Call OrderBy() with a field name as a string [duplicate]

Answer 1

Thanks to all. Rob, your solution was pretty close to what I ended up with.

Based on your insights I did some more searching and came across Marc Gravel's answer here Dynamic LINQ OrderBy on IEnumerable<T> (second post).

It added dynamic's as an additional bonus.

Answer 2

Does it have to be a string? Why not just make a method that takes a Func key selector as a parameter.

public List<T> GetAllListOrdered<T,TProp>(SimpleOrderingDirectionEnum direction, Func<T,TProp> keySelector)
{
    return direction == SimpleOrderingDirectionEnum.Ascending ? _Repository.GetAllList().OrderBy(keySelector).ToList() : _Repository.GetAllList().OrderByDescending(keySelector).ToList();
}

Then call it like

Func<ObjectToSortType, ObjectPropertyToSortBy> keySelector = r => r.Id;
GetAllListOrdered(SimpleOrderingDirectionEnum.Ascending, keySelector);

Answer 3

If the Rob's answer is not enough for you. Try Linq Dynamic. http://dynamiclinq.azurewebsites.net/

using System.Linq.Dynamic; //Import the Dynamic LINQ library

//The standard way, which requires compile-time knowledge
//of the data model
var result = myQuery
    .Where(x => x.Field1 == "SomeValue")
    .Select(x => new { x.Field1, x.Field2 });

//The Dynamic LINQ way, which lets you do the same thing
//without knowing the data model before hand
var result = myQuery
    .Where("Field1=\"SomeValue\"")
    .Select("new (Field1, Field2)");

Answer 4

This will work:

public static class LinqExtensions 
{
    private static PropertyInfo GetPropertyInfo(Type objType, string name)
    {
        var properties = objType.GetProperties();
        var matchedProperty = properties.FirstOrDefault (p => p.Name == name);
        if (matchedProperty == null)
            throw new ArgumentException("name");

        return matchedProperty;
    }
    private static LambdaExpression GetOrderExpression(Type objType, PropertyInfo pi)
    {
        var paramExpr = Expression.Parameter(objType);
        var propAccess = Expression.PropertyOrField(paramExpr, pi.Name);
        var expr = Expression.Lambda(propAccess, paramExpr);
        return expr;
    }

    public static IEnumerable<T> OrderBy<T>(this IEnumerable<T> query, string name)
    {
        var propInfo = GetPropertyInfo(typeof(T), name);
        var expr = GetOrderExpression(typeof(T), propInfo);

        var method = typeof(Enumerable).GetMethods().FirstOrDefault(m => m.Name == "OrderBy" && m.GetParameters().Length == 2);
        var genericMethod = method.MakeGenericMethod(typeof(T), propInfo.PropertyType);     
        return (IEnumerable<T>) genericMethod.Invoke(null, new object[] { query, expr.Compile() });
    }

    public static IQueryable<T> OrderBy<T>(this IQueryable<T> query, string name)
    {
        var propInfo = GetPropertyInfo(typeof(T), name);
        var expr = GetOrderExpression(typeof(T), propInfo);

        var method = typeof(Queryable).GetMethods().FirstOrDefault(m => m.Name == "OrderBy" && m.GetParameters().Length == 2);
        var genericMethod = method.MakeGenericMethod(typeof(T), propInfo.PropertyType);     
        return (IQueryable<T>) genericMethod.Invoke(null, new object[] { query, expr });
    }
}

Testing:

var r = new List<temp> { 
    new temp { a = 5 }, 
    new temp { a = 1 }, 
    new temp { a = 15 }
}.OrderBy("a");

Gives the correct result (1, 5, 15) - and will provide lazy execution for your use with EF

You will need to implement the overloads if needed.