Expression Cast Error - No coercion operator is defined between types

Question

In my Data Repository I have a base class and derived class as below.

public abstract class RepositoryBase<T> : IRepository<T> where T : EntityBase
{
    public async Task<T> FindOneAsync(Expression<Func<T, bool>> predicate)
    {
        List<T> list = await SearchForAsync(predicate);
        return list.FirstOrDefault();
    }
}

public class CommentUrlRepository : RepositoryBase<CommentUrl>, ICommentUrlRepository
{
    public async Task<CommentUrlCommon> FindOneAsync(
        Expression<Func<CommentUrlCommon, bool>> predicate
    )
    {
        Expression<Func<CommentUrl, bool>> lambda = Cast(predicate);
        CommentUrl commentUrl = await FindOneAsync(lambda);
        return MappingManager.Map(commentUrl);
    }

    private Expression<Func<CommentUrl, bool>> Cast(
        Expression<Func<CommentUrlCommon, bool>> predicate
    )
    {
        Expression converted =
            Expression.Convert(
                predicate,
                typeof(Expression<Func<CommentUrl, bool>>)
            );

        // throws exception
        // No coercion operator is defined between types
        return Expression.Lambda<Func<CommentUrl, bool>>(converted, predicate.Parameters);
    }
}

When I hit "Cast" function I am getting following error:

No coercion operator is defined between types 'System.Func`2[CommentUrlCommon,System.Boolean]' and 'System.Linq.Expressions.Expression`1[System.Func`2[CommentUrl,System.Boolean]]'.

How can I cast this Expression value?

Answer 1

I think what you want cannot be done...
Check this question for more.
If you are lucky and your expression is simple, Marc Gravell's Convert method might work for you

And a simpler example that demonstrates your problem

using System;
using System.Linq.Expressions;

namespace Program
{
    internal class Program
    {
        private static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Expression<Func<CommentUrlCommon, bool>> predicate = f => f.Id == 1;

            //As you know this doesn't work
            //Expression converted = Expression.Convert(predicate, typeof(Expression<Func<CommentUrl, bool>>));

            //this doesn't work either...
            Expression converted2 = Expression.Convert(predicate, typeof(Expression<Func<CommentUrlCommon, bool>>));

            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }

    public class CommentUrlCommon
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
    }

    public class CommentUrl
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
    }
}