I've created a generic expression builder that builds up a predicate based on collection of conditions. I pass the predicate to a generic method in the repository. I think that expression builder works fine and creates the desired predicate although the SQL script generated by Entity Framework is not as I expected. I've read many questions and article regarding dynamic query or LinqKit and expression builder to this issue and the most relevant was this comment. I really appreciate if you could look over what I have done and let me know if I made any mistake?
Here is the code for ExpressionBuilder class:
public static class ExpressionBuilder
{
private static MethodInfo containsMethod = typeof(string).GetMethod("Contains");
private static MethodInfo startsWithMethod = typeof(string).GetMethod("StartsWith", new Type[] { typeof(string) });
private static MethodInfo endsWithMethod = typeof(string).GetMethod("EndsWith", new Type[] { typeof(string) });
public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> GetExpression<T>(IList<ExpressionModel> filters)
{
if (filters == null)
return null;
IList<ExpressionModel> nullFreeCollection = filters.OfType<ExpressionModel>().ToList();
if (nullFreeCollection.Count == 0)
return null;
ParameterExpression param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "item");
Expression exp = null;
if (nullFreeCollection.Count == 1)
exp = GetExpression<T>(param, nullFreeCollection[0]);
else if (nullFreeCollection.Count == 2)
exp = GetExpression<T>(param, nullFreeCollection[0], nullFreeCollection[1]);
else
{
while (nullFreeCollection.Count > 0)
{
var f1 = nullFreeCollection[0];
var f2 = nullFreeCollection[1];
if (exp == null)
exp = GetExpression<T>(param, nullFreeCollection[0], nullFreeCollection[1]);
else
exp = Expression.AndAlso(exp, GetExpression<T>(param, nullFreeCollection[0], nullFreeCollection[1]));
nullFreeCollection.Remove(f1);
nullFreeCollection.Remove(f2);
if (nullFreeCollection.Count == 1)
{
exp = Expression.AndAlso(exp, GetExpression<T>(param, nullFreeCollection[0]));
nullFreeCollection.RemoveAt(0);
}
}
}
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(exp, param);
}
private static Expression GetExpression<T>(ParameterExpression param, ExpressionModel filter)
{
MemberExpression member = Expression.Property(param, filter.PropertyName);
ConstantExpression constant = Expression.Constant(filter.Value);
switch (filter.Operator)
{
case ExpressionOperators.Equals:
return Expression.Equal(member, constant);
case ExpressionOperators.GreaterThan:
return Expression.GreaterThan(member, constant);
case ExpressionOperators.LessThan:
return Expression.LessThan(member, constant);
case ExpressionOperators.GreaterThanOrEqual:
return Expression.GreaterThanOrEqual(member, constant);
case ExpressionOperators.LessThanOrEqual:
return Expression.LessThanOrEqual(member, constant);
case ExpressionOperators.Contains:
return Expression.Call(member, containsMethod, constant);
case ExpressionOperators.StartsWith:
return Expression.Call(member, startsWithMethod, constant);
case ExpressionOperators.EndsWith:
return Expression.Call(member, endsWithMethod, constant);
}
return null;
}
private static BinaryExpression GetExpression<T>(ParameterExpression param, ExpressionModel filter1, ExpressionModel filter2)
{
Expression bin1 = GetExpression<T>(param, filter1);
Expression bin2 = GetExpression<T>(param, filter2);
return Expression.AndAlso(bin1, bin2);
}
public enum ExpressionOperators
{
Equals,
GreaterThan,
LessThan,
GreaterThanOrEqual,
LessThanOrEqual,
Contains,
StartsWith,
EndsWith
}
}
And here is the generic repository method:
public IEnumerable<TEntity> RetrieveCollectionAsync(Expression<Func<TEntity, bool>> predicate)
{
try
{
return DataContext.Set<TEntity>().Where(predicate);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Logger.Error(ex);
throw ex;
}
}
And generated script by Entity Framework for Sql (I expect a select query with a few where clause):
SELECT
CAST(NULL AS uniqueidentifier) AS [C1],
CAST(NULL AS uniqueidentifier) AS [C2],
CAST(NULL AS varchar(1)) AS [C3],
CAST(NULL AS uniqueidentifier) AS [C4],
CAST(NULL AS uniqueidentifier) AS [C5],
CAST(NULL AS uniqueidentifier) AS [C6],
CAST(NULL AS datetime2) AS [C7],
CAST(NULL AS datetime2) AS [C8],
CAST(NULL AS varchar(1)) AS [C9],
CAST(NULL AS uniqueidentifier) AS [C10],
CAST(NULL AS varchar(1)) AS [C11],
CAST(NULL AS uniqueidentifier) AS [C12],
CAST(NULL AS uniqueidentifier) AS [C13],
CAST(NULL AS uniqueidentifier) AS [C14],
CAST(NULL AS uniqueidentifier) AS [C15],
CAST(NULL AS datetime2) AS [C16],
CAST(NULL AS varchar(1)) AS [C17],
CAST(NULL AS datetime2) AS [C18],
CAST(NULL AS varchar(1)) AS [C19],
CAST(NULL AS tinyint) AS [C20]
FROM ( SELECT 1 AS X ) AS [SingleRowTable1]
WHERE 1 = 0
I am using
- EntityFramework 6.0
- .Net Framework 4.6
- ASP.NET MVC 5
Update the model for expression:
public class ExpressionModel
{
public string PropertyName { get; set; }
public ExpressionOperators Operator { get; set; }
public object Value { get; set; }
}
Another missing part is a generic mapper that maps a given search criteria to a new ExpressionModel which I believe it is not relevant to this problem.