How do I combine LINQ expressions into one? - linq

Question

I've got a form with multiple fields on it (company name, postcode, etc.) which allows a user to search for companies in a database. If the user enters values in more than one field then I need to search on all of those fields. I am using LINQ to query the database.
So far I have managed to write a function which will look at their input and turn it into a List of expressions. I now want to turn that List into a single expression which I can then execute via the LINQ provider.
My initial attempt was as follows
private Expression<Func<Company, bool>> Combine(IList<Expression<Func<Company, bool>>> expressions)
{
if (expressions.Count == 0)
{
return null;
}
if (expressions.Count == 1)
{
return expressions[0];
}
Expression<Func<Company, bool>> combined = expressions[0];
expressions.Skip(1).ToList().ForEach(expr => combined = Expression.And(combined, expr));
return combined;
}
However this fails with an exception message along the lines of "The binary operator And is not defined for...". Does anyone have any ideas what I need to do to combine these expressions?
EDIT: Corrected the line where I had forgotten to assign the result of and'ing the expressions together to a variable. Thanks for pointing that out folks.

Answer 1

You can use Enumerable.Aggregate combined with Expression.AndAlso. Here's a generic version:
Expression<Func<T, bool>> AndAll<T>(
IEnumerable<Expression<Func<T, bool>>> expressions) {
if(expressions == null) {
throw new ArgumentNullException("expressions");
}
if(expressions.Count() == 0) {
return t => true;
}
Type delegateType = typeof(Func<,>)
.GetGenericTypeDefinition()
.MakeGenericType(new[] {
typeof(T),
typeof(bool)
}
);
var combined = expressions
.Cast<Expression>()
.Aggregate((e1, e2) => Expression.AndAlso(e1, e2));
return (Expression<Func<T,bool>>)Expression.Lambda(delegateType, combined);
}
Your current code is never assigning to combined:
expr => Expression.And(combined, expr);
returns a new Expression that is the result of bitwise anding combined and expr but it does not mutate combined.

Answer 2

EDIT: Jason's answer is now fuller than mine was in terms of the expression tree stuff, so I've removed that bit. However, I wanted to leave this:
I assume you're using these for a Where clause... why not just call Where with each expression in turn? That should have the same effect:
var query = ...;
foreach (var condition in conditions)
{
query = query.Where(condition);
}

Answer 3

Here we have a general question about combining Linq expressions. I have a general solution for this problem. I will provide an answer regarding the specific problem posted, although it's definitely not the way to go in such cases. But when simple solutions fail in your case, you may try to use this approach.
First you need a library consisting of 2 simple functions. They use System.Linq.Expressions.ExpressionVisitor to dynamically modify expressions. The key feature is unifying parameters inside the expression, so that 2 parameters with the same name were made identical (UnifyParametersByName). The remaining part is replacing a named parameter with given expression (ReplacePar). The library is available with MIT license on github: LinqExprHelper, but you may quickly write something on your own.
The library allows for quite simple syntax for combining complex expressions. You can mix inline lambda expressions, which are nice to read, together with dynamic expression creation and composition, which is very capable.
private static Expression<Func<Company, bool>> Combine(IList<Expression<Func<Company, bool>>> expressions)
{
if (expressions.Count == 0)
{
return null;
}
// Prepare a master expression, used to combine other
// expressions. It needs more input parameters, they will
// be reduced later.
// There is a small inconvenience here: you have to use
// the same name "c" for the parameter in your input
// expressions. But it may be all done in a smarter way.
Expression <Func<Company, bool, bool, bool>> combiningExpr =
(c, expr1, expr2) => expr1 && expr2;
LambdaExpression combined = expressions[0];
foreach (var expr in expressions.Skip(1))
{
// ReplacePar comes from the library, it's an extension
// requiring `using LinqExprHelper`.
combined = combiningExpr
.ReplacePar("expr1", combined.Body)
.ReplacePar("expr2", expr.Body);
}
return (Expression<Func<Company, bool>>)combined;
}

Answer 4

Assume you have two expression e1 and e2, you can try this:
var combineBody = Expression.AndAlso(e1.Body, Expression.Invoke(e2, e1.Parameters[0]));
var finalExpression = Expression.Lambda<Func<TestClass, bool>>(combineBody, e1.Parameters).Compile();