OrderBy based on list of fields and Asc / Desc rules

Question

I have the following List with OrderBy parameters:

List fields = new List { \"+created\", \"-approved\"         


        

Answer 1

Edit: Changed Code to closely match your syntax

This code sorts on the client, but works with all IEnumerables. If you absolutely need to sort on the database, take a look at Yacoub's static MyClass() to see how he solved this problem.

The example below is based on the information you provided, you might need to adjust it a bit.

public class DemoClass
{
    public DateTime Created { get; set; }
    public bool Approved { get; set; }
    public Person Author { get; set; }
}

public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
}

Since your example contains author which actually resolves to Author.Name, you need to create some sort of mapping for your keywords (Like you did with your OrderExpression class).

public class OrderExpressions<T>
{
    private readonly Dictionary<string,Func<T,object>> _mappings = 
        new Dictionary<string,Func<T, object>>();

    public OrderExpressions<T> Add(Func<T, object> expression, string keyword)
    {
        _mappings.Add(keyword, expression);
        return this;
    }

    public Func<T, object> this[string keyword]
    {
        get { return _mappings[keyword]; }
    }
}

Which could be used like this:

OrderExpressions<DemoClass> expressions = new OrderExpressions<DemoClass>()
    .Add(x => x.Created, "created")
    .Add(x => x.Approved, "approved")
    .Add(x => x.Author.Name, "author");

You can pass those functions / lambda expressions, directly to Linq and add the next comparison one after another. Start with OrderBy or OrderByDescrending, that will give you your first IOrderedEnumerable and then add all remaining arguments with ThenBy or ThenByDescending.

public static class KeywordSearchExtender
{
    public static IOrderedEnumerable<T> OrderBy<T>(this IEnumerable<T> data, 
        OrderExpressions<T> mapper, params string[] arguments)
    {
        if (arguments.Length == 0)
            throw new ArgumentException(@"You need at least one argument!", "arguments");

        List<SortArgument> sorting = arguments.Select(a => new SortArgument(a)).ToList();

        IOrderedEnumerable<T> result = null;

        for (int i = 0; i < sorting.Count; i++)
        {
            SortArgument sort = sorting[i];
            Func<T, object> lambda = mapper[sort.Keyword];

            if (i == 0)
                result = sorting[i].Ascending ? 
                    data.OrderBy(lambda) : 
                    data.OrderByDescending(lambda);
            else
                result = sorting[i].Ascending ? 
                    result.ThenBy(lambda) : 
                    result.ThenByDescending(lambda);
        }

        return result;
    }
}

public class SortArgument
{
    public SortArgument()
    { }

    public SortArgument(string term)
    {
        if (term.StartsWith("-"))
        {
            Ascending = false;
            Keyword = term.Substring(1);
        }
        else if (term.StartsWith("+"))
        {
            Ascending = true;
            Keyword = term.Substring(1);
        }
        else
        {
            Ascending = true;
            Keyword = term;
        }
    }

    public string Keyword { get; set; }
    public bool Ascending { get; set; }
}

All together it be used like this:

var data = WhateverYouDoToGetYourData();

var expressions = new OrderExpressions<DemoClass>()
            .Add(x => x.Created, "created")
            .Add(x => x.Approved, "approved")
            .Add(x =>x.Author.Name, "author");

var result = data.OrderBy(expressions, "+created", "-approved", "+author");
// OR
var result = data.OrderBy(expressions, fields);

You can find my proof-of-concept on dotNetFiddle.

Answer 2

This following class will help you do it. You can find the explanation of code inline.

public static class MyClass
{
    public static IQueryable<T> Order<T>(
        IQueryable<T> queryable,
        List<string> fields,
        //We pass LambdaExpression because the selector property type can be anything
        Dictionary<string, LambdaExpression> expressions)
    {
        //Start with input queryable
        IQueryable<T> result = queryable;

        //Loop through fields
        for (int i = 0; i < fields.Count; i++)
        {
            bool ascending = fields[i][0] == '+';
            string field = fields[i].Substring(1);

            LambdaExpression expression = expressions[field];

            MethodInfo method = null;

            //Based on sort order and field index, determine which method to invoke
            if (ascending && i == 0)
                method = OrderbyMethod;
            else if (ascending && i > 0)
                method = ThenByMethod;
            else if (!ascending && i == 0)
                method = OrderbyDescendingMethod;
            else
                method = ThenByDescendingMethod;

            //Invoke appropriate method
            result = InvokeQueryableMethod( method, result, expression);
        }

        return result;
    }

    //This method can invoke OrderBy or the other methods without
    //getting as input the expression return value type
    private static IQueryable<T> InvokeQueryableMethod<T>(
        MethodInfo methodinfo,
        IQueryable<T> queryable,
        LambdaExpression expression)
    {
        var generic_order_by =
            methodinfo.MakeGenericMethod(
                typeof(T),
                expression.ReturnType);

        return (IQueryable<T>)generic_order_by.Invoke(
            null,
            new object[] { queryable, expression });
    }

    private static readonly MethodInfo OrderbyMethod;
    private static readonly MethodInfo OrderbyDescendingMethod;

    private static readonly MethodInfo ThenByMethod;
    private static readonly MethodInfo ThenByDescendingMethod;

    //Here we use reflection to get references to the open generic methods for
    //the 4 Queryable methods that we need
    static MyClass()
    {
        OrderbyMethod = typeof(Queryable)
            .GetMethods()
            .First(x => x.Name == "OrderBy" &&
                        x.GetParameters()
                            .Select(y => y.ParameterType.GetGenericTypeDefinition())
                            .SequenceEqual(new[] { typeof(IQueryable<>), typeof(Expression<>) }));

        OrderbyDescendingMethod = typeof(Queryable)
            .GetMethods()
            .First(x => x.Name == "OrderByDescending" &&
                        x.GetParameters()
                            .Select(y => y.ParameterType.GetGenericTypeDefinition())
                            .SequenceEqual(new[] { typeof(IQueryable<>), typeof(Expression<>) }));

        ThenByMethod = typeof(Queryable)
            .GetMethods()
            .First(x => x.Name == "ThenBy" &&
                        x.GetParameters()
                            .Select(y => y.ParameterType.GetGenericTypeDefinition())
                            .SequenceEqual(new[] { typeof(IOrderedQueryable<>), typeof(Expression<>) }));

        ThenByDescendingMethod = typeof(Queryable)
            .GetMethods()
            .First(x => x.Name == "ThenByDescending" &&
                        x.GetParameters()
                            .Select(y => y.ParameterType.GetGenericTypeDefinition())
                            .SequenceEqual(new[] { typeof(IOrderedQueryable<>), typeof(Expression<>) }));
    }

}

Here is an example usage:

public class Person
{
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public override string ToString()
    {
        return Name + ", " + Age;
    }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        List<Person> persons = new List<Person>
        {
            new Person {Name = "yacoub", Age = 30},
            new Person {Name = "yacoub", Age = 32},
            new Person {Name = "adam", Age = 30},
            new Person {Name = "adam", Age = 33},
        };

        var query = MyClass.Order(
            persons.AsQueryable(),
            new List<string> { "+Name", "-Age" },
            new Dictionary<string, LambdaExpression>
            {
                {"Name", (Expression<Func<Person, string>>) (x => x.Name)},
                {"Age", (Expression<Func<Person, int>>) (x => x.Age)}
            });

        var result = query.ToList();
    }
}

Answer 3

This answer is the joint effort of @YacoubMassad and me. Take a look at the separate answers for details. The following code works perfectly and even translates to SQL without issues (I checked the query with the answer to this question on a 2008 R2), so all the sorting is done on the server (or wherever you data is, it works with simple lists too of course).

Example usage:

OrderExpression<Post> expression = new OrderExpression<Post>()
    .Add(x => x.Created, "created")
    .Add(x => x.Approved, "approved")
    .Add(x => x.Author.Name, "author");

IQueryable<Post> posts = _context.posts.AsQueryable();

posts = posts.OrderBy(expression, "+created", "-approved", "+author");
// OR
posts = posts.OrderBy(expression, new string[]{"+created", "-approved", "+author"});
// OR
posts = posts.OrderBy(expression, fields.ToArray[]);

And of course a live demo on dotNetFiddle

Code:

public class OrderExpressions<T>
{
    private readonly Dictionary<string, LambdaExpression> _mappings = 
        new Dictionary<string, LambdaExpression>();

    public OrderExpressions<T> Add<TKey>(Expression<Func<T, TKey>> expression, string keyword)
    {
        _mappings.Add(keyword, expression);
        return this;
    }

    public LambdaExpression this[string keyword]
    {
        get { return _mappings[keyword]; }
    }
}

public static class KeywordSearchExtender
{
    private static readonly MethodInfo OrderbyMethod;
    private static readonly MethodInfo OrderbyDescendingMethod;

    private static readonly MethodInfo ThenByMethod;
    private static readonly MethodInfo ThenByDescendingMethod;

    //Here we use reflection to get references to the open generic methods for
    //the 4 Queryable methods that we need
    static KeywordSearchExtender()
    {
        OrderbyMethod = typeof(Queryable)
            .GetMethods()
            .First(x => x.Name == "OrderBy" &&
                x.GetParameters()
                    .Select(y => y.ParameterType.GetGenericTypeDefinition())
                    .SequenceEqual(new[] { typeof(IQueryable<>), typeof(Expression<>) }));

        OrderbyDescendingMethod = typeof(Queryable)
            .GetMethods()
            .First(x => x.Name == "OrderByDescending" &&
                x.GetParameters()
                    .Select(y => y.ParameterType.GetGenericTypeDefinition())
                    .SequenceEqual(new[] { typeof(IQueryable<>), typeof(Expression<>) }));

        ThenByMethod = typeof(Queryable)
            .GetMethods()
            .First(x => x.Name == "ThenBy" &&
                x.GetParameters()
                    .Select(y => y.ParameterType.GetGenericTypeDefinition())
                    .SequenceEqual(new[] { typeof(IOrderedQueryable<>), typeof(Expression<>) }));

        ThenByDescendingMethod = typeof(Queryable)
            .GetMethods()
            .First(x => x.Name == "ThenByDescending" &&
                x.GetParameters()
                    .Select(y => y.ParameterType.GetGenericTypeDefinition())
                    .SequenceEqual(new[] { typeof(IOrderedQueryable<>), typeof(Expression<>) }));
    }

    //This method can invoke OrderBy or the other methods without
    //getting as input the expression return value type
    private static IQueryable<T> InvokeQueryableMethod<T>(
        MethodInfo methodinfo,
        IQueryable<T> queryable,
        LambdaExpression expression)
    {
        var generic_order_by =
            methodinfo.MakeGenericMethod(
                typeof(T),
                expression.ReturnType);

        return (IQueryable<T>)generic_order_by.Invoke(
            null,
            new object[] { queryable, expression });
    }

    public static IQueryable<T> OrderBy<T>(this IQueryable<T> data, 
        OrderExpressions<T> mapper, params string[] arguments)
    {
        if (arguments.Length == 0)
            throw new ArgumentException(@"You need at least one argument!", "arguments");

        List<SortArgument> sorting = arguments.Select(a => new SortArgument(a)).ToList();

        IQueryable<T> result = null;

        for (int i = 0; i < sorting.Count; i++)
        {
            SortArgument sort = sorting[i];
            LambdaExpression lambda = mapper[sort.Keyword];

            if (i == 0)
                result = InvokeQueryableMethod(sort.Ascending ? 
                    OrderbyMethod : OrderbyDescendingMethod, data, lambda);
            else
                result = InvokeQueryableMethod(sort.Ascending ? 
                    ThenByMethod : ThenByDescendingMethod, result, lambda);
        }

        return result;
    }
}

public class SortArgument
{
    public SortArgument()
    { }

    public SortArgument(string term)
    {
        if (term.StartsWith("-"))
        {
            Ascending = false;
            Keyword = term.Substring(1);
        }
        else if (term.StartsWith("+"))
        {
            Ascending = true;
            Keyword = term.Substring(1);
        }
        else
        {
            Ascending = true;
            Keyword = term;
        }
    }

    public string Keyword { get; set; }
    public bool Ascending { get; set; }
}