Using the following example i would like to use my Expression
inside my Contains method, having it pass the query onto sql server using the EF
.
How can i build this up to work correctly?
void Main()
{
IQueryable<Person> qry = GetQueryableItemsFromDB();
var filtered = qry.Filter(p=>p.CompanyId);
}
public static class Ext
{
public static IQueryable<T> Filter<T>(this IQueryable<T> items, Expression<Func<T, int>> resolveCompanyIdExpression)
{
IEnumerable<int> validComps = GetCompanyIdsFromDataBase();
var exp = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(
Expression.Call(typeof(Queryable),"Contains", new[] { typeof(Company) },
Expression.Constant(validComps),
resolveCompanyIdExpression.Body),
resolveCompanyIdExpression.Parameters[0]);
return items.Where(exp);
}
public static IQueryable<T> Filter<T>(this IQueryable<T> items, Expression<Func<T, IEnumerable<int>>> resolveCompanyIdExpression)
{
IEnumerable<int> validComps = GetCompanyIdsFromDataBase();
//No Idea what to do here ?
}
}
public class Person
{
public int CompanyId {get;set;}
}
I know i could pass in the entire predicate but i only want the user to supply how to resolve the Company from the entity in question.
UPDATE
I have decided to resolve the companyId rather than the entire company entity, i can get the list of ids in memory and im not fussed if that is IQueryable or just a plain array/IEnumerable
However i get some strange errors :
An exception occured during the execution of '
Extent.Select(o => o).Where(p => (p.Hide
= False)).Where(p => (p.Archived = False)).Where(item => System.Int32[].Contains(item.Development.CompanyId))'. See
InnerException for more details.
Inner exception is
Argument expression is not valid
UPDATE 2
I have edited the code to reflect what i would really like like to do, not having much luck on finding a solution to this.
If I'm understanding correctly, what you want is expression composition:
public static IQueryable<T> Filter<T>(IQueryable<T> query, Expression<Func<T, int>> getCompanyId) {
IEnumerable<int> validCompanyIds = GetCompanyIdsFromDatabase();
Expression<Func<int, bool>> filterByCompanyId = id => validCompanyIds.Contains(id);
// these generics will actually be inferred, I've just written them to be explicit
Expression<Func<T, bool>> composed = filterByCompanyId.Compose<T, int, bool>(getCompanyId);
return query.Where(composed);
}
Below is the implementation of the Compose() extension method on expression:
/// <summary>
/// Composes two lambda expressions f(y) and g(x), returning a new expression representing f(g(x)).
/// This is useful for constructing expressions to pass to functions like Where(). If given x => x.Id and id => ids.Contains(id),
/// for example, you can create the expression x => ids.Contains(x.Id), which could be passed to Where() for an IQueryable of x's type
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="TIn">The input of g</typeparam>
/// <typeparam name="TIntermediate">The output of g and the input of f</typeparam>
/// <typeparam name="TOut">The output of f</typeparam>
/// <param name="f">The outer function</param>
/// <param name="g">The inner function</param>
/// <returns>A new lambda expression</returns>
public static Expression<Func<TIn, TOut>> Compose<TIn, TIntermediate, TOut>(this Expression<Func<TIntermediate, TOut>> f, Expression<Func<TIn, TIntermediate>> g)
{
// The implementation used here gets around EF's inability to process Invoke expressions. Rather than invoking f with the output of g, we
// effectively "inline" g by replacing all instances of f's parameter with g's body and creating a new lambda with the rebound body of f and
// the parameters of g
var map = f.Parameters.ToDictionary(p => p, p => g.Body);
var reboundBody = ParameterRebinder.ReplaceParameters(map, f.Body);
var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<TIn, TOut>>(reboundBody, g.Parameters);
return lambda;
}
public class ParameterRebinder : ExpressionVisitor
{
private readonly Dictionary<ParameterExpression, Expression> Map;
public ParameterRebinder(Dictionary<ParameterExpression, Expression> map)
{
this.Map = map ?? new Dictionary<ParameterExpression, Expression>();
}
public static Expression ReplaceParameters(Dictionary<ParameterExpression, Expression> map, Expression exp)
{
return new ParameterRebinder(map).Visit(exp);
}
protected override Expression VisitParameter(ParameterExpression node)
{
Expression replacement;
if (this.Map.TryGetValue(node, out replacement))
{
return this.Visit(replacement);
}
return base.VisitParameter(node);
}
}
try Expression.Compile() method:
return items.Where(item => validComps.Contains(resolveCompanyExpression.Compile()(item))).AsQueryable();
Isn't the items
parameter an IQueryable
? If so, try this:
public static IQueryable<T> FilterByCompany<T>(this IQueryable<T> items, Expression<Func<T, Company>> resolveCompanyExpression)
where T : EntityBase
{
IQueryable<Company> validComps = GetCompaniesFromDataBase();
var exp = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(
Expression.Call(
typeof(Queryable),
"Contains",
new[] { typeof(Company) },
Expression.Constant(validComps),
resolveCompanyExpression.Body
),
resolveCompanyExpression.Parameters[0]
);
return items.Where(exp);
}