this IOrderedQueryable<T> source,
string property)
{
return ApplyOrder<T>(source, property, "ThenByDescending");
}
static IOrderedQueryable<T> ApplyOrder<T>(
IQueryable<T> source,
string property,
string methodName)
{
string[] props = property.Split('.');
Type type = typeof(T);
ParameterExpression arg = Expression.Parameter(type, "x");
Expression expr = arg;
foreach(string prop in props) {
// use reflection (not ComponentModel) to mirror LINQ
PropertyInfo pi = type.GetProperty(prop);
expr = Expression.Property(expr, pi);
type = pi.PropertyType;
}
Type delegateType = typeof(Func<,>).MakeGenericType(typeof(T), type);
LambdaExpression lambda = Expression.Lambda(delegateType, expr, arg);
object result = typeof(Queryable).GetMethods().Single(
method => method.Name == methodName
&& method.IsGenericMethodDefinition
&& method.GetGenericArguments().Length == 2
&& method.GetParameters().Length == 2)
.MakeGenericMethod(typeof(T), type)
.Invoke(null, new object[] {source, lambda});
return (IOrderedQueryable<T>)result;
}
Edit: it gets more fun if you want to mix that with dynamic - although note that dynamic only applies to LINQ-to-Objects (expression-trees for ORMs etc can't really represent dynamic queries - MemberExpression doesn't support it). But here's a way to do it with LINQ-to-Objects. Note that the choice of Hashtable is due to favorable locking semantics:
using Microsoft.CSharp.RuntimeBinder;
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Dynamic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
static class Program
{
private static class AccessorCache
{
private static readonly Hashtable accessors = new Hashtable();
private static readonly Hashtable callSites = new Hashtable();
private static CallSite<Func<CallSite, object, object>> GetCallSiteLocked(
string name)
{
var callSite = (CallSite<Func<CallSite, object, object>>)callSites[name];
if(callSite == null)
{
callSites[name] = callSite = CallSite<Func<CallSite, object, object>>
.Create(Binder.GetMember(
CSharpBinderFlags.None,
name,
typeof(AccessorCache),
new CSharpArgumentInfo[] {
CSharpArgumentInfo.Create(
CSharpArgumentInfoFlags.None,
null)
}));
}
return callSite;
}
internal static Func<dynamic,object> GetAccessor(string name)
{
Func<dynamic, object> accessor = (Func<dynamic, object>)accessors[name];
if (accessor == null)
{
lock (accessors )
{
accessor = (Func<dynamic, object>)accessors[name];
if (accessor == null)
{
if(name.IndexOf('.') >= 0) {
string[] props = name.Split('.');
CallSite<Func<CallSite, object, object>>[] arr
= Array.ConvertAll(props, GetCallSiteLocked);
accessor = target =>
{
object val = (object)target;
for (int i = 0; i < arr.Length; i++)
{
var cs = arr[i];
val = cs.Target(cs, val);
}
return val;
};
} else {
var callSite = GetCallSiteLocked(name);
accessor = target =>
{
return callSite.Target(callSite, (object)target);
};
}
accessors[name] = accessor;
}
}
}
return accessor;
}
}
public static IOrderedEnumerable<dynamic> OrderBy(
this IEnumerable<dynamic> source,
string property)
{
return Enumerable.OrderBy<dynamic, object>(
source,
AccessorCache.GetAccessor(property),
Comparer<object>.Default);
}
public static IOrderedEnumerable<dynamic> OrderByDescending(
this IEnumerable<dynamic> source,
string property)
{
return Enumerable.OrderByDescending<dynamic, object>(
source,
AccessorCache.GetAccessor(property),
Comparer<object>.Default);
}
public static IOrderedEnumerable<dynamic> ThenBy(
this IOrderedEnumerable<dynamic> source,
string property)
{
return Enumerable.ThenBy<dynamic, object>(
source,
AccessorCache.GetAccessor(property),
Comparer<object>.Default);
}
public static IOrderedEnumerable<dynamic> ThenByDescending(
this IOrderedEnumerable<dynamic> source,
string property)
{
return Enumerable.ThenByDescending<dynamic, object>(
source,
AccessorCache.GetAccessor(property),
Comparer<object>.Default);
}
static void Main()
{
dynamic a = new ExpandoObject(),
b = new ExpandoObject(),
c = new ExpandoObject();
a.X = "abc";
b.X = "ghi";
c.X = "def";
dynamic[] data = new[] {
new { Y = a },
new { Y = b },
new { Y = c }
};
var ordered = data.OrderByDescending("Y.X").ToArray();
foreach (var obj in ordered)
{
Console.WriteLine(obj.Y.X);
}
}
}

Too easy without any complication:
Add using System.Linq.Dynamic; at the top.
Use vehicles = vehicles.AsQueryable().OrderBy("Make ASC, Year DESC").ToList();
Edit: to save some time, the System.Linq.Dynamic.Core (System.Linq.Dynamic is deprecated) assembly is not part of the framework, but can be installed from nuget: System.Linq.Dynamic.Core

Just stumbled across this question.
Using Marc's ApplyOrder implementation from above, I slapped together an Extension method that handles SQL-like strings like:
list.OrderBy("MyProperty DESC, MyOtherProperty ASC");
Details can be found here: http://aonnull.blogspot.com/2010/08/dynamic-sql-like-linq-orderby-extension.html

I guess it would work to use reflection to get whatever property you want to sort on:
IEnumerable<T> myEnumerables
var query=from enumerable in myenumerables
where some criteria
orderby GetPropertyValue(enumerable,"SomeProperty")
select enumerable
private static object GetPropertyValue(object obj, string property)
{
System.Reflection.PropertyInfo propertyInfo=obj.GetType().GetProperty(property);
return propertyInfo.GetValue(obj, null);
}
Note that using reflection is considerably slower than accessing the property directly, so the performance would have to be investigated.

Just building on what others have said. I found that the following works quite well.
public static IEnumerable<T> OrderBy<T>(this IEnumerable<T> input, string queryString)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(queryString))
return input;
int i = 0;
foreach (string propname in queryString.Split(','))
{
var subContent = propname.Split('|');
if (Convert.ToInt32(subContent[1].Trim()) == 0)
{
if (i == 0)
input = input.OrderBy(x => GetPropertyValue(x, subContent[0].Trim()));
else
input = ((IOrderedEnumerable<T>)input).ThenBy(x => GetPropertyValue(x, subContent[0].Trim()));
}
else
{
if (i == 0)
input = input.OrderByDescending(x => GetPropertyValue(x, subContent[0].Trim()));
else
input = ((IOrderedEnumerable<T>)input).ThenByDescending(x => GetPropertyValue(x, subContent[0].Trim()));
}
i++;
}
return input;
}

I was trying to do this but having problems with Kjetil Watnedal's solution because I don't use the inline linq syntax - I prefer method-style syntax. My specific problem was in trying to do dynamic sorting using a custom IComparer.
My solution ended up like this:
Given an IQueryable query like so:
List<DATA__Security__Team> teams = TeamManager.GetTeams();
var query = teams.Where(team => team.ID < 10).AsQueryable();
And given a run-time sort field argument:
string SortField; // Set at run-time to "Name"
The dynamic OrderBy looks like so:
query = query.OrderBy(item => item.GetReflectedPropertyValue(SortField));
And that's using a little helper method called GetReflectedPropertyValue():
public static string GetReflectedPropertyValue(this object subject, string field)
{
object reflectedValue = subject.GetType().GetProperty(field).GetValue(subject, null);
return reflectedValue != null ? reflectedValue.ToString() : "";
}
One last thing - I mentioned that I wanted the OrderBy to use custom IComparer - because I wanted to do Natural sorting.
To do that, I just alter the OrderBy to:
query = query.OrderBy(item => item.GetReflectedPropertyValue(SortField), new NaturalSortComparer<string>());
See this post for the code for NaturalSortComparer().

I've stumble this question looking for Linq multiple orderby clauses
and maybe this was what the author was looking for
Here's how to do that:
var query = pets.OrderBy(pet => pet.Name).ThenByDescending(pet => pet.Age);

Use dynamic linq
just add using System.Linq.Dynamic;
And use it like this to order all your columns:
string sortTypeStr = "ASC"; // or DESC
string SortColumnName = "Age"; // Your column name
query = query.OrderBy($"{SortColumnName} {sortTypeStr}");

After a lot of searching this worked for me:
public static IEnumerable<TEntity> OrderBy<TEntity>(this IEnumerable<TEntity> source,
string orderByProperty, bool desc)
{
string command = desc ? "OrderByDescending" : "OrderBy";
var type = typeof(TEntity);
var property = type.GetProperty(orderByProperty);
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(type, "p");
var propertyAccess = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(parameter, property);
var orderByExpression = Expression.Lambda(propertyAccess, parameter);
var resultExpression = Expression.Call(typeof(Queryable), command,
new[] { type, property.PropertyType },
source.AsQueryable().Expression,
Expression.Quote(orderByExpression));
return source.AsQueryable().Provider.CreateQuery<TEntity>(resultExpression);
}

First Install Dynamic
Tools --> NuGet Package Manager --> Package Manager Console
install-package System.Linq.Dynamic
Add Namespace using System.Linq.Dynamic;
Now you can use OrderBy("Name, Age DESC")

You could add it:
public static IEnumerable<T> OrderBy( this IEnumerable<T> input, string queryString) {
//parse the string into property names
//Use reflection to get and sort by properties
//something like
foreach( string propname in queryString.Split(','))
input.OrderBy( x => GetPropertyValue( x, propname ) );
// I used Kjetil Watnedal's reflection example
}
The GetPropertyValue function is from Kjetil Watnedal's answer
The issue would be why? Any such sort would throw exceptions at run-time, rather than compile time (like D2VIANT's answer).
If you're dealing with Linq to Sql and the orderby is an expression tree it will be converted into SQL for execution anyway.

Here's something else I found interesting.
If your source is a DataTable, you can use dynamic sorting without using Dynamic Linq
DataTable orders = dataSet.Tables["SalesOrderHeader"];
EnumerableRowCollection<DataRow> query = from order in orders.AsEnumerable()
orderby order.Field<DateTime>("OrderDate")
select order;
DataView view = query.AsDataView();
bindingSource1.DataSource = view;
reference: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb669083.aspx (Using DataSetExtensions)
Here is one more way to do it by converting it to a DataView:
DataTable contacts = dataSet.Tables["Contact"];
DataView view = contacts.AsDataView();
view.Sort = "LastName desc, FirstName asc";
bindingSource1.DataSource = view;
dataGridView1.AutoResizeColumns();

You can convert the IEnumerable to IQueryable.
items = items.AsQueryable().OrderBy("Name ASC");

An alternate solution uses the following class/interface. It's not truly dynamic, but it works.
public interface IID
{
int ID
{
get; set;
}
}
public static class Utils
{
public static int GetID<T>(ObjectQuery<T> items) where T:EntityObject, IID
{
if (items.Count() == 0) return 1;
return items.OrderByDescending(u => u.ID).FirstOrDefault().ID + 1;
}
}

Thanks to Maarten (Query a collection using PropertyInfo object in LINQ) I got this solution:
myList.OrderByDescending(x => myPropertyInfo.GetValue(x, null)).ToList();
In my case I was working on a "ColumnHeaderMouseClick" (WindowsForm) so just found the specific Column pressed and its correspondent PropertyInfo:
foreach (PropertyInfo column in (new Process()).GetType().GetProperties())
{
if (column.Name == dgvProcessList.Columns[e.ColumnIndex].Name)
{}
}
OR
PropertyInfo column = (new Process()).GetType().GetProperties().Where(x => x.Name == dgvProcessList.Columns[e.ColumnIndex].Name).First();
(be sure to have your column Names matching the object Properties)
Cheers

You can use this:
public List<Book> Books(string orderField, bool desc, int skip, int take)
{
var propertyInfo = typeof(Book).GetProperty(orderField);
return _context.Books
.Where(...)
.OrderBy(p => !desc ? propertyInfo.GetValue(p, null) : 0)
.ThenByDescending(p => desc ? propertyInfo.GetValue(p, null) : 0)
.Skip(skip)
.Take(take)
.ToList();
}

This answer is a response to the comments that need an example for the solution provided by #John Sheehan - Runscope
Please provide an example for the rest of us.
in DAL (Data Access Layer),
The IEnumerable version:
public IEnumerable<Order> GetOrders()
{
// i use Dapper to return IEnumerable<T> using Query<T>
//.. do stuff
return orders // IEnumerable<Order>
}
The IQueryable version
public IQueryable<Order> GetOrdersAsQuerable()
{
IEnumerable<Order> qry= GetOrders();
// use the built-in extension method AsQueryable in System.Linq namespace
return qry.AsQueryable();
}
Now you can use the IQueryable version to bind, for example GridView in Asp.net and benefit for sorting (you can't sort using IEnumerable version)
I used Dapper as ORM and build IQueryable version and utilized sorting in GridView in asp.net so easy.

You can define a dictionary from string to Func<> like this :
Dictionary<string, Func<Item, object>> SortParameters = new Dictionary<string, Func<Item, object>>()
{
{"Rank", x => x.Rank}
};
And use it like this :
yourList.OrderBy(SortParameters["Rank"]);
In this case you can dynamically sort by string.

you can do it like this for multiple order by
IOrderedEnumerable<JToken> sort;
if (query.OrderBys[0].IsDESC)
{
sort = jarry.OrderByDescending(r => (string)r[query.OrderBys[0].Key]);
}
else
{
sort = jarry.OrderBy(r =>
(string) r[query.OrderBys[0].Key]);
}
foreach (var item in query.OrderBys.Skip(1))
{
if (item.IsDESC)
{
sort = sort.ThenByDescending(r => (string)r[item.Key]);
}
else
{
sort = sort.ThenBy(r => (string)r[item.Key]);
}
}

Convert List to IEnumerable or Iquerable, add using System.LINQ.Dynamic namespace, then u can mention the property names in comma seperated string to OrderBy Method which comes by default from System.LINQ.Dynamic.

I am able to do this with the code below. No need write long and complex code.
protected void sort_array(string field_name, string asc_desc)
{
objArrayList= Sort(objArrayList, field_name, asc_desc);
}
protected List<ArrayType> Sort(List<ArrayType> input, string property, string asc_desc)
{
if (asc_desc == "ASC")
{
return input.OrderBy(p => p.GetType()
.GetProperty(property)
.GetValue(p, null)).ToList();
}
else
{
return input.OrderByDescending(p => p.GetType()
.GetProperty(property)
.GetValue(p, null)).ToList();
}
}

If you are using Specification (such as Ardalis Specification)
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
namespace TestExtensions;
public static class IQueryableExtensions
{
public static void ApplyOrder<T>(ISpecificationBuilder<T> query, string propertyName, bool ascendingOrder)
{
if (ascendingOrder)
query.OrderBy(T => EF.Property<object>(T!, propertyName));
else
query.OrderByDescending(T => EF.Property<object>(T!, propertyName));
}
}

With Net6 and EF
.AsQueryable().OrderBy((ColumnOrder.Column, ColumnOrder.Dir));

var result1 = lst.OrderBy(a=>a.Name);// for ascending order.
var result1 = lst.OrderByDescending(a=>a.Name);// for desc order.