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How can I convert a Parameter Expression into a function?

If I have a dynamically created ParameterExpression:
class Product
{
public string Name { get; set; }
}
var propertyName = "Name";
var propertyType = typeof(Product).GetProperty(propertyName).PropertyType;
var parameterExpression = Expression.Parameter(propertyType , propertyName);
How can I covert it into a Func<Product, TPropertyType>?
I specifically want to pass this into the Where or OrderBy linq methods used by entity framework.
I'm also open to other suggestions not using Expressions, but I highly doubt it's possible.
Edit 1: Removed the where use case as Where and OrderBy will have different implementations Removed in an attempt to narrow the scope of the question.

Here is an example with generating expressions for OrderBy and Where. As Johnathon Sullinger said in comments, you must know type of property you ordering by at compile time, because it is mentioned in signature of OrderBY. However you don't have to know it for Where:
class Product
{
public string Name { get; set; }
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var products = new List<Product> {
new Product { Name = "ZZZ"},
new Product { Name = "AAA"}
};
var propertyName = "Name";
var ordered = products.AsQueryable().OrderBy(GetOrderExpression<string>(propertyName));
Console.WriteLine(ordered.ElementAt(0).Name);
Console.WriteLine(ordered.ElementAt(1).Name);
var filtered = products.AsQueryable().Where(GetWhereExpression(propertyName, "AAA"));
Console.WriteLine(filtered.Count());
Console.WriteLine(filtered.ElementAt(0).Name);
Console.ReadKey();
}
static Expression<Func<Product, TKey>> GetOrderExpression<TKey>(string propertyName)
{
var prm = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Product), "p");
var prop = Expression.Property(prm, typeof(Product), propertyName);
var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<Product, TKey>>(prop, "p", new[] { prm });
return lambda;
}
static Expression<Func<Product, bool>> GetWhereExpression(string propertyName, object value)
{
var prm = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Product), "p");
var prop = Expression.Property(prm, typeof(Product), propertyName);
var equal = Expression.Equal(prop, Expression.Constant(value));
var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<Product, bool>>(equal, "p", new[] { prm });
return lambda;
}
Hope it helps.

cast left side of expression predicate into string

i am having a generic method which return an expression predicate to filter data from list.
MemberExpression member = Expression.Property(param, filter.ColumnName);
ConstantExpression constant = Expression.Constant(filter.TextToBeFiltered);
switch (filter.FilterOperation)
{
case FilterEnum.Equals:
return Expression.Equal(member, constant);
}
var res = List.Where(reqExpression).ToList();
Problem is the properties in list some of are string,int,guid etc so i want to cast left side of expression into string because i need to compare all properties with string only like a=> a.Id.tostring() == inputstringso how to perform it in my code.

Take a look at this full example:
class Program
{
class MyType
{
public int Column { get; set; }
};
public static string AsString(object obj)
{
return obj?.ToString();
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(MyType));
//your member
MemberExpression member = Expression.Property(param, "Column");
var asString = typeof(Program).GetMethod("AsString");
var stringMember = Expression.Call(asString, Expression.Convert(member, typeof(object)));
//your value
ConstantExpression constant = Expression.Constant("23");
//your switch
var expression = Expression.Equal(stringMember, constant);
var lambda = Expression.Lambda(expression, param);
var list = new List<MyType>
{
new MyType{Column = 23},
new MyType{Column= 24}
};
var res = list.Where((Func<MyType,bool>)lambda.Compile()).ToList();
}
}
You can also use ToString method (beware nulls!) or Convert.ChangeType. Own AsString method is good for custom types and... for debugging.
Think as building code:
p => AsString((object)p.Column) == "23"

Build Lambda Expressions with Contains

I have a problem converting simple linq query to Lambda Expression.
My queries look like this:
int[] array = List<int> array2 = sql.OfType<Table1>().Select(x=>x.ID).Take(10).ToList();
var result = sql.OfType<Table1>().Where(x => array.Contains(x.ID)).Take(10).ToList();
and the final result should be:
static void DynamicSQLQuery<T>(IQueryable<T> sql, string fieldName)
{
List<int> array = sql.OfType<T>().Select(SelectExpression<T>(fieldName)).Take(10).ToList();
var result = sql.OfType<T>().Where(InExpression<T>(fieldName, array)).Take(10).ToList();
}
Class
public class Table1
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
I already converted the first lambda:
public static Expression<Func<T, int>> SelectExpression<T>(string fieldName)
{
ParameterExpression param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "x");
MemberExpression selection = Expression.PropertyOrField(param, fieldName);
var lambdaExp = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, int>>(selection, param);
return lambdaExp;
}
But stuck on the second one:
static Expression<Func<T, bool>> InExpression<T>(string propertyName,IEnumerable<int> array)
{
System.Reflection.MethodInfo containsMethod = typeof(IEnumerable<int>).GetMethod("Contains");
ParameterExpression param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "x");
MemberExpression member = Expression.PropertyOrField(param, propertyName);//x.{property}
var constant = Expression.Constant(3);
var body = Expression.GreaterThanOrEqual(member, constant); //x.{property} >= 3 but I need array.Contains(x.{property})
var finalExpression = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, param);
return finalExpression;
}
Can anyone help me to make the lambda expression x=>array2.Contains(x.ID) in InExpression method?
Also, I'll be very grateful for some link to article/tutorial about creating these type of expressions.

Probably something like:
static Expression<Func<T, bool>> InExpression<T>(
string propertyName, IEnumerable<int> array)
{
var p = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "x");
var contains = typeof(Enumerable).GetMethods(BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Public)
.Single(x => x.Name == "Contains" && x.GetParameters().Length == 2)
.MakeGenericMethod(typeof(int));
var property = Expression.PropertyOrField(p, propertyName);
var body = Expression.Call(contains, Expression.Constant(array), property);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, p);
}
The trick here is to start off with something simple that compiles; for example:
using System.Linq;
using System;
using System.Linq.Expressions;
using System.Collections.Generic;
public class C {
static Expression<Func<Foo, bool>> InExpression<T>(
string propertyName,IEnumerable<int> array)
{
return x => array.Contains(x.Id);
}
}
class Foo {
public int Id {get;set;}
}
Now either compile it and look in ildasm/reflector, or (and much simpler): run that through https://sharplab.io specifying C# as the output, like this
This shows you the code that the compiler generated:
private static Expression<Func<Foo, bool>> InExpression<T>(string propertyName, IEnumerable<int> array)
{
C.<>c__DisplayClass0_0<T> <>c__DisplayClass0_ = new C.<>c__DisplayClass0_0<T>();
<>c__DisplayClass0_.array = array;
ParameterExpression parameterExpression = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Foo), "x");
Expression arg_77_0 = null;
MethodInfo arg_77_1 = methodof(IEnumerable<!!0>.Contains(!!0));
Expression[] expr_38 = new Expression[2];
expr_38[0] = Expression.Field(Expression.Constant(<>c__DisplayClass0_, typeof(C.<>c__DisplayClass0_0<T>)), fieldof(C.<>c__DisplayClass0_0<T>.array));
Expression[] expr_5F = expr_38;
expr_5F[1] = Expression.Property(parameterExpression, methodof(Foo.get_Id()));
Expression arg_86_0 = Expression.Call(arg_77_0, arg_77_1, expr_5F);
ParameterExpression[] expr_82 = new ParameterExpression[1];
expr_82[0] = parameterExpression;
return Expression.Lambda<Func<Foo, bool>>(arg_86_0, expr_82);
}
Note that there's a few things in here we need to fixup, but it allows us to see what it is doing - things like memberof and fieldof don't actually exist, for example, so we need to look them up via reflection.
A humanized version of the above:
private static Expression<Func<Foo, bool>> InExpression<T>(string propertyName, IEnumerable<int> array)
{
ExpressionState state = new ExpressionState();
state.array = array;
ParameterExpression parameterExpression = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Foo), "x");
MethodInfo contains = typeof(Enumerable).GetMethods(BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Public)
.Single(x => x.Name == nameof(Enumerable.Contains) && x.GetParameters().Length == 2)
.MakeGenericMethod(typeof(int));
Expression[] callArgs = new Expression[2];
callArgs[0] = Expression.Field(Expression.Constant(state, typeof(ExpressionState)), nameof(ExpressionState.array));
callArgs[1] = Expression.Property(parameterExpression, propertyName);
Expression body = Expression.Call(null, contains, callArgs);
ParameterExpression[] parameters = new ParameterExpression[1];
parameters[0] = parameterExpression;
return Expression.Lambda<Func<Foo, bool>>(body, parameters);
}
with:
class ExpressionState
{
public IEnumerable<int> array;
}

LambdaExpression to Expression via Extensions Method

I looked at the other SO versions of this question but it seems the casting out of a method works for others. I am not sure what I am doing wrong here. I am new to the Expression Building part of Linq.
My extensions method is as follows:
void Main()
{
var people = LoadData().AsQueryable();
var expression = people.PropertySelector<Person>("LastName");
expression.Should().BeOfType(typeof(Expression<Func<Person, object>>));
var result = people.OrderBy(expression);
}
public static class Extensions
{
public static Expression<Func<T, object>> PropertySelector<T>(this IEnumerable<T> collection, string propertyName)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(propertyName))
{
throw new ArgumentException(nameof(propertyName));
}
var properties = typeof(T).GetProperties();
if (!properties.Any(p => p.Name == propertyName))
{
throw new ObjectNotFoundException($"Property: {propertyName} not found for type [{typeof(T).Name}]");
}
var propertyInfo = properties.Single(p => p.Name == propertyName);
var alias = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "_");
var property = Expression.Property(alias, propertyInfo);
var funcType = typeof(Func<,>).MakeGenericType(typeof(T), propertyInfo.PropertyType);
var lambda = Expression.Lambda(funcType, property, alias);
return (Expression<Func<T, object>>)lambda;
}
}
#region
private Random rand = new Random();
// Define other methods and classes here
public class Person
{
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public string LastName { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
}
public IEnumerable<Person> LoadData()
{
IList<Person> people = new List<Person>();
for (var i = 0; i < 15; i++)
{
people.Add(new Person
{
FirstName = $"FirstName {i}",
LastName = $"LastName {i}",
Age = rand.Next(1, 100)
});
}
return people;
}
#endregion
I get an exception on the return during the cast. At this point T is type Person and object is a string. My lambda.GetType() is reporting that it's of type Expression<Func<Person, string>> The exception is:
Unable to cast object of type 'System.Linq.Expressions.Expression`1[System.Func`2[UserQuery+Person,System.String]]' to type 'System.Linq.Expressions.Expression`1[System.Func`2[UserQuery+Person,System.Object]]'.
What about my cast is incorrect? Thanks.
EDIT:
I updated with my full code that I am playing with in LinqPad. I am really just trying to figure out if there is an easy way to generate a lambda expression by passing in the property name. I was doing something like this before but I was just doing a switch on property name then using lambda syntax to create the OrderBy query dynamically.
This is strictly me trying to learn how Expression static methods can be used to achieve the same result as the example below. I am trying to mimic the below via extension method. But it doesn't have to be that way. It was just easiest to try while dinking around in LinqPad.
Expression<Func<Loan, object>> sortExpression;
switch (propertyFilter)
{
case "Age":
sortExpression = (l => l.Age);
break;
case "LastName":
sortExpression = (l => l.LastName);
break;
default:
sortExpression = (l => l.FirstName);
break;
}
var sortedLoans = loans.AsQueryable().OrderBy(sortExpression);
sortedLoans.Dump("Filtered Property Result");

Your code is creating a Func<UserQuery, String> because you're geting it's intrinsic type with
var propertyInfo = properties.Single(p => p.Name == propertyName);
var funcType = typeof(Func<,>).MakeGenericType(typeof(T), propertyInfo.PropertyType);
If you want to return a Func<T, object> then create a Func<T, object>, not a Func<T, (reflected property type)>, else the better solution is to use a Func<TOut, TIn> and create a totally generic function.

To keep current method signature you could do this:
var funcType = typeof(Func<,>).MakeGenericType(typeof(T), typeof(object));
var typeAs = Expression.TypeAs(property, typeof(object));
var lambda = Expression.Lambda(funcType, typeAs, alias);
and better way is to change your method to
public static Expression<Func<T, Tout>> PropertySelector<T, Tout>(this IEnumerable<T> collection, string propertyName)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(propertyName))
{
throw new ArgumentException(nameof(propertyName));
}
var properties = typeof(T).GetProperties();
if (!properties.Any(p => p.Name == propertyName))
{
throw new ObjectNotFoundException($"Property: {propertyName} not found for type [{typeof(T).Name}]");
}
var propertyInfo = properties.Single(p => p.Name == propertyName);
var alias = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "_");
var property = Expression.Property(alias, propertyInfo);
var funcType = typeof(Func<,>).MakeGenericType(typeof(T), propertyInfo.PropertyType);
var lambda = Expression.Lambda(funcType, property, alias);
return (Expression<Func<T, Tout>>)lambda;
}
and call it with
var expression = people.PropertySelector<Person, string>("LastName");

I got the result I wanted. After comments from #Gusman, #IvanStoev and #PetSerAl I got it to function. I can move on with my exploring and learning again. Thank you very much. Final result was to template the Propertytype.
public static Expression<Func<T, TPropertyType>> PropertySelector<T, TPropertyType>(this IEnumerable<T> collection, string propertyName)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(propertyName))
{
throw new ArgumentException(nameof(propertyName));
}
var properties = typeof(T).GetProperties();
if (!properties.Any(p => p.Name == propertyName))
{
throw new ObjectNotFoundException($"Property: {propertyName} not found for type [{typeof(T).Name}]");
}
var propertyInfo = properties.Single(p => p.Name == propertyName);
var alias = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "_");
var property = Expression.Property(alias, propertyInfo);
var funcType = typeof(Func<,>).MakeGenericType(typeof(T), typeof(TPropertyType));
var lambda = Expression.Lambda(funcType, property, alias);
return (Expression<Func<T, TPropertyType>>)lambda;
}

How can I make this query work in LINQ to Entities?

I have to following code:
private static bool DoesColValueExist<T>(IQueryable dataToSearchIn, string colName, string colValue)
{
int noOfClients = 1;
Type type = typeof(T);
if (colValue != "" && colName != "")
{
var property = type.GetProperty(colName);
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(type, "p");
var propertyAccess = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(parameter, property);
Expression left = Expression.Call(propertyAccess, typeof(object).GetMethod("ToString", System.Type.EmptyTypes));
left = Expression.Call(left, typeof(string).GetMethod("ToLower", System.Type.EmptyTypes));
Expression right = Expression.Constant(colValue.ToLower(), typeof(string));
MethodInfo method = typeof(string).GetMethod("Equals", new[] { typeof(string) });
Expression searchExpression = Expression.Call(left, method, right);
MethodCallExpression whereCallExpression = Expression.Call(
typeof(Queryable),
"Where",
new Type[] { type },
dataToSearchIn.Expression,
Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(searchExpression, new ParameterExpression[] { parameter }));
var searchedData = dataToSearchIn.Provider.CreateQuery(whereCallExpression);
noOfClients = searchedData.Cast<T>().Count();
if (noOfClients == 0)
return false;
else
return true;
}
return true;
}
It works with LINQ to SQL but with LINQ to Entities, I get the error:
LINQ to Entities does not recognize the method 'System.String ToString()' method, and this method cannot be translated into a store expression.

Linq to Entities does not support .ToString() method. I also am not sure if this is a great idea to use string comparison for types that are not strings. But not all is lost. I came up with the following solution:
public partial class MyEntity
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public int Type { get; set; }
public string X { get; set; }
}
public class MyContext : DbContext
{
public DbSet<MyEntity> Entities { get; set; }
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Database.SetInitializer(new DropCreateDatabaseIfModelChanges<MyContext>());
using (var ctx = new MyContext())
{
if (!ctx.Entities.Any())
{
ctx.Entities.Add(new MyEntity() { ID = 1, Type = 2, X = "ABC" });
ctx.SaveChanges();
}
Console.WriteLine(DoesColValueExist(ctx.Entities, e => e.X, "aBc"));
Console.WriteLine(DoesColValueExist(ctx.Entities, e => e.X, "aBcD"));
Console.WriteLine(DoesColValueExist(ctx.Entities, e => e.Type, 2));
Console.WriteLine(DoesColValueExist(ctx.Entities, e => e.Type, 5));
}
}
private static bool DoesColValueExist<TEntity, TProperty>(IQueryable<TEntity> dataToSearchIn, Expression<Func<TEntity, TProperty>> property, TProperty colValue)
{
var memberExpression = property.Body as MemberExpression;
if (memberExpression == null || !(memberExpression.Member is PropertyInfo))
{
throw new ArgumentException("Property expected", "property");
}
Expression left = property.Body;
Expression right = Expression.Constant(colValue, typeof(TProperty));
if (typeof(TProperty) == typeof(string))
{
MethodInfo toLower = typeof(string).GetMethod("ToLower", new Type[0]);
left = Expression.Call(left, toLower);
right = Expression.Call(right, toLower);
}
Expression searchExpression = Expression.Equal(left, right);
var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<TEntity, bool>>(Expression.Equal(left, right), new ParameterExpression[] { property.Parameters.Single() });
return dataToSearchIn.Where(lambda).Any();
}
}
The nice thing about it is that it is more type safe than string based solution - the value of the parameter has to be the same as the value of the property. The property in turn has to be a member of the entity that is the generic type of the IQueryable'1 passed as the first parameter. Another helpful thing is that when coding against this method intellisense will show you member of the entity when you start typing the lambda expression for the second parameter. In the method itself I added an exception for string type when I call .ToLower() on both property value and the requested value to make the comparison case insensitive. For non-string types the values are compared "as is" i.e. without any modifications.
The example above is complete - you can copy and paste it to a console app project (you need to reference EntityFramework.dll though).
Hope this helps.

Try this:
private static bool DoesColValueExist<T>(IQueryable dataToSearchIn, string colName, string colValue)
{
int noOfClients = 1;
Type type = typeof(T);
if (colValue != "" && colName != "")
{
var property = type.GetProperty(colName);
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(type, "p");
var propertyAccess = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(parameter, property);
Expression left = property.PropertyType == typeof(string) ? propertyAccess : Expression.Call(propertyAccess, typeof(object).GetMethod("ToString", System.Type.EmptyTypes));
left = Expression.Call(left, typeof(string).GetMethod("ToLower", System.Type.EmptyTypes));
Expression right = Expression.Constant(colValue.ToLower(), typeof(string));
MethodInfo method = typeof(string).GetMethod("Equals", new[] { typeof(string) });
Expression searchExpression = Expression.Call(left, method, right);
MethodCallExpression whereCallExpression = Expression.Call(
typeof(Queryable),
"Where",
new Type[] { type },
dataToSearchIn.Expression,
Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(searchExpression, new ParameterExpression[] { parameter }));
var searchedData = dataToSearchIn.Provider.CreateQuery(whereCallExpression);
noOfClients = searchedData.Cast<T>().Count();
if (noOfClients == 0)
return false;
else
return true;
}
return true;
}
Basically, if the property is string then it doesn't call the ToString() method.
Hope it helps.