Using dynamic types with expresso - dynamic-expresso

I would like to use a dynamic value as a parameter.
E.g.
dynamic dyn = new ExpandoObject();
dyn.Foo = "bar";
var bar = new Interpreter().Eval("d.Foo", new Parameter("d", dyn));
Assert.AreEqual("bar", bar.ToString());
But I get an error saying "No property or field 'Foo' exists in type 'ExpandoObject'" ?
Is this supposed to be possible?
Regards, Niels

Unfortunately for now dynamics (ExpandoObject) are not supported. I will consider this feature for the next release.
A possible workaround is to use anonymous objects:
dynamic dyn = new ExpandoObject();
dyn.Foo = "bar";
var bar = new Interpreter().Eval("d.Foo", new Parameter("d", new { Foo = dyn.Foo }));
Consider that in this case the property is evaluated when you create the parameter.
You can also convert a dynamic into an anonymous type (see Cast ExpandoObject to anonymous type) but the result is not very different.
Disclaimer: I'm the creator of Dynamic Expresso library.

Expression Evaluator supports dynamics (ExpandoObject). It supports method calls, property and index accessors, get and set. If you do encounter an error with dynamics please let me know as dynamics is relatively newly supported.

Related

Replacing Type with var for all 'Class class = new Class()' usages in Java project

I recently switched to Java 11 for a rather big project, and would like to switch to using var class = new Class() instead of Class class = new CLass().
I tried using Intellij Structural Search (and replace) for this, but its turning out to be more complex than expected.
My first attempt was $Type$ $Inst$ = new $Constructor$($Argument$);, which also matches global variables (which don't allow var).
My second attempt is:
class $Class$ {
$ReturnType$ $Method$ ($ParameterType$ $Parameter$) throws $ExceptionType$ {
$Statements$;
final $Type$ $Inst$ = new $Constructor$($Argument$);
$Statements2$;
}
}
Which misses all calls inside e.g. try blocks (since they get matched by the expressions)
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Use your first template
$Type$ $Inst$ = new $Constructor$($Argument$);
But add a Script modifier on the $Inst$ variable with the following text:
Inst instanceof com.intellij.psi.PsiLocalVariable
Alternatively you may want to try the Local variable type can be omitted inspection that is available in IntelliJ IDEA.

Cannot serialize a string object with Microsoft.Bond

I am using Microsoft.Bond to serialize a class object which works perfectly fine. However, when I try to serialize a simple System.String object, the CompactBinaryWriter writes almost nothing to the output buffer. I am using this code:
string v = "test data";
var outputBuffer = new OutputBuffer();
var writer = new CompactBinaryWriter<OutputBuffer>(outputBuffer);
Serialize.To(writer, v);
var output = outputBuffer.Data;
output in this case is a one element array : {0}, irrespective of the value of v. Can someone point out why this doesn't work?
Bond requires a top-level Bond struct to perform serialization/deserialization.
If only one value needs to be passed/returned, the type bond.Box<T> can be used to quickly wrap a value in a Bond struct. (There's nothing special about bond.Box<T>, except that it ships with Bond.)
Try this:
Serialize.To(writer, Bond.Box.Create(v));
You'll need to deserialize into a bond.Box<string>.
There's an open issue about having better behavior in cases like this.

Ability to set the context of the expression

Is there a way to set the context of the expression in Dynamic Expresso library, so that we can do something like the following:
interpreter.Eval("FirstName", new Parameter("person", new { FirstName="Homer", LastName="Simpson"}));
rather than
interpreter.Eval("person.FirstName", new Parameter("person", new { FirstName="Homer", LastName="Simpson"}));
Maybe we could have a another option that would say that the first parameter is to be used as the context for the expression.
I guess there could also be another version of Parse and Eval methods that simply takes the expression text and a simple object value that will serve as the expression context.
Other than that and the lack of support for dynamic types, I am really liking this library. I had worked on something similar, but had not added support for extension methods and generic method calls.
Thanks for the great library,
Neal
There isn't a built-in solution but you can simulate it in many ways:
Option 1: Inject an expression
var workingContext = new { FirstName = "homer" };
var workingContextExpression = Expression.Constant(workingContext);
var firstNameExpression = Expression.Property(workingContextExpression, "FirstName");
var interpreter = new Interpreter();
interpreter.SetExpression("FirstName", firstNameExpression);
Assert.AreEqual(workingContext.FirstName, interpreter.Eval("FirstName"));
Basically I inject an expression using SetExpression method. The injected expression is the property that you want to be available.
Option 2: Use this/me/it variable
You can inject a variable that will contain your working object. I usually call it this (or me or it depending on the application).
var workingContext = new { FirstName = "homer" };
var interpreter = new Interpreter();
interpreter.SetVariable("this", workingContext);
Assert.AreEqual(workingContext.FirstName, interpreter.Eval("this.FirstName"));
Option 3: A combination of the previous solutions
var workingContext = new { FirstName = "homer" };
var interpreter = new Interpreter();
interpreter.SetVariable("this", workingContext);
var firstNameExpression = interpreter.Parse("this.FirstName").LambdaExpression.Body;
interpreter.SetExpression("FirstName", firstNameExpression);
Assert.AreEqual(workingContext.FirstName, interpreter.Eval("FirstName"));
Equal to the first solution but I generate the expression using the parser itself.
Consider that all solutions assume that you must have an Interpreter instance for each context.
Disclaimer: I'm the author of Dynamic Expresso library.
Starting with DynamicExpresso v2.13.0, it's possible to define a variable named "this", that will be used for implicit resolution:
var target = new Interpreter();
target.SetVariable("this", new { FirstName="Homer", LastName="Simpson"});
// 'this' variable is used implicitly
Assert.AreEqual("Homer", target.Eval("FirstName"));
// 'this' variable can also be used explicitly
Assert.AreEqual("Homer", target.Eval("this.FirstName"));

List<dynamic>.Find and List<dynamic>.FindAll

I am trying to do this but unable to find a workaround.
I have a list of dynamic objects and its like ObjectList : List<dynamic>
its filled with objects that have a dynamic property LastName.
i am trying to find all elements that have a matching string in the Name property.
var result = mylist.FindAll(e => e.LastName.StartsWith("Mc"));
But when i do so, it says "Expression cannot contain lambda expressions".
you cannot use it like lambda if it dynamic try using it in different style
var result = mylist.FindAll(e => e.LastName.StartsWith("Mc"));
something like this should help
var result=(from c in mylist where c.LastName.StartsWith("Mc") select c).ToList();

List of DisposableLazy`2 does not have 'Add' method when called using dynamic variable

Problem
I am facing a problem using dynamically created list of items when Add method is called on dynamicvariable. Consider following code.
IEnumerable<dynamic> plugins = (IEnumerable<dynamic>)field.GetValue(instance);
if (plugins == null)
continue;
dynamic filteredPlugins = null;
foreach (var plugin in plugins)
{
if (filteredPlugins == null)
filteredPlugins = Activator
.CreateInstance(typeof(List<>)
.MakeGenericType(plugin.GetType()));
if (/* this condition does not matter*/)
//filteredPlugins.Add(plugin);
filteredPlugins.GetType().GetMethod("Add")
.Invoke(filteredPlugins, new object[] { plugin });
}
And now, the commented line filteredPlugins.Add(plugin) will throw System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException with the message 'object' does not contain a definition for 'Add' when plugin is of type
System.ComponentModel.Composition.ExportServices.DisposableLazy<IPlugin,IMetadata>
but it works completely perfect when pluginis of type
System.Lazy<IPlugin, IMetadata>
When the reflection is used to call Add method on the instance filteredPlugins instance as is done on the next line - everything works fine for any type.
My question is WHY is not Add method found in case of DisposableLazy type.
Background
This code is part of the method that I use in OnImportsSatisfied() method. I am using two kinds of import - which differs only in RequiredCreationPolicy - on has CreationPolicy.NonShared and the other default value of CreationPolicy.Any.
[ImportMany(RequiredCreationPolicy = CreationPolicy.NonShared)]
private IEnumerable<Lazy<IPlugin, IMetadata>> plugins = null;
For CreationPolicy.NonShared fields the underlaying type in the plugins is DisposableLazy and for CreationPolicy.Any the underlaying type in the plugins is Lazy.
Edit: As asked in the answer - I am using dynamic variable because IPlugin interface can change everytime this method is called and they do not have to have anything in common.
Edit2: I just found similar question C# dynamic type gotcha, so this can be probably closed as duplicite.
Because System.ComponentModel.Composition.ExportServices.DisposableLazy is a private class, the runtime binder is having trouble believing you have permission to use type, where reflection doesn't care.
Which begs the question why are you using dynamics at all in this case. Since DisposableLazy<IPlugin,IMetadata> public interface is it's subclass Lazy<IPlugin, IMetadata> & IDisposable, shouldn't you just be using a List<Lazy<IPlugin, IMetadata>> for either case?
var plugins = (IEnumerable<Lazy<IPlugin, IMetadata>>)field.GetValue(instance);
if (plugins == null)
continue;
var filteredPlugins = new List<Lazy<IPlugin, IMetadata>>();
foreach (var plugin in plugins)
{
if (/* this condition does not matter*/)
filteredPlugins.Add(plugin);
}
}