Getting started with C# LanguageVerbatim StringsOperatorsExtension MethodsCollection InitializersString InterpolationC# 6.0 FeaturesConstructors and FinalizersKeywordsGenericsReflectionInheritanceNull-Coalescing OperatorUsing StatementString Escape SequencesException HandlingNull-conditional OperatorsBuilt-in TypesLambda expressionsAsync-AwaitPropertiesThreadingUsing DirectiveMethodsYield KeywordEventsLINQ QueriesCommon String OperationsExpression TreesOverload ResolutionString.Formatnameof OperatorUnsafe Code in .NETInitializing PropertiesBindingList<T>ILGeneratorObject initializersXML Documentation CommentsPreprocessor directivesDynamic typeAnonymous typesStructsTuplesEnumAccess ModifiersTask Parallel LibraryAttributesGuidSingleton ImplementationDelegatesNullable typesGarbage Collector in .NetNetworkingArraysEquality OperatorLock StatementAction FiltersXmlDocument and the System.Xml namespaceDateTime MethodsBackgroundWorkerPolymorphismStatic ClassesIndexerIDisposable interfaceAliases of built-in typesImmutabilityXDocument and the System.Xml.Linq namespaceC# 7.0 FeaturesPerforming HTTP requestsGenerating Random Numbers in C#LoopingNamed ArgumentsDiagnosticsInterfacesIEnumerableNaming ConventionsAn overview of c# collectionsChecked and UncheckedRecursionFunctional ProgrammingLiteralsCastingNullReferenceExceptionFunc delegatesLINQ to XMLHash FunctionsHandling FormatException when converting string to other typesCryptography (System.Security.Cryptography)INotifyPropertyChanged interfaceValue type vs Reference typeC# 4.0 FeaturesIQueryable interfaceTask Parallel Library (TPL) Dataflow ConstructsStreamRuntime CompileConditional StatementsInteroperabilityOverflowEquals and GetHashCodeType ConversionParallel LINQ (PLINQ)String ManipulationString ConcatenatePartial class and methodsStopwatchesRegex ParsingC# ScriptC# 3.0 FeaturesAsync/await, Backgroundworker, Task and Thread ExamplesTimersFunction with multiple return valuesBinary SerializationMaking a variable thread safeIComparableCode ContractsIteratorsAssemblyInfo.cs ExamplesFile and Stream I/OCode Contracts and AssertionsCachingC# 5.0 FeaturesImplementing Flyweight Design PatternStringBuilderImplementing Decorator Design PatternAccessing DatabasesT4 Code GenerationMicrosoft.Exchange.WebServices.NET Compiler Platform (Roslyn)Data AnnotationUsing SQLite in C#System.Management.AutomationFileSystemWatcherSystem.DirectoryServices.Protocols.LdapConnectionNamed and Optional ArgumentsComments and regionsC# Authentication handlerPointers & Unsafe CodePointersHow to use C# Structs to create a Union type (Similar to C Unions)BigIntegerDependency InjectionReactive Extensions (Rx)Creational Design PatternsCreating a Console Application using a Plain-Text Editor and the C# Compiler (csc.exe)Reading and writing .zip filesGeneric Lambda Query BuilderImport Google ContactsLambda ExpressionsCLSCompliantAttributeObservableCollection<T>Synchronization Context in Async-AwaitICloneableRead & Understand StacktracesLinq to ObjectsASP.NET IdentityAccess network shared folder with username and passwordAsynchronous SocketStructural Design PatternsO(n) Algorithm for circular rotation of an arrayCreating Own MessageBox in Windows Form ApplicationIncluding Font ResourcesObject Oriented Programming In C#Using json.netGetting Started: Json with C#Windows Communication Foundation

Generic Lambda Query Builder

Other topics

Remarks:

The class is called ExpressionBuilder. It has three properties:

 private static readonly MethodInfo ContainsMethod = typeof(string).GetMethod("Contains", new[] { typeof(string) });
 private static readonly MethodInfo StartsWithMethod = typeof(string).GetMethod("StartsWith", new[] { typeof(string) });
 private static readonly MethodInfo EndsWithMethod = typeof(string).GetMethod("EndsWith", new[] { typeof(string) });

One public method GetExpression that returns the lambda expression, and three private methods:

  • Expression GetExpression<T>
  • BinaryExpression GetExpression<T>
  • ConstantExpression GetConstant

All the methods are explained in details in the examples.

QueryFilter class

This class holds predicate filters values.

public class QueryFilter
{
    public string PropertyName { get; set; }
    public string Value { get; set; }
    public Operator Operator { get; set; }

    // In the query {a => a.Name.Equals("Pedro")} 
    // Property name to filter - propertyName = "Name"
    // Filter value - value = "Pedro"
    // Operation to perform - operation = enum Operator.Equals
    public QueryFilter(string propertyName, string value, Operator operatorValue)
    {
        PropertyName = propertyName;
        Value = value;
        Operator = operatorValue;
    }       
}

Enum to hold the operations values:

 public enum Operator
{
    Contains,
    GreaterThan,
    GreaterThanOrEqual,
    LessThan,
    LessThanOrEqualTo,
    StartsWith,
    EndsWith,
    Equals,
    NotEqual
}

GetExpression Method

public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> GetExpression<T>(IList<QueryFilter> filters)
{
    Expression exp = null;
    
    // Represents a named parameter expression. {parm => parm.Name.Equals()}, it is the param part
    // To create a ParameterExpression need the type of the entity that the query is against an a name
    // The type is possible to find with the generic T and the name is fixed parm
    ParameterExpression param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "parm");

    // It is good parctice never trust in the client, so it is wise to validate.
    if (filters.Count == 0)
        return null;

    // The expression creation differ if there is one, two or more filters.    
    if (filters.Count != 1)
    {
        if (filters.Count == 2)
            // It is result from direct call.
            // For simplicity sake the private overloads will be explained in another example.
            exp = GetExpression<T>(param, filters[0], filters[1]);
        else
        {
            // As there is no method for more than two filters, 
            // I iterate through all the filters and put I in the query two at a time
            while (filters.Count > 0)
            {
                // Retreive the first two filters
                var f1 = filters[0];
                var f2 = filters[1];
                
                // To build a expression with a conditional AND operation that evaluates 
                // the second operand only if the first operand evaluates to true.
                // It needed to use the BinaryExpression a Expression derived class 
                // That has the AndAlso method that join two expression together
                exp = exp == null ? GetExpression<T>(param, filters[0], filters[1]) : Expression.AndAlso(exp, GetExpression<T>(param, filters[0], filters[1]));
                
                // Remove the two just used filters, for the method in the next iteration finds the next filters
                filters.Remove(f1);
                filters.Remove(f2);
                
                // If it is that last filter, add the last one and remove it
                if (filters.Count == 1)
                {
                    exp = Expression.AndAlso(exp, GetExpression<T>(param, filters[0]));
                    filters.RemoveAt(0);
                }
            }
        }
    }
    else
        // It is result from direct call.
        exp = GetExpression<T>(param, filters[0]);

           // converts the Expression into Lambda and retuns the query
    return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(exp, param);
}

GetExpression Private overload

For one filter:

Here is where the query is created, it receives a expression parameter and a filter.

private static Expression GetExpression<T>(ParameterExpression param, QueryFilter queryFilter)
{
    // Represents accessing a field or property, so here we are accessing for example:
    // the property "Name" of the entity
    MemberExpression member = Expression.Property(param, queryFilter.PropertyName);

    //Represents an expression that has a constant value, so here we are accessing for example:
    // the values of the Property "Name".
    // Also for clarity sake the GetConstant will be explained in another example.
    ConstantExpression constant = GetConstant(member.Type, queryFilter.Value);

    // With these two, now I can build the expression
    // every operator has it one way to call, so the switch will do.
    switch (queryFilter.Operator)
    {
        case Operator.Equals:
            return Expression.Equal(member, constant);

        case Operator.Contains:
            return Expression.Call(member, ContainsMethod, constant);

        case Operator.GreaterThan:
            return Expression.GreaterThan(member, constant);

        case Operator.GreaterThanOrEqual:
            return Expression.GreaterThanOrEqual(member, constant);

        case Operator.LessThan:
            return Expression.LessThan(member, constant);

        case Operator.LessThanOrEqualTo:
            return Expression.LessThanOrEqual(member, constant);

        case Operator.StartsWith:
            return Expression.Call(member, StartsWithMethod, constant);

        case Operator.EndsWith:
            return Expression.Call(member, EndsWithMethod, constant);
    }

    return null;
}

For two filters:

It returns the BinaryExpresion instance instead of the simple Expression.

private static BinaryExpression GetExpression<T>(ParameterExpression param, QueryFilter filter1, QueryFilter filter2)
{
    // Built two separated expression and join them after.
    Expression result1 = GetExpression<T>(param, filter1);
    Expression result2 = GetExpression<T>(param, filter2);
    return Expression.AndAlso(result1, result2);
}

ConstantExpression Method

ConstantExpression must be the same type of the MemberExpression. The value in this example is a string, which is converted before creating the ConstantExpression instance.

private static ConstantExpression GetConstant(Type type, string value)
{
    // Discover the type, convert it, and create ConstantExpression 
    ConstantExpression constant = null;
    if (type == typeof(int))
    {
        int num;
        int.TryParse(value, out num);
        constant = Expression.Constant(num);
    }
    else if(type == typeof(string))
    {
        constant = Expression.Constant(value);
    }
    else if (type == typeof(DateTime))
    {
        DateTime date;
        DateTime.TryParse(value, out date);
        constant = Expression.Constant(date);
    }
    else if (type == typeof(bool))
    {                
        bool flag;
        if (bool.TryParse(value, out flag))
        {
            flag = true;
        }
        constant = Expression.Constant(flag);
    }
    else if (type == typeof(decimal))
    {
        decimal number;
        decimal.TryParse(value, out number);
        constant = Expression.Constant(number);
    }
    return constant;
}

Usage

Collection filters = new List(); QueryFilter filter = new QueryFilter("Name", "Burger", Operator.StartsWith); filters.Add(filter);

 Expression<Func<Food, bool>> query = ExpressionBuilder.GetExpression<Food>(filters);

In this case, it is a query against the Food entity, that want to find all foods that start with "Burger" in the name.

Output:

query = {parm => a.parm.StartsWith("Burger")}


Expression<Func<T, bool>> GetExpression<T>(IList<QueryFilter> filters)

Contributors

Topic Id: 6721

Example Ids: 22863,22864,22865,22866,22867

This site is not affiliated with any of the contributors.