Conditional "orderby" sort order in LINQ

Question

In LINQ, is it possible to have conditional orderby sort order (ascending vs. descending).

Something like this (not valid code):

bool flag;  (from w in widgets  where w.Name.Contains("xyz")  orderby w.Id (flag ? ascending : descending)  select w) 

Answer 1

If you build the expression incrementally you can do this. Generally easier using expressions rather than comprehension expressions:

var x = widgets.Where(w => w.Name.Contains("xyz")); if (flag) {   x = x.OrderBy(w => w.property); } else {   x = x.OrderByDescending(w => w.property); } 

(Assuming the Widget's property is basis of sort since you don't list one.)

Answer 2

...Or do it all in one statement

bool flag;  var result = from w in widgets where w.Name.Contains("xyz")   orderby     flag ? w.Id : 0,     flag ? 0 : w.Id descending   select w;