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'Inject' one expression into another

I have one expression that's defined like this:
Expression<Func<T1, T2, bool>> firstExpression;
and another one like this one:
Expression<Func<T1, bool>> secondExpression;
T2 is a value I know, T1 isn't. What I would like is to make the first expression into the second one, given the value of the parameter T2. If it would be regular Linq, it would be this:
var t2 = "Something I know";
secondExpression = t1 => fistExpression(t1, t2);
How would I do this using System.Linq.Expressions?

You can accomplish this with expression visitor:
public static class EmitUtils
{
private class ParameterReplacerVisitor : ExpressionVisitor
{
private ParameterExpression _source;
private Expression _target;
public ParameterReplacerVisitor(ParameterExpression source, Expression target)
{
_source = source;
_target = target;
}
public override Expression Visit(Expression node) =>
node == _source
? _target
: base.Visit(node);
}
public static Expression ReplaceParameter(Expression body, ParameterExpression srcParameter, Expression dstParameter) =>
new ParameterReplacerVisitor(srcParameter, dstParameter).Visit(body);
public static Expression<Func<T1, T3>> BuildClosure<T1, T2, T3>(Expression<Func<T1, T2, T3>> src, T2 closureValue)
{
var constExpression = Expression.Constant(closureValue, typeof(T2));
var body = ReplaceParameter(src.Body, src.Parameters[1], constExpression);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T1, T3>>(body, src.Parameters[0]);
}
}
Here is sample usage:
[Test]
public void ClosureTest()
{
Expression<Func<int, string, bool>> CheckStringLength = (len, str) => str.Length < len;
var constString = "some string";
var result = EmitUtils.BuildClosure(CheckStringLength, constString);
Assert.That(result.Compile().Invoke(100), Is.True);
}

You can do it by swapping parameter expression with constant expression. Should looks like this
implement custom swap ExpressionVisitor
public class SwapVisitor : ExpressionVisitor
{
public Expression From { get; set; }
public Expression To { get; set; }
public override Expression Visit(Expression node)
{
return node == From ? To : base.Visit(node);
}
}
replace parameter T2 with constant
var swapper = new SwapVisitor
{
From = fistExpression.Parameters[1],
To = Expression.Constant(val)
};
var result = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(
swapper.Visit(fistExpression.Body),
fistExpression.Parameters[0]);

Consider the following sample(firstLambda ans secondExpression needed just to see how compiler build the expression)
using System;
using System.Linq.Expressions;
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Expression<Func<string, int, bool>> firstExpression = (a, b) => a == b.ToString();
Func<string, int, bool> firstLambda = (a, b) => a == b.ToString();
Expression<Func<string, bool>> secondExpression = s => firstLambda(s, 45); // this expression I need just to see how it is compiled
var inputParameter = Expression.Parameter(typeof(string), "s");
var invocation = Expression.Invoke(firstExpression, inputParameter, Expression.Constant(47));
var ourBuildExpression = Expression.Lambda<Func<string, bool> > (invocation, new ParameterExpression[] { inputParameter }).Compile();
Console.WriteLine(ourBuildExpression("45"));
Console.WriteLine(ourBuildExpression("47"));
Console.ReadKey();
}
I checked in the debugger watch window the result of Expression<Func<string, bool>> secondExpression = s => firstLambda(s, 45); it was Invoke expression, so I constructed the same manually.
And you can see the test calls return and print False and True as expected.

An expression tree lambda may not contain a null propagating operator

The line price = co?.price ?? 0, in the following code gives me the above error, but if I remove ? from co.? it works fine.
I was trying to follow this MSDN example where they are using ? on line select new { person.FirstName, PetName = subpet?.Name ?? String.Empty }; So, it seems I need to understand when to use ? with ?? and when not to.
Error:
an expression tree lambda may not contain a null propagating operator
public class CustomerOrdersModelView
{
public string CustomerID { get; set; }
public int FY { get; set; }
public float? price { get; set; }
....
....
}
public async Task<IActionResult> ProductAnnualReport(string rpt)
{
var qry = from c in _context.Customers
join ord in _context.Orders
on c.CustomerID equals ord.CustomerID into co
from m in co.DefaultIfEmpty()
select new CustomerOrdersModelView
{
CustomerID = c.CustomerID,
FY = c.FY,
price = co?.price ?? 0,
....
....
};
....
....
}

The example you were quoting from uses LINQ to Objects, where the implicit lambda expressions in the query are converted into delegates... whereas you're using EF or similar, with IQueryable<T> queryies, where the lambda expressions are converted into expression trees. Expression trees don't support the null conditional operator (or tuples).
Just do it the old way:
price = co == null ? 0 : (co.price ?? 0)
(I believe the null-coalescing operator is fine in an expression tree.)

The code you link to uses List<T>. List<T> implements IEnumerable<T> but not IQueryable<T>. In that case, the projection is executed in memory and ?. works.
You're using some IQueryable<T>, which works very differently. For IQueryable<T>, a representation of the projection is created, and your LINQ provider decides what to do with it at runtime. For backwards compatibility reasons, ?. cannot be used here.
Depending on your LINQ provider, you may be able to use plain . and still not get any NullReferenceException.

Jon Skeet's answer was right, in my case I was using DateTime for my Entity class.
When I tried to use like
(a.DateProperty == null ? default : a.DateProperty.Date)
I had the error
Property 'System.DateTime Date' is not defined for type 'System.Nullable`1[System.DateTime]' (Parameter 'property')
So I needed to change DateTime? for my entity class and
(a.DateProperty == null ? default : a.DateProperty.Value.Date)

While expression tree does not support the C# 6.0 null propagating, what we can do is create a visitor that modify expression tree for safe null propagation, just like the operator does!
Here is mine:
public class NullPropagationVisitor : ExpressionVisitor
{
private readonly bool _recursive;
public NullPropagationVisitor(bool recursive)
{
_recursive = recursive;
}
protected override Expression VisitUnary(UnaryExpression propertyAccess)
{
if (propertyAccess.Operand is MemberExpression mem)
return VisitMember(mem);
if (propertyAccess.Operand is MethodCallExpression met)
return VisitMethodCall(met);
if (propertyAccess.Operand is ConditionalExpression cond)
return Expression.Condition(
test: cond.Test,
ifTrue: MakeNullable(Visit(cond.IfTrue)),
ifFalse: MakeNullable(Visit(cond.IfFalse)));
return base.VisitUnary(propertyAccess);
}
protected override Expression VisitMember(MemberExpression propertyAccess)
{
return Common(propertyAccess.Expression, propertyAccess);
}
protected override Expression VisitMethodCall(MethodCallExpression propertyAccess)
{
if (propertyAccess.Object == null)
return base.VisitMethodCall(propertyAccess);
return Common(propertyAccess.Object, propertyAccess);
}
private BlockExpression Common(Expression instance, Expression propertyAccess)
{
var safe = _recursive ? base.Visit(instance) : instance;
var caller = Expression.Variable(safe.Type, "caller");
var assign = Expression.Assign(caller, safe);
var acess = MakeNullable(new ExpressionReplacer(instance,
IsNullableStruct(instance) ? caller : RemoveNullable(caller)).Visit(propertyAccess));
var ternary = Expression.Condition(
test: Expression.Equal(caller, Expression.Constant(null)),
ifTrue: Expression.Constant(null, acess.Type),
ifFalse: acess);
return Expression.Block(
type: acess.Type,
variables: new[]
{
caller,
},
expressions: new Expression[]
{
assign,
ternary,
});
}
private static Expression MakeNullable(Expression ex)
{
if (IsNullable(ex))
return ex;
return Expression.Convert(ex, typeof(Nullable<>).MakeGenericType(ex.Type));
}
private static bool IsNullable(Expression ex)
{
return !ex.Type.IsValueType || (Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(ex.Type) != null);
}
private static bool IsNullableStruct(Expression ex)
{
return ex.Type.IsValueType && (Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(ex.Type) != null);
}
private static Expression RemoveNullable(Expression ex)
{
if (IsNullableStruct(ex))
return Expression.Convert(ex, ex.Type.GenericTypeArguments[0]);
return ex;
}
private class ExpressionReplacer : ExpressionVisitor
{
private readonly Expression _oldEx;
private readonly Expression _newEx;
internal ExpressionReplacer(Expression oldEx, Expression newEx)
{
_oldEx = oldEx;
_newEx = newEx;
}
public override Expression Visit(Expression node)
{
if (node == _oldEx)
return _newEx;
return base.Visit(node);
}
}
}
It passes on the following tests:
private static string Foo(string s) => s;
static void Main(string[] _)
{
var visitor = new NullPropagationVisitor(recursive: true);
Test1();
Test2();
Test3();
void Test1()
{
Expression<Func<string, char?>> f = s => s == "foo" ? 'X' : Foo(s).Length.ToString()[0];
var fBody = (Expression<Func<string, char?>>)visitor.Visit(f);
var fFunc = fBody.Compile();
Debug.Assert(fFunc(null) == null);
Debug.Assert(fFunc("bar") == '3');
Debug.Assert(fFunc("foo") == 'X');
}
void Test2()
{
Expression<Func<string, int>> y = s => s.Length;
var yBody = visitor.Visit(y.Body);
var yFunc = Expression.Lambda<Func<string, int?>>(
body: yBody,
parameters: y.Parameters)
.Compile();
Debug.Assert(yFunc(null) == null);
Debug.Assert(yFunc("bar") == 3);
}
void Test3()
{
Expression<Func<char?, string>> y = s => s.Value.ToString()[0].ToString();
var yBody = visitor.Visit(y.Body);
var yFunc = Expression.Lambda<Func<char?, string>>(
body: yBody,
parameters: y.Parameters)
.Compile();
Debug.Assert(yFunc(null) == null);
Debug.Assert(yFunc('A') == "A");
}
}

Linq parametrizable group by with 2 properties

I'm trying to do a LinQ request with a group by where a parameter is parametrizable by an Expression ( (Expression<Func<CompanyModel,TKey>> myGroupingProperty) and the other one is hard coded. But even if my code compile I get an error that linq does not support lambdas. Would you have any idea how to do this request?
Here is the code sample:
public List<timelineResult> getTimelinebyCompany<TKey>(Expression<Func<CompanyModel,TKey>> myGroupingProperty, Filter item)
{
int cntToBeSureThatTheQueryExecuteAtLeastOneTime = 0;
List<timelineResult> toto = new List<timelineResult>();
using (var db = new fintechDbContext())
{
while (cntToBeSureThatTheQueryExecuteAtLeastOneTime == 0)
{
toto = (from p in db.companyDBSET
select p).GroupBy(p=> new {p.Founded_Year, myGroupingProperty})
.Select(o => new timelineResult{ year = o.Key.Founded_Year, cluster = o.myGroupingProperty.ToString(), count = o.Count() })
.OrderBy(o => o.year).ToList();
cntToBeSureThatTheQueryExecuteAtLeastOneTime++;
}
}
return toto;
}

What you are seeking for is doable, but not the way you tried because the passed lambda expression cannot be used directly inside another lambda expression.
You should start first by creating a generic class to hold the grouping key. It's similar to system provided Tuple, but has parameterless constructor and simple property get/setters to conform to the EF projection rules:
public class GroupKey<K1, K2>
{
public K1 Key1 { get; set; }
public K2 Key2 { get; set; }
}
Then you need to build dynamically lambda expression like this
Expression<Func<T, K1, K2>> keySelector = x =>
new GroupKey<K1, K2> { Key1 = x.Prop1, Key2 = x.Prop2 };
In order to do that, you'll need some Expression helpers:
public static class ExpressionUtils
{
public static Expression ReplaceParameter(this Expression expression, ParameterExpression source, Expression target)
{
return new ParameterReplacer { Source = source, Target = target }.Visit(expression);
}
class ParameterReplacer : ExpressionVisitor
{
public ParameterExpression Source;
public Expression Target;
protected override Expression VisitParameter(ParameterExpression node)
{
return node == Source ? Target : base.VisitParameter(node);
}
}
}
and you can encapsulate the grouping part in a custom extension method:
public static class QueryableExtensions
{
public static IQueryable<IGrouping<GroupKey<K1, K2>, T>> GroupByPair<T, K1, K2>(this IQueryable<T> source, Expression<Func<T, K1>> keySelector1, Expression<Func<T, K2>> keySelector2)
{
var parameter = keySelector1.Parameters[0];
var key1 = keySelector1.Body;
var key2 = keySelector2.Body.ReplaceParameter(keySelector2.Parameters[0], parameter);
var keyType = typeof(GroupKey<K1, K2>);
var keySelector = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, GroupKey<K1, K2>>>(
Expression.MemberInit(
Expression.New(keyType),
Expression.Bind(keyType.GetProperty("Key1"), key1),
Expression.Bind(keyType.GetProperty("Key2"), key2)),
parameter);
return source.GroupBy(keySelector);
}
}
Finally, the essential part of your method becomes like this:
toto = db.companyDBSET
.GroupByPair(p => p.Founded_Year, myGroupingProperty)
.Select(g => new timelineResult
{
year = g.Key.Key1,
cluster = g.Key.Key2.ToString(),
count = g.Count()
})
.OrderBy(o => o.year)
.ToList();

Convert Expression<Func<TDerived, out TResult>> to Expression<Func<TBase, out TResult>>

All is said in the title, more precisely I am searching a way to convert an
Expression<Func<TDerived, out bool>> to Expression<Func<TBase, out bool>>,
with TDerived deriving from TBase.
How can I achieve this?

Given an Expression replacer like this one:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq.Expressions;
// A simple expression visitor to replace some nodes of an expression
// with some other nodes. Can be used with anything, not only with
// ParameterExpression
public class SimpleExpressionReplacer : ExpressionVisitor
{
public readonly Dictionary<Expression, Expression> Replaces;
public SimpleExpressionReplacer(Expression from, Expression to)
{
Replaces = new Dictionary<Expression, Expression> { { from, to } };
}
public SimpleExpressionReplacer(Dictionary<Expression, Expression> replaces)
{
// Note that we should really clone from and to... But we will
// ignore this!
Replaces = replaces;
}
public SimpleExpressionReplacer(IEnumerable<Expression> from, IEnumerable<Expression> to)
{
Replaces = new Dictionary<Expression, Expression>();
using (var enu1 = from.GetEnumerator())
using (var enu2 = to.GetEnumerator())
{
while (true)
{
bool res1 = enu1.MoveNext();
bool res2 = enu2.MoveNext();
if (!res1 || !res2)
{
if (!res1 && !res2)
{
break;
}
if (!res1)
{
throw new ArgumentException("from shorter");
}
throw new ArgumentException("to shorter");
}
Replaces.Add(enu1.Current, enu2.Current);
}
}
}
public override Expression Visit(Expression node)
{
Expression to;
if (node != null && Replaces.TryGetValue(node, out to))
{
return base.Visit(to);
}
return base.Visit(node);
}
}
now we can, given
public class Base
{
public int ValueBase { get; set; }
}
public class Derived : Base
{
public int ValueDerived { get; set; }
}
and a
Expression<Func<Derived, bool>> exp = x => x.ValueBase == 0;
then
ParameterExpression parOld = exp.Parameters[0];
ParameterExpression parNew = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Base));
// Replace the parOld with the parNew
Expression body2 = new SimpleExpressionReplacer(parOld, parNew).Visit(exp.Body);
// Note that we have to rebuild the Expression.Lambda<>
Expression<Func<Base, bool>> expNew = Expression.Lambda<Func<Base, bool>>(body2, parNew);
This will produce a
Expression<Func<Base, bool>> exp = x => x.ValueBase == 0;
Note that if you want instead to do:
Expression<Func<Derived, bool>> exp = x => x.ValueDerived == 0;
to
Expression<Func<Base, bool>> exp = x => ((Derived)x).ValueDerived == 0;
then you need something like:
ParameterExpression parOld = exp.Parameters[0];
ParameterExpression parNew = Expression.Parameter(typeof(Base));
UnaryExpression convert = Expression.Convert(parNew, typeof(Derived));
Expression body2 = new SimpleExpressionReplacer(parOld, convert).Visit(exp.Body);
Expression<Func<Base, bool>> expNew = Expression.Lambda<Func<Base, bool>>(body2, parNew);

You need to wrap the inner expression. Something like
var argument = Expression.Parameter(typeof(TDerived));
Expression.Lambda<Func<TDerived, bool>>
(
Expression.Invoke(innerExpression, argument),
argument
);
Of course, depending on the direction, you might need an explicit cast on the argument to innerExpression - this is quite simple, just use Expression.Cast.
EDIT:
To accomodate for your edit, the inverted variant:
var argument = Expression.Parameter(typeof(TBase));
Expression.Lambda<Func<TBase, bool>>
(
Expression.Invoke(innerExpression, Expression.Convert(argument, typeof(TDerived))),
argument
);
Note that this will obviously only work if the runtime type of the parameter is derived from TDerived.

Using linq to perform text-based search when number of search words can be variable [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Closed 10 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
LINQ To SQL exception: Local sequence cannot be used in LINQ to SQL implementation of query operators except the Contains operator
I am trying the following query:
var data = (from bk in DataContext.Book
where ((searchArray.Count() == 0 || searchArray.ToList().Any(x => bk.Name.Contains(x))) ||
(searchArray.Count() == 0 || searchArray.ToList().Any(x => bk.Genre.Contains(x)))))
where searchArray is a Array containing the individual words that I want to search for, I split the string the user entered and put the results in this array. Whenever I try to run this I get the following error:
"Local sequence cannot be used in LINQ to SQL implementations of query operators except the Contains operator."
Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong and what is the correct way to perform this search?
In a nutshell, I am trying to allow a user to enter a string like "Hello World" and for a query to be generated that will look for either hello or world or both. But, a user can enter any number of words.

The simplest option is probably to build the lambda expression by hand:
static class ContainsAny
{
private static readonly MethodInfo StringContains
= typeof(string).GetMethod("Contains", new[] { typeof(string) });
public static Builder<T> Words<T>(IEnumerable<string> words)
{
return new Builder<T>(words);
}
public static Builder<T> Words<T>(params string[] words)
{
return new Builder<T>(words);
}
public sealed class Builder<T>
{
private static readonly ParameterExpression Parameter
= Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "obj");
private readonly List<Expression> _properties = new List<Expression>();
private readonly List<ConstantExpression> _words;
internal Builder(IEnumerable<string> words)
{
_words = words
.Where(word => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(word))
.Select(word => Expression.Constant(word))
.ToList();
}
public Builder<T> WithProperty(Expression<Func<T, string>> property)
{
if (_words.Count != 0)
{
_properties.Add(ReplacementVisitor.Transform(
property, property.Parameters[0], Parameter));
}
return this;
}
private Expression BuildProperty(Expression prop)
{
return _words
.Select(w => (Expression)Expression.Call(prop, StringContains, w))
.Aggregate(Expression.OrElse);
}
public Expression<Func<T, bool>> Build()
{
if (_words.Count == 0) return (T obj) => true;
var body = _properties
.Select(BuildProperty)
.Aggregate(Expression.OrElse);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, Parameter);
}
}
private sealed class ReplacementVisitor : ExpressionVisitor
{
private ICollection<ParameterExpression> Parameters { get; set; }
private Expression Find { get; set; }
private Expression Replace { get; set; }
public static Expression Transform(
LambdaExpression source,
Expression find,
Expression replace)
{
var visitor = new ReplacementVisitor
{
Parameters = source.Parameters,
Find = find,
Replace = replace,
};
return visitor.Visit(source.Body);
}
private Expression ReplaceNode(Expression node)
{
return (node == Find) ? Replace : node;
}
protected override Expression VisitConstant(ConstantExpression node)
{
return ReplaceNode(node);
}
protected override Expression VisitBinary(BinaryExpression node)
{
var result = ReplaceNode(node);
if (result == node) result = base.VisitBinary(node);
return result;
}
protected override Expression VisitParameter(ParameterExpression node)
{
if (Parameters.Contains(node)) return ReplaceNode(node);
return Parameters.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Name == node.Name) ?? node;
}
}
}
With this code in place, you can call:
Expression<Func<Book, bool>> filter = ContainsAny
.Words<Book>(searchArray)
.WithProperty(book => book.Name)
.WithProperty(book => book.Genre)
.Build();
var data = DataContext.Book.Where(filter);
For example, if the searchArray contains { "Hello", "World" }, the generated lambda will be:
obj => (obj.Name.Contains("Hello") || obj.Name.Contains("World"))
|| (obj.Genre.Contains("Hello") || obj.Genre.Contains("World")))

If I understand what you're trying to do correctly, you should be able to condense your query down to:
from bk in DataContext.Book
where searchArray.Contains(bk.Name) || searchArray.Contains(bk.Genre)
select bk
This is basically equivalent to the SQL:
select bk.*
from Book bk
where bk.Name in (...) or bk.Genre in (...)

In your case you must combine interpreted and local queries which can hurt performance or use SQL CLR integration by creating CLR function on database.