Expression tree for child collection List<string>.Any

Question

I am building generic linq query using expression tree. I am stuck when creating expression on child collection. Method call blows up because of incompatible types. Normally I know what to put there, but the Any() method call has me confused. I've tried every type I can think of and no luck. Any help would be appreciated.

Here is my entity class:

public class Story : Entity
{
    public string Author { get; set; }

    public IList<string> Contributors { get; set; }
}

Query for which I want to generate expression tree:

var stories = new List<Story>();
stories.Where(p => p.Author.Contains("Test") || p.Contributors.Any(c => c.Contains("Test")));

What I have got so far

public interface IFilterCriteria
{
    string PropertyToCompare { get; set; }
    object ValueToCompare { get; set; }
    FilterOperator FilterOperator { get; set; }
    bool IsList { get; set; }
    Expression Expression { get; set; }
}

public static IQueryable<T> Filter<T>(this IQueryable<T> query, IList<IFilterCriteria> filterCriterias, LogicalOperator logicalOperator = LogicalOperator.And)
{
    if (filterCriterias != null && filterCriterias.Any())
    {
        var resultCondition = filterCriterias.ToExpression(query, logicalOperator);

        var parameter = Expression.Parameter(query.ElementType, "p");

        if (resultCondition != null)
        {
            var lambda = Expression.Lambda(resultCondition, parameter);

            var mce = Expression.Call(
                typeof(Queryable), "Where",
                new[] { query.ElementType },
                query.Expression,
                lambda);

            return query.Provider.CreateQuery<T>(mce);
        }
    }
    return query;
}

public static Expression ToExpression<T>(this IList<IFilterCriteria> filterCriterias, IQueryable<T> query, LogicalOperator logicalOperator = LogicalOperator.And)
{
    Expression resultCondition = null;
    if (filterCriterias.Any())
    {
        var parameter = Expression.Parameter(query.ElementType, "p");

        foreach (var filterCriteria in filterCriterias)
        {
            var propertyExpression = filterCriteria.PropertyToCompare.Split('.').Aggregate<string, MemberExpression>(null, (current, property) => Expression.Property(current ?? (parameter as Expression), property));

            Expression valueExpression;
            var constantExpression = Expression.Constant(filterCriteria.ValueToCompare);

            if (!filterCriteria.IsList)
            {
                valueExpression = Expression.Convert(constantExpression, propertyExpression.Type);
            }
            else
            {
                valueExpression = Expression.Call(typeof (Enumerable), "Any", new[] {typeof (string)},
                                                  propertyExpression, filterCriteria.Expression,
                                                  Expression.Constant(filterCriteria.ValueToCompare,
                                                                      typeof (string)));
            }

            Expression condition;
            switch (filterCriteria.FilterOperator)
            {
                case FilterOperator.IsEqualTo:
                    condition = Expression.Equal(propertyExpression, valueExpression);
                    break;
                case FilterOperator.IsNotEqualTo:
                    condition = Expression.NotEqual(propertyExpression, valueExpression);
                    break;
                case FilterOperator.IsGreaterThan:
                    condition = Expression.GreaterThan(propertyExpression, valueExpression);
                    break;
                case FilterOperator.IsGreaterThanOrEqualTo:
                    condition = Expression.GreaterThanOrEqual(propertyExpression, valueExpression);
                    break;
                case FilterOperator.IsLessThan:
                    condition = Expression.LessThan(propertyExpression, valueExpression);
                    break;
                case FilterOperator.IsLessThanOrEqualTo:
                    condition = Expression.LessThanOrEqual(propertyExpression, valueExpression);
                    break;
                case FilterOperator.Contains:
                    condition = Expression.Call(propertyExpression, typeof(string).GetMethod("Contains", new[] { typeof(string) }), valueExpression);
                    break;
                case FilterOperator.StartsWith:
                    condition = Expression.Call(propertyExpression, typeof(string).GetMethod("StartsWith", new[] { typeof(string) }), valueExpression);
                    break;
                case FilterOperator.EndsWith:
                    condition = Expression.Call(propertyExpression, typeof(string).GetMethod("EndsWith", new[] { typeof(string) }), valueExpression);
                    break;
                default:
                    condition = valueExpression;
                    break;
            }

            if (resultCondition != null)
            {
                switch (logicalOperator)
                {
                    case LogicalOperator.And:
                        resultCondition = Expression.AndAlso(resultCondition, condition);
                        break;
                    case LogicalOperator.Or:
                        resultCondition = Expression.OrElse(resultCondition, condition);
                        break;
                }
            }
            else
            {
                resultCondition = condition;
            }
        }
    }
    return resultCondition;
}

That's how I am using expressions:

var stories = new List<Story>();
var filters = new List<FilterCriteria>();
filter.Add(new FilterCriteria { ValueToCompare = "Test", PropertyToCompare = "Author", FilterOperator = FilterOperator.Contains });

Expression<Func<string, bool>> func  = t => t.Contains("Test");

filter.Add(new FilterCriteria { ValueToCompare = "Test", PropertyToCompare = "Contributors", FilterOperator = FilterOperator.Contains, Expression = func });

stories.Filter(filters, LogicalOperator.Or).ToList();

But after running this code, I get this error which I am not able to resolve

No generic method 'Any' on type 'System.Linq.Queryable' is compatible with the supplied type arguments and arguments. No type arguments should be provided if the method is non-generic. Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.InvalidOperationException: No generic method 'Any' on type 'System.Linq.Queryable' is compatible with the supplied type arguments and arguments. No type arguments should be provided if the method is non-generic.

Source Error:

Line 184: { Line 185:
var overload = typeof(Queryable).GetMethods().Single(mi => mi.Name == "Any" && mi.GetParameters().Count() == 2); Line 186:
Expression.Call(typeof(Queryable), "Any", new[] { typeof(string) }, propertyExpression, or); Line 187:
valueExpression = Expression.Call(typeof(Enumerable), "Any", new[] { typeof(string)}, propertyExpression, or, Expression.Constant("Test",

Answer 1

You don't call Any method anywhere in your code.

You should extend Contains, example:

case FilterOperator.Contains:
    // if collection
    if (propertyExpression.Type.IsGenericType &&
        typeof(IEnumerable<>)
            .MakeGenericType(propertyExpression.Type.GetGenericArguments())
            .IsAssignableFrom(propertyExpression.Type))
    {
        // find AsQueryable method
        var toQueryable = typeof(Queryable).GetMethods()
            .Where(m => m.Name == "AsQueryable")
            .Single(m => m.IsGenericMethod)
            .MakeGenericMethod(typeof(string));

        // find Any method
        var method = typeof(Queryable).GetMethods()
            .Where(m => m.Name == "Any")
            .Single(m => m.GetParameters().Length == 2)
            .MakeGenericMethod(typeof(string));

        // make expression
        condition = Expression.Call(
            null, 
            method,
            Expression.Call(null, toQueryable, propertyExpression), 
            filterCriteria.Expression
        );
    }
    else
    {
        condition = Expression.Call(propertyExpression, typeof(string).GetMethod("Contains", new[] { typeof(string) }), valueExpression);
    }
    break;

Also you should have created one p parameter (Expression.Parameter(query.ElementType, "p")) otherwise you'll get variable 'p' of type 'WpfApplication2.Story' referenced from scope '', but it is not defined error.

You may pass parameter from Filter method to ToExpression method.