Is there a way to perform a LINQ query on Entity Framework DBSets and only return the properties that have a specific custom attribute?
My goal is to perform a query and return only the properties/columns that I need for an export.
I also want to make this an extension for IEnumerable as I have many separate EF Classes that will use this export attribute.
This is how I am visualizing it:
public class Person
{
[Export]
public string FirstName { get; set; }
[Export]
public string LastName { get; set; }
[Export]
public string Address { get; set; }
[NeverExport]
public string SocialSecurityNumber { get; set; }
}
public void main()
{
var people = PersonRepository.GetAll();
var exportResults = people.GetByAttribute(ExportAttribute);
{
public static IEnumerable<object> GetByAttribute(this IEnumerable<object> list, Attribute attribute)
{
return list
.Select(x =>
// Select properties with { attribute } (ie. [Export])
);
}
I've made a very basic example for your problem. In short, you want to get all Properties, where a specific Attribute is present. You can achive this via reflection. First, you want all properties of a specific type, then only the properties, where a specific attribute is present.
Here is my example code:
using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;
namespace Sandbox
{
public class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
var attrs = typeof(User).GetProperties().Where(x => x.GetCustomAttributes().Any(y => y.GetType() == typeof(Custom)));
var users = new User[]
{
new User() { ID = 1, Name = "John", Lastname = "Doe" },
new User() { ID = 2, Name = "Jane", Lastname = "Doe" }
};
foreach(var u in users)
{
foreach(var attr in attrs)
{
Console.WriteLine(typeof(User).GetProperty(attr.Name).GetValue(u, null));
}
}
}
}
public class User
{
public string Name { get; set; }
[Custom]
public int ID { get; set; }
[Custom]
public string Lastname { get; set; }
}
public class Custom : System.Attribute
{
}
}
The following code projects any IQueryable to IQueryable<ExpandoObject> and you can use it for exporting data. Additionally code caches projection expression for reusing later in application.
Usage is simple:
var exportResult = anyQuery.ProjectForExport().ToList();
And implementation:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
public class ExportAttribute : Attribute
{
}
public static class ExportTools
{
private static readonly ConstructorInfo _expandoObjectConstructor =
typeof(ExpandoObject).GetConstructor(Type.EmptyTypes) ?? throw new InvalidOperationException();
private static readonly MethodInfo _expandoAddMethodInfo = typeof(IDictionary<string, object>).GetTypeInfo()
.GetRuntimeMethods()
.Single(mi => mi.Name == nameof(IDictionary<string, object>.Add) && mi.GetParameters().Length == 2);
public static class ProjectionCache<T>
{
public static Expression<Func<T, ExpandoObject>> ProjectionExpression { get; } = BuildProjection();
private static Expression<Func<T, ExpandoObject>> BuildProjection()
{
var param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "e");
var properties = typeof(T).GetProperties()
.Where(p => p.GetCustomAttributes().Any(a => a is ExportAttribute)).ToList();
if (properties.Count == 0)
throw new InvalidOperationException($"Type '{typeof(T).Name}' has no defined Export properties.");
var expr = (Expression)Expression.ListInit(
Expression.New(_expandoObjectConstructor),
properties.Select(p =>
{
var readerExpr = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(param, p);
return Expression.ElementInit(_expandoAddMethodInfo, Expression.Constant(p.Name), readerExpr);
}));
var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, ExpandoObject>>(expr, param);
return lambda;
}
}
public static IQueryable<ExpandoObject> ProjectForExport<T>(this IQueryable<T> query)
{
return query.Select(ProjectionCache<T>.ProjectionExpression);
}
}
Related
Consider the following classes:
public class Potato
{
[Key]
public string Farm { get; set; }
[Key]
public int Size { get; set; }
public string Trademark { get; set; }
}
public class Haybell
{
[Key]
public string color { get; set; }
public int StrawCount { get; set; }
}
public class Frog
{
[Key]
public bool IsAlive { get; set; }
[Key]
public bool IsVirulent { get; set; }
public byte LimbCount { get; set; } = 4;
public ConsoleColor Color { get; set; }
}
Each class has properties with [Key] attribute. Is it possible to dynamically group an IEnumerable of any of these classes by their respective [Key] attributes?
I would go for adding extension methods for each your types, like
Option 1:
static class Extensions
{
public static IEnumerable<IGrouping<Tuple<string, int>, Potato>>
GroupByPrimaryKey(this IEnumerable<Potato> e)
{
return e.GroupBy(p => Tuple.Create(p.Farm, p.Size));
}
public static IEnumerable<IGrouping<Tuple<bool, bool>, Frog>>
GroupByPrimaryKey(this IEnumerable<Frog> e)
{
return e.GroupBy(p => Tuple.Create(p.IsAlive, p.IsVirulent));
}
}
If there are lots of types, you may generate the code using t4.
Usage: .GroupByPrimaryKey().
Option 2:
A simpler variation:
static class Extensions
{
public static Tuple<string, int> GetPrimaryKey(this Potato p)
{
return Tuple.Create(p.Farm, p.Size);
}
public static Tuple<bool, bool> GetPrimaryKey(this Frog p)
{
return Tuple.Create(p.IsAlive, p.IsVirulent);
}
}
Usage: .GroupBy(p => p.GetPrimaryKey()).
Option 3:
A solution with reflection is possible, but will be slow. Sketch (far from production-ready!)
class CombinedKey : IEquatable<CombinedKey>
{
object[] _keys;
CombinedKey(object[] keys)
{
_keys = keys;
}
public bool Equals(CombinedKey other)
{
return _keys.SequenceEqual(other._keys);
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return obj is CombinedKey && Equals((CombinedKey)obj);
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return 0;
}
public static CombinedKey GetKey<T>(T instance)
{
return new CombinedKey(GetKeyAttributes(typeof(T)).Select(p => p.GetValue(instance, null)).ToArray());
}
private static PropertyInfo[] GetKeyAttributes(Type type)
{
// you definitely want to cache this
return type.GetProperties()
.Where(p => Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(p, typeof(KeyAttribute)) != null)
.ToArray();
}
}
Usage: GroupBy(p => CombinedKey.GetKey(p))
The challenge here is that you need to build an anonymous type in order to have a GroupBy Expression that can translate to SQL or any other LINQ provider.
I'm not sure that you can do that using reflection (not without some really complex code to create an anonymous type at runtime). But you could create the grouping expression if you were willing to provide an example of the anonymous type as the seed.
public static Expression<Func<TSource, TAnon>> GetAnonymous<TSource,TAnon>(TSource dummy, TAnon example)
{
var ctor = typeof(TAnon).GetConstructors().First();
var paramExpr = Expression.Parameter(typeof(TSource));
return Expression.Lambda<Func<TSource, TAnon>>
(
Expression.New
(
ctor,
ctor.GetParameters().Select
(
(x, i) => Expression.Convert
(
Expression.Property(paramExpr, x.Name), // fetch same named property
x.ParameterType
)
)
), paramExpr);
}
And here's how you would use it (Note: the dummy anonymous type passed to the method is there in order to make the anonymous type a compile-time Type, the method doesn't care what the values are that you pass in for it.) :
static void Main()
{
var groupByExpression = GetAnonymous(new Frog(), new {IsAlive = true, IsVirulent = true});
Console.WriteLine(groupByExpression);
var frogs = new []{ new Frog{ IsAlive = true, IsVirulent = false}, new Frog{ IsAlive = false, IsVirulent = true}, new Frog{ IsAlive = true, IsVirulent = true}};
var grouped = frogs.AsQueryable().GroupBy(groupByExpression);
foreach (var group in grouped)
{
Console.WriteLine(group.Key);
}
}
Which produces:
Param_0 => new <>f__AnonymousType0`2(Convert(Param_0.IsAlive, Boolean), Convert(Param_0.IsVirulent, Boolean))
{ IsAlive = True, IsVirulent = False }
{ IsAlive = False, IsVirulent = True }
{ IsAlive = True, IsVirulent = True }
Somebody had posted a valid answer and removed it later for some reason. Here it is:
Combined key class:
class CombinedKey<T> : IEquatable<CombinedKey<T>>
{
readonly object[] _keys;
public bool Equals(CombinedKey<T> other)
{
return _keys.SequenceEqual(other._keys);
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return obj is CombinedKey<T> key && Equals(key);
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
int hash = _keys.Length;
foreach (object o in _keys)
{
if (o != null)
{
hash = hash * 13 + o.GetHashCode();
}
}
return hash;
}
readonly Lazy<Func<T, object[]>> lambdaFunc = new Lazy<Func<T, object[]>>(() =>
{
Type type = typeof(T);
var paramExpr = Expression.Parameter(type);
var arrayExpr = Expression.NewArrayInit(
typeof(object),
type.GetProperties()
.Where(p => (Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(p, typeof(KeyAttribute)) != null))
.Select(p => Expression.Convert(Expression.Property(paramExpr, p), typeof(object)))
.ToArray()
);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, object[]>>(arrayExpr, paramExpr).Compile();
}, System.Threading.LazyThreadSafetyMode.PublicationOnly);
public CombinedKey(T instance)
{
_keys = lambdaFunc.Value(instance);
}
}
Caller function and the actual usage:
public static class MyClassWithLogic
{
//Caller to CombinedKey class
private static CombinedKey<Q> NewCombinedKey<Q>(Q instance)
{
return new CombinedKey<Q>(instance);
}
//Extension method for IEnumerables
public static IEnumerable<T> DistinctByPrimaryKey<T>(this IEnumerable<T> entries) where T : class
{
return entries.AsQueryable().GroupBy(NewCombinedKey)
.Select(r => r.First());
}
}
Yes, it is relatively slow, so if it is a problem, then Klaus Gütter's solutions are the way to go.
I'm having problems trying to get Should().BeEquivalentTo() to work with types that derive from a base class and implement a collection interface:
public class Entity
{
public string Id {get; set;}
public string Name {get; set;}
}
public class Derived : Entity, ICollection<Entity>
{
private List<Entity> m_Children = new List<Entity>();
public string Description { get; set; }
public int Count => ((ICollection<Entity>)m_Children).Count;
public bool IsReadOnly => ((ICollection<Entity>)m_Children).IsReadOnly;
public void Add(Entity item)
{
((ICollection<Entity>)m_Children).Add(item);
}
public void Clear()
{
((ICollection<Entity>)m_Children).Clear();
}
public bool Contains(Entity item)
{
return ((ICollection<Entity>)m_Children).Contains(item);
}
public void CopyTo(Entity[] array, int arrayIndex)
{
((ICollection<Entity>)m_Children).CopyTo(array, arrayIndex);
}
public IEnumerator<Entity> GetEnumerator()
{
return ((ICollection<Entity>)m_Children).GetEnumerator();
}
public bool Remove(Entity item)
{
return ((ICollection<Entity>)m_Children).Remove(item);
}
IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
{
return ((ICollection<Entity>)m_Children).GetEnumerator();
}
}
The Test
[TestMethod]
public void EquivalenceTest()
{
var expected = new Derived
{
Id = "123",
Name = "abc",
Description = "def"
};
var actual = new Derived
{
Id = "121",
Name = "xyz",
Description = "def"
};
actual.Should().BeEquivalentTo(expected); // This succeeds, but should fail
}
The call to BeEquivalentTo seems to be ignoring the properties that are defined in the object, and only treating the object as a collection.
How can I get the framework to check the properties and the contents of the collection?
Edit
It seems like this is a known issue
Does anyone know of a workaround?
It's a known issue when comparing classes that implements IEnumerable and have extra properties to be compared.
Here's a way to hack the comparison.
public class Entity : IEnumerable<int>
{
private int[] ints = new[] { 1 };
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public IEnumerator<int> GetEnumerator() => ((IEnumerable<int>)ints).GetEnumerator();
IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator() => ((IEnumerable<int>)ints).GetEnumerator();
}
[TestMethod]
public void EquivalenceTest()
{
var expected = new Entity
{
Id = 1,
Name = "abc",
};
var actual = new Entity
{
Id = 1,
Name = "abc",
};
actual.Should().BeEquivalentTo(expected, opt => opt
.Using<Entity>(e =>
e.Subject.Should().Match<Entity>(f => f.Name == e.Expectation.Name)
.And.Subject.Should().Match<Entity>(f => f.Id == e.Expectation.Id)
.And.Subject.Should().BeEquivalentTo(e.Expectation)
)
.WhenTypeIs<Entity>());
}
I am having trouble with generics. Using examples from here, I want to pass a property for use in EF Core. I have a feeling I am overcomplicating things. Note that I would like to stick with lamba expressions instead of passing something like nameof (which I cannot use in 4.0).
class Foo
{
public string A { get; set; } // some unique string in DbSet for entity Person
public string B { get; set; } // some unique string in DbSet for entity Company
public int GetId<TEntity>(string match, Expression<Func<TEntity, string>> fieldToExamine, Expression<Func<TEntity, int>> fieldWithId, System.Data.Entity.DbContext context)
where TEntity : class
{
int retval = -1;
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(match))
{
var expr = (MemberExpression)fieldToExamine.Body;
var prop = (PropertyInfo)expr.Member;
var expr2 = (MemberExpression)fieldWithId.Body;
var idField = (PropertyInfo)expr2.Member;
// this works because everything is explicit
var entity = context.Set<Person>().SingleOrDefault(p => p.PersonName.Equals(match));
// ... but I want that to be generic
// how to reference the property to be evaluated?
//var entity = context.Set<TEntity>().SingleOrDefault(p => ...); // <- HELP?!
if (entity != null)
{
retval = (int)entity.GetType().GetProperty(idField.Name).GetValue(entity, null);
}
}
return retval;
}
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// .. omitted database stuff ..
// (for Person) what I want is to match the Name field (here: p.Name) of the Person entity to the Foo property value (here: f.A) and return the database id stored in p.PersonId
int x = f.GetId<Person>(f.A, p => p.PersonName, p => p.PersonId, context);
// same for Company, but different values and fields
int y = f.GetId<Company>(f.B, p => p.CompanyName, p => p.CompanyId, context);
}
Person class and Company class will need to implement either abstract class or interface.
public abstract class BaseEntity
{
public abstract int Id { get; set; }
public abstract string Name { get; set; }
}
public class Person : BaseEntity
{
public int PersonId { get; set; }
public override string Name { get; set; }
public override int Id
{
get { return PersonId; }
set { PersonId = value; }
}
}
public class Company : BaseEntity
{
public int CompanyId { get; set; }
public override string Name { get; set; }
public override int Id
{
get { return CompanyId; }
set { CompanyId = value; }
}
}
Then you can pass p.Name and p.CompanyId.
var entity = context.Set<TEntity>().SingleOrDefault(p => p.Name.Equals(match));
I need to obtain a PropertyDescriptorCollection with all properties that are decorated with a custom attribute. The problem is that TypeDescriptor.GetProperties can only filter by an exact matching of all Attribute's properties, so if I want to get all properties no matter how attribute's properties are set, I would have to cover all the possibilities in the filter array.
Here is the code for my attribue:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
class FirstAttribute : Attribute
{
public bool SomeFlag { get; set; }
}
And a class with decorated properties:
class Foo
{
[First]
public string SomeString { get; set; }
[First(SomeFlag = true)]
public int SomeInt { get; set; }
}
And main:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var firstPropCollection = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(typeof(Foo), new Attribute[] {new FirstAttribute()});
Console.WriteLine("First attempt: Filtering by passing an array with a new FirstAttribute");
foreach (PropertyDescriptor propertyDescriptor in firstPropCollection)
{
Console.WriteLine(propertyDescriptor.Name);
}
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("Second attempt: Filtering by passing an an array with a new FirstAttribute with object initialization");
var secondPropCollection = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(typeof(Foo), new Attribute[] { new FirstAttribute {SomeFlag = true} });
foreach (PropertyDescriptor propertyDescriptor in secondPropCollection)
{
Console.WriteLine(propertyDescriptor.Name);
}
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("Third attempt: I am quite ugly =( ... but I work!");
var thirdCollection = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(typeof(Foo)).Cast<PropertyDescriptor>()
.Where(p => p.Attributes.Cast<Attribute>().Any(a => a.GetType() == typeof(FirstAttribute)));
foreach (PropertyDescriptor propertyDescriptor in thirdCollection)
{
Console.WriteLine(propertyDescriptor.Name);
}
Console.ReadLine();
}
So far, the only way I have made it worked is the third attempt, I wonder if there is a more intuitive and elegant way.
The output is the following:
As you can see I can only manage to get both properties with the last attempt.
I am not really sure that I understand the problem... You want all properties that have a specific attribute regardless of this attributes value?
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var props = typeof(Foo).GetProperties();
var filtered = props
.Where(x => x.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(FirstAttribute), false).Length > 0)
.ToList();
var propertyDescriptor = TypeDescriptor.GetProperties(typeof(Foo))
.Find(filtered[0].Name, false);
}
}
class Foo
{
[First]
public string SomeString { get; set; }
[First(SomeFlag = true)]
public int SomeInt { get; set; }
}
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
class FirstAttribute : Attribute
{
public bool SomeFlag { get; set; }
}
Wondering is there a possibility to avoid writing rules for every fields that needs to get validated, for an example all the properties must be validated except Remarks. And I was thinking to avoid writing RuleFor for every property.
public class CustomerDto
{
public int CustomerId { get; set; } //mandatory
public string CustomerName { get; set; } //mandatory
public DateTime DateOfBirth { get; set; } //mandatory
public decimal Salary { get; set; } //mandatory
public string Remarks { get; set; } //optional
}
public class CustomerValidator : AbstractValidator<CustomerDto>
{
public CustomerValidator()
{
RuleFor(x => x.CustomerId).NotEmpty();
RuleFor(x => x.CustomerName).NotEmpty();
RuleFor(x => x.DateOfBirth).NotEmpty();
RuleFor(x => x.Salary).NotEmpty();
}
}
Here you go:
public class Validator<T> : AbstractValidator<T>
{
public Validator(Func<PropertyInfo, bool> filter) {
foreach (var propertyInfo in typeof(T)
.GetProperties()
.Where(filter)) {
var expression = CreateExpression(propertyInfo);
RuleFor(expression).NotEmpty();
}
}
private Expression<Func<T, object>> CreateExpression(PropertyInfo propertyInfo) {
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "x");
var property = Expression.Property(parameter, propertyInfo);
var conversion = Expression.Convert(property, typeof(object));
var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, object>>(conversion, parameter);
return lambda;
}
}
And it can be used as such:
private static void ConfigAndTestFluent()
{
CustomerDto customer = new CustomerDto();
Validator<CustomerDto> validator = new Validator<CustomerDto>(x=>x.Name!="Remarks"); //we specify here the matching filter for properties
ValidationResult results = validator.Validate(customer);
}