Problem
I have two ExpressionFuncT, bool>> expressions that I want to OR, AND, or NOT in order to get a new expression of the same type.
Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr1;
Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr2;
...
//how to do this (the code below will obviously not work)
Expression<Func<T, bool>> andExpression = expr AND expr2
Asked by BjartN
Solution #1
You can, however, utilize Expression. To combine logical expressions, you can use AndAlso, OrElse, and other operators, but the problem is the parameters; are you using the same parameterExpression in expr1 and expr2? If that’s the case, it’s a lot easier:
var body = Expression.AndAlso(expr1.Body, expr2.Body);
var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<T,bool>>(body, expr1.Parameters[0]);
This is also useful for negating a single operation:
static Expression<Func<T, bool>> Not<T>(
this Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr)
{
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(
Expression.Not(expr.Body), expr.Parameters[0]);
}
Otherwise, you might be able to combine them with Invoke, depending on the LINQ provider:
// OrElse is very similar...
static Expression<Func<T, bool>> AndAlso<T>(
this Expression<Func<T, bool>> left,
Expression<Func<T, bool>> right)
{
var param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "x");
var body = Expression.AndAlso(
Expression.Invoke(left, param),
Expression.Invoke(right, param)
);
var lambda = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, param);
return lambda;
}
Somewhere, I have got some code that re-writes an expression-tree replacing nodes to remove the need for Invoke, but it is quite lengthy (and I can’t remember where I left it…)
The following is a simplified version that chooses the simplest path:
static Expression<Func<T, bool>> AndAlso<T>(
this Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr1,
Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr2)
{
// need to detect whether they use the same
// parameter instance; if not, they need fixing
ParameterExpression param = expr1.Parameters[0];
if (ReferenceEquals(param, expr2.Parameters[0]))
{
// simple version
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(
Expression.AndAlso(expr1.Body, expr2.Body), param);
}
// otherwise, keep expr1 "as is" and invoke expr2
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(
Expression.AndAlso(
expr1.Body,
Expression.Invoke(expr2, param)), param);
}
The ExpressionVisitor class, which was introduced in.NET 4.0, allows you to create EF-safe expressions.
public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> AndAlso<T>(
this Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr1,
Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr2)
{
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(typeof (T));
var leftVisitor = new ReplaceExpressionVisitor(expr1.Parameters[0], parameter);
var left = leftVisitor.Visit(expr1.Body);
var rightVisitor = new ReplaceExpressionVisitor(expr2.Parameters[0], parameter);
var right = rightVisitor.Visit(expr2.Body);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(
Expression.AndAlso(left, right), parameter);
}
private class ReplaceExpressionVisitor
: ExpressionVisitor
{
private readonly Expression _oldValue;
private readonly Expression _newValue;
public ReplaceExpressionVisitor(Expression oldValue, Expression newValue)
{
_oldValue = oldValue;
_newValue = newValue;
}
public override Expression Visit(Expression node)
{
if (node == _oldValue)
return _newValue;
return base.Visit(node);
}
}
Answered by Marc Gravell
Solution #2
You have the option of using Expression. To combine logical expressions, use AndAlso / OrElse, but make sure the parameterExpressions are the same.
I was having difficulties with EF and the PredicateBuilder, so I created my own that I could use instead of Invoke:
var filterC = filterA.And(filterb);
My PredicateBuilder source code is as follows:
public static class PredicateBuilder {
public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> And<T>(this Expression<Func<T, bool>> a, Expression<Func<T, bool>> b) {
ParameterExpression p = a.Parameters[0];
SubstExpressionVisitor visitor = new SubstExpressionVisitor();
visitor.subst[b.Parameters[0]] = p;
Expression body = Expression.AndAlso(a.Body, visitor.Visit(b.Body));
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, p);
}
public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> Or<T>(this Expression<Func<T, bool>> a, Expression<Func<T, bool>> b) {
ParameterExpression p = a.Parameters[0];
SubstExpressionVisitor visitor = new SubstExpressionVisitor();
visitor.subst[b.Parameters[0]] = p;
Expression body = Expression.OrElse(a.Body, visitor.Visit(b.Body));
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, p);
}
}
And here’s the utility class for substituting lambda parameters:
internal class SubstExpressionVisitor : System.Linq.Expressions.ExpressionVisitor {
public Dictionary<Expression, Expression> subst = new Dictionary<Expression, Expression>();
protected override Expression VisitParameter(ParameterExpression node) {
Expression newValue;
if (subst.TryGetValue(node, out newValue)) {
return newValue;
}
return node;
}
}
Answered by Adam Tegen
Solution #3
If your provider doesn’t allow Invoke and you need to combine two expressions, you can use an ExpressionVisitor to replace the second expression’s parameter with the first expression’s parameter.
class ParameterUpdateVisitor : ExpressionVisitor
{
private ParameterExpression _oldParameter;
private ParameterExpression _newParameter;
public ParameterUpdateVisitor(ParameterExpression oldParameter, ParameterExpression newParameter)
{
_oldParameter = oldParameter;
_newParameter = newParameter;
}
protected override Expression VisitParameter(ParameterExpression node)
{
if (object.ReferenceEquals(node, _oldParameter))
return _newParameter;
return base.VisitParameter(node);
}
}
static Expression<Func<T, bool>> UpdateParameter<T>(
Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr,
ParameterExpression newParameter)
{
var visitor = new ParameterUpdateVisitor(expr.Parameters[0], newParameter);
var body = visitor.Visit(expr.Body);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, newParameter);
}
[TestMethod]
public void ExpressionText()
{
string text = "test";
Expression<Func<Coco, bool>> expr1 = p => p.Item1.Contains(text);
Expression<Func<Coco, bool>> expr2 = q => q.Item2.Contains(text);
Expression<Func<Coco, bool>> expr3 = UpdateParameter(expr2, expr1.Parameters[0]);
var expr4 = Expression.Lambda<Func<Recording, bool>>(
Expression.OrElse(expr1.Body, expr3.Body), expr1.Parameters[0]);
var func = expr4.Compile();
Assert.IsTrue(func(new Coco { Item1 = "caca", Item2 = "test pipi" }));
}
Answered by Francis
Solution #4
There’s nothing new here, but I’ve combined this answer with this answer and refactored it significantly so that even I can understand what’s going on:
public static class ExpressionExtensions
{
public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> AndAlso<T>(this Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr1, Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr2)
{
ParameterExpression parameter1 = expr1.Parameters[0];
var visitor = new ReplaceParameterVisitor(expr2.Parameters[0], parameter1);
var body2WithParam1 = visitor.Visit(expr2.Body);
return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(Expression.AndAlso(expr1.Body, body2WithParam1), parameter1);
}
private class ReplaceParameterVisitor : ExpressionVisitor
{
private ParameterExpression _oldParameter;
private ParameterExpression _newParameter;
public ReplaceParameterVisitor(ParameterExpression oldParameter, ParameterExpression newParameter)
{
_oldParameter = oldParameter;
_newParameter = newParameter;
}
protected override Expression VisitParameter(ParameterExpression node)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(node, _oldParameter))
return _newParameter;
return base.VisitParameter(node);
}
}
}
Answered by Dejan
Solution #5
I needed to obtain the same outcomes with a more generic method (as the type was not known). I finally understood out what I was trying to accomplish thanks to marc’s response:
public static LambdaExpression CombineOr(Type sourceType, LambdaExpression exp, LambdaExpression newExp)
{
var parameter = Expression.Parameter(sourceType);
var leftVisitor = new ReplaceExpressionVisitor(exp.Parameters[0], parameter);
var left = leftVisitor.Visit(exp.Body);
var rightVisitor = new ReplaceExpressionVisitor(newExp.Parameters[0], parameter);
var right = rightVisitor.Visit(newExp.Body);
var delegateType = typeof(Func<,>).MakeGenericType(sourceType, typeof(bool));
return Expression.Lambda(delegateType, Expression.Or(left, right), parameter);
}
Answered by VorTechS
Post is based on https://stackoverflow.com/questions/457316/combining-two-expressions-expressionfunct-bool