ASP.NET search form - dynamic Linq to SQL?

Question

I have a search form that allows users to search on several different fields in several different ways. Here is an example of my code.

var claims = from c in db.         


        

Answer 1

You could refactor some parts of the code by creating an extension method. Something like that :

static class QueryableExtensions
{
    private static MethodInfo StringContainsMethod;
    private static MethodInfo StringStartsWithMethod;

    static QueryableExtensions()
    {
        Type[] singleStringParam = new[] {typeof(string)};
        StringContainsMethod = typeof(string).GetMethod("Contains", singleStringParam);
        StringStartsWithMethod = typeof(string).GetMethod("StartsWith", singleStringParam);
    }

    public static IQueryable AppendTextFilter(this IQueryable queryable, Expression> memberSelector, string condition, string value)
    {
        Expression expression = null;
        switch (condition)
        {
            case "StartsWith":
                expression = Expression.Call(
                                memberSelector.Body,
                                StringStartsWithMethod,
                                Expression.Constant(value));
                break;

            case "Equals":
                expression = Expression.Equal(
                                memberSelector.Body,
                                Expression.Constant(value));
                break;

            case "Contains":
                expression = Expression.Call(
                                memberSelector.Body,
                                StringContainsMethod,
                                Expression.Constant(value));
                break;

            default:
                throw new NotSupportedException(string.Format("'{0}' is not a supported condition", condition));
        }

        var lambda = Expression.Lambda>(
                        expression,
                        memberSelector.Parameters);
        return queryable.Where(lambda);
    }
}

You could then use it like that :

var claims = db.Claims
             .AppendTextFilter(c => c.companyFileID, ddlSearchField.Text, txtSearchBox.Text)
             .AppendTextFilter(c => c.someOtherProperty, ddlOtherSearchField.Text, txtOtherSearchBox.Text)
             ...;