Build query for IQueryable (EF4) from multiple parameters

Question

I'm trying to build a single "Or" predicate from a list of predicates in the form List<Expression<Func<T, bool>>>

 public static IQueryable<T> Search<T>(this IQueryable<T> source, List<Expression<Func<T, bool>>> predicates = null)
            where T : EntityObject
        {
            if (predicates == null || predicates.Count == 0)
                return source;
            else if (predicates.Count == 1)
                return source.Where(predicates[0]);
            else
            {
                var row = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "row");
                var compoundExpression = predicates[0];

                for (int i = 1; i < predicates.Count; i++)
                {
                    compoundExpression = compoundExpression.Or(predicates[i]);
                }
                return source.Where(compoundExpression);
            }
        }

        static Expression<Func<T, bool>> Or<T>(this Expression<Func<T, bool>> lhs, Expression<Func<T, bool>> rhs)
        {
            var row = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "row");
            var body = Expression.Or(
                Expression.Invoke(lhs, row),
                Expression.Invoke(rhs, row));
            return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, row);
        }

But this is returning every row in my source?

For testing I am looking for c=>c.FullName.Contains("Smith") or c=>c.FullName.Contains("Jones")

I have tried amending to use PredicateBuilder but again it still returns every row in the source.

public static IQueryable<T> Search<T>(this IQueryable<T> source, List<Expression<Func<T, bool>>> predicates = null)
            where T : EntityObject
        {
            if (predicates == null || predicates.Count == 0)
                return source;
            else if (predicates.Count == 1)
                return source.Where(predicates[0]);
            else
            {
                var pb = PredicateBuilder.False<T>();
                for (int i = 0; i < predicates.Count; i++)
                {
                    pb = pb.Or(predicates[i]);
                }
                return source.AsExpandable().Where(pb);
            }
        }

Any assistance very gratefully received!

The end result would be to allow AND's as well as OR's
e.g. c=>c.FullName.Contains("Dav") AND c=>c.CustomerType == 'Staff'

Please post more of your testing code. You may want to use `Expression.OrElse` instead of `Expression.Or`, and remove the declaration of `row` inside the `Search` method (it does not look like it's used). — Sergey Kalinichenko, Nov 08 '12 at 12:09
@BlueChippy anything back on the potential solution? I'm dubious that it does anything different to your current attempts after its been through your provider, but it is worth a shot as it is more explicit (less room for a provider to muck it up) if it doesn't work need to see the testing code as this method works for me on the expression tree level.... — user1793607, Nov 08 '12 at 18:03

user1793607 · Answer 1 · 2012-11-08T14:43:37.093

Try

public static IQueryable<T> Search<T>(this IQueryable<T> source, IEnumerable<Expression<Func<T, bool>>> predicates = null)
        where T : EntityObject
    {
        if (predicates == null || !predicates.Any())
            return source;
        else
        {
             ParameterExpression p = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "p");
             Expression<Func<T,Bool>> predicate = 
                        Expression.Lambda<Func<T,Bool>(
                                   predicates.Select(l => ReParameteriser(l.Body, l.Paramaters[0], p)
                                             .Aggregate((b1,b2) => Expression.Or(b1,b2)),
                                   new ParamaterExpression[]{p});
            return source.Where(predicate);
        }
   }

public class ReParameteriser : ExpressionVisitor
{
    ParameterExpression originalParameter; 
    ParameterExpression newParameter;

    private ReParameteriser(){}
    protected ReParameteriser (ParameterExpression originalParameter, ParameterExpression newParameter) 
    {
         this.originalParameter = originalParameter;
         this.new = newParameter;
    }

    public static Expression ReParameterise(Expression expression, ParameterExpression originalParameter, ParameterExpression newParameter)
    {
        return new ReParameteriser(original,newParameter).Visit(expression);
    }

    protected override Expression VisitParameter(ParameterExpression node)
    {
        if (node == originalParameter)
            return newParameter;
        else
            return node;
    }
}

Note: The ExpressionVisitor class is .Net4 so if you want to target an earlier enviroment you will need to write your own. The code for this is only a google away, but the usual resource is Matt Warren's blog http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mattwar/archive/2008/11/18/linq-links.aspx

Apols for delay: Sun-Thurs working week here! Great bit of code - sure I'll use it elsewhere...however, gave me the same result. The expression tree "looks" correct (contains or contains) but the result is the full data set again? — BlueChippy, Nov 11 '12 at 04:24

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 11 '12 at 06:26

Sometimes the weekend does strange things to code!

Not sure what I've done differently, but this is working:

public static IQueryable<T> Search<T>(this IQueryable<T> source, List<Expression<Func<T, bool>>> predicates = null)
            where T : EntityObject
        {
            if (predicates == null || predicates.Count == 0)
                return source;
            else if (predicates.Count == 1)
                return source.Where(predicates[0]);
            else
            {
                var query = PredicateBuilder.False<T>();
                foreach (var predicate in predicates)
                {
                    query = query.Or(predicate);
                }

                return source.AsExpandable().Where(query);
            }
        }

PredicateBuilder appears to be a great little bit of code.

Build query for IQueryable (EF4) from multiple parameters

2 Answers2