Determine the root object of a MemberExpression in a LINQ Expression Tree - linq

Question

I'm currently working in a project that involves the encryption of a few columns in an existing database. There is quite a lot of code already written against the current schema, a lot of which is in the form of custom linq-to-sql queries. The number of queries is in the neighbourhood of a 5 figure number, so modifying and re-testing each and everyone of them would be way too expensive.
An alternative we found is to keep the DB schema the same --only altering the columns length slightly, which mean we don't need to change our current entity class definitions-- and instead, changing the expression trees on-the-fly, before they reach the l2sql IQueryProvider, and apply a decryption function on the columns I need. I do this by wrapping the pertinent Table<TEntity> properties of my DataContext with a custom IQueryable<TEntity> implementation, which allows me to preview every single query in the system.
In my current implementation, say I've got this query:
var mydate = new DateTime(2013, 1, 1);
var context = new DataContextFactory.GetClientsContext();
Expression<Func<string>> foo = context.MyClients.First(
c => c.BirthDay < mydate).EncryptedColumn;
but when I catch the query, I change it to read:
Expression<Func<string>> foo = context.Decrypt(
context.MyClients.First(c => c.BirthDay < mydate).EncryptedColumn);
I do this using the ExpressionVisitor class. In the VisitMember method, I check and see whether the current MemberExpression refers to an encrypted column. If it does, I substitute the expression for a method call:
private const string FuncName = "Decrypt";
protected override Expression VisitMember(MemberExpression ma)
{
if (datactx != null && IsEncryptedColumnReference(ma))
return MakeCallExpression(ma);
}
return base.VisitMember(ma);
}
private static bool IsEncryptedColumnReference(MemberExpression ma)
{
return ma.Member.Name == "EncryptedColumn"
&& ma.Member.DeclaringType == typeof(MyClient);
}
private Expression MakeCallExpression(MemberExpression ma)
{
const BindingFlags flags = BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public;
var mi = typeof(MyDataContext).GetMethod(FuncName, flags);
return Expression.Call(datactx, mi, ma);
}
datactx is an instance variable with a reference to the expression pointing at the current datacontext (which I look up in a previous pass).
My problem is that if I have a query such as:
var qbeClient = new MyClient { EncryptedColumn = "FooBar" };
Expression<Func<MyClient>> dbquery = () => context.MyClients.First(
c => c.EncryptedColumn == qbeClient.EncryptedColumn);
I want it to be turned into:
Expression<Func<MyClient>> dbquery = () => context.MyClients.First(c =>
context.Decrypt(c.EncryptedColumn) == qbeClient.EncryptedColumn);
instead, what I'm getting is this:
Expression<Func<MyClient>> dbquery = () => context.MyClients.First(c =>
context.Decrypt(c.EncryptedColumn) == context.Decrypt(qbeClient.EncryptedColumn));
Which I don't want, because when I've got an in-memory object, the data is already unencrypted (besides, I don't want a nasty db function call against my objects!)
So, that's basically my question: Having a MemberExpression instance, how can I determine whether it refers to an in-memory object or a row in the database?
Thanks in advance
Edit:
#Shlomo's code actually solves the case I posted, but now one of my previous tests got broken:
var context = new DataContextFactory.GetClientsContext();
Expression<Func<string>> expr = context.MyClients.First().EncryptedColumn;
Expression<Func<string>> expected = context.Decrypt(
context.MyClients.First().EncryptedColumn);
var actual = MyVisitor.Visit(expr);
Assert.AreEqual(expected.ToString(), actual.ToString());
In this case, the reference to EncryptedColumn isn't a parameter, but it should definitely be taken into account by the visitor!

Answer 1

A MemberExpression representing a DB row will be a descendent of a ParameterExpression. In-Memory objects will not, they'll most likely come from some form of a FieldExpression.
In your case, something like this will work for most cases (adding one method to your code, and revising your VisitMember method:
private bool IsFromParameter(MemberExpression ma)
{
if(ma.Expression.NodeType == ExpressionType.Parameter)
return true;
if(ma.Expression is MemberExpression)
return IsFromParameter(ma.Expression as MemberExpression);
return false;
}
protected override Expression VisitMember(MemberExpression ma)
{
if (datactx != null && IsEncryptedColumnReference(ma) && IsFromParameter(ma))
return MakeCallExpression(ma);
}
return base.VisitMember(ma);
}