Walkthrough: Creating an IQueryable LINQ Provider

Walkthrough: Creating an IQueryable...

Language-Integrated Query (LINQ)

Walkthrough: Creating an IQueryable LINQ Provider

Updated: July 2008

This advanced topic provides step-by-step instructions for creating a custom LINQ provider. When you are finished, you will be able to use the provider you create to write LINQ queries against the TerraServer-USA Web service.

The TerraServer-USA Web service provides an interface to a database of aerial images of the United States. It also exposes a method that returns information about locations in the United States, given part or all of a location name. This method, which is named GetPlaceList, is the method that your LINQ provider will call. The provider will use Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) to communicate with the Web service. For more information about the TerraServer-USA Web service, see Overview of the TerraServer-USA Web Services.

This provider is a relatively simple IQueryable provider. It expects specific information in the queries that it handles and it has a closed type system, exposing a single type to represent the result data. This provider examines only one type of method call expression in the expression tree that represents the query, that is the innermost call to Where. It extracts the data that it must have in order to query the Web service from this expression. It then calls the Web service and inserts the returned data into the expression tree in the place of the initial IQueryable data source. The rest of the query execution is handled by the Enumerable implementations of the standard query operators.

The code examples in this topic are provided in C# and Visual Basic.

This walkthrough illustrates the following tasks:

Creating the project in Visual Studio.
Implementing the interfaces that are required for an IQueryable LINQ provider: IQueryable<(Of <(T>)>), IOrderedQueryable<(Of <(T>)>), and IQueryProvider.
Adding a custom .NET type to represent the data from the Web service.
Creating a query context class and a class that obtains data from the Web service.
Creating an expression tree visitor subclass that finds the expression that represents the innermost call to the Queryable.Where method.
Creating an expression tree visitor subclass that extracts information from the LINQ query to use in the Web service request.
Creating an expression tree visitor subclass that modifies the expression tree that represents the complete LINQ query.
Using an evaluator class to partially evaluate an expression tree. This step is necessary because it translates all local variable references in the LINQ query into values.
Creating an expression tree helper class and a new exception class.
Testing the LINQ provider from a client application that contains a LINQ query.

Adding more complex query capabilities to the LINQ provider.

Note:
The LINQ provider that this walkthrough creates is available as a sample. See LINQ to TerraServer Provider Sample for more information.

Prerequisites

You need the following components to complete this walkthrough:

Visual Studio 2008

Note:
Your computer might show different names or locations for some of the Visual Studio user interface elements in the following instructions. The Visual Studio edition that you have and the settings that you use determine these elements. For more information, see Visual Studio Settings.

Creating the Project

To create the project in Visual Studio

In Visual Studio, create a new Class Library application. Name the project LinqToTerraServerProvider.
In Solution Explorer, select the Class1.cs (or Class1.vb) file and rename it to QueryableTerraServerData.cs (or QueryableTerraServerData.vb). In the dialog box that pops up, click Yes to rename all references to the code element.
You create the provider as a Class Library project in Visual Studio because executable client applications will add the provider assembly as a reference to their project.

To add a service reference to the Web service

In Solution Explorer, right-click the LinqToTerraServerProvider project and click Add Service Reference.
The Add Service Reference dialog box opens.
In the Address box, type http://terraserver.microsoft.com/TerraService2.asmx.
In the Namespace box, type TerraServerReference and then click OK.
The TerraServer-USA Web service is added as a service reference so that the application can communicate with the Web service by way of Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). By adding a service reference to the project, Visual Studio generates an app.config file that contains a proxy and an endpoint for the Web service. For more information, see Introduction to Windows Communication Foundation Services in Visual Studio.

You now have a project that has a file that is named app.config, a file that is named QueryableTerraServerData.cs (or QueryableTerraServerData.vb), and a service reference named TerraServerReference.

Implementing the Necessary Interfaces

To create a LINQ provider, at a minimum you must implement the IQueryable<(Of <(T>)>) and IQueryProvider interfaces. IQueryable<(Of <(T>)>) and IQueryProvider are derived from the other required interfaces; therefore, by implementing these two interfaces, you are also implementing the other interfaces that are required for a LINQ provider.

If you want to support sorting query operators such as OrderBy and ThenBy, you must also implement the IOrderedQueryable<(Of <(T>)>) interface. Because IOrderedQueryable<(Of <(T>)>) derives from IQueryable<(Of <(T>)>), you can implement both of these interfaces in one type, which is what this provider does.

To implement System.Linq.IQueryable`1 and System.Linq.IOrderedQueryable`1

In the file QueryableTerraServerData.cs (or QueryableTerraServerData.vb), add the following code.

Visual Basic

Imports System.Linq.Expressions

Public Class QueryableTerraServerData(Of TData)
    Implements IOrderedQueryable(Of TData)

#Region "Private members"

    Private _provider As TerraServerQueryProvider
    Private _expression As Expression

#End Region

#Region "Constructors"

    ''' <summary>
    ''' This constructor is called by the client to create the data source.
    ''' </summary>
    Public Sub New()
        Me._provider = New TerraServerQueryProvider()
        Me._expression = Expression.Constant(Me)
    End Sub

    ''' <summary>
    ''' This constructor is called by Provider.CreateQuery().
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="_expression"></param>
    Public Sub New(ByVal _provider As TerraServerQueryProvider, ByVal _expression As Expression)

        If _provider Is Nothing Then
            Throw New ArgumentNullException("provider")
        End If

        If _expression Is Nothing Then
            Throw New ArgumentNullException("expression")
        End If

        If Not GetType(IQueryable(Of TData)).IsAssignableFrom(_expression.Type) Then
            Throw New ArgumentOutOfRangeException("expression")
        End If

        Me._provider = _provider
        Me._expression = _expression
    End Sub

#End Region

#Region "Properties"

    Public ReadOnly Property ElementType() As Type _
        Implements IQueryable(Of TData).ElementType
        Get
            Return GetType(TData)
        End Get
    End Property

    Public ReadOnly Property Expression() As Expression _
        Implements IQueryable(Of TData).Expression
        Get
            Return _expression
        End Get
    End Property

    Public ReadOnly Property Provider() As IQueryProvider _
        Implements IQueryable(Of TData).Provider
        Get
            Return _provider
        End Get
    End Property

#End Region

#Region "Enumerators"

    Public Function GetGenericEnumerator() As IEnumerator(Of TData) _
        Implements IEnumerable(Of TData).GetEnumerator

        Return (Me.Provider.Execute(Of IEnumerable(Of TData))(Me._expression)).GetEnumerator()
    End Function

    Public Function GetEnumerator() As IEnumerator _
        Implements IEnumerable.GetEnumerator

        Return (Me.Provider.Execute(Of IEnumerable)(Me._expression)).GetEnumerator()
    End Function

#End Region

End Class

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Linq.Expressions;

namespace LinqToTerraServerProvider
{
    public class QueryableTerraServerData<TData> : IOrderedQueryable<TData>
    {
        #region Constructors
        /// <summary>
        /// This constructor is called by the client to create the data source.
        /// </summary>
        public QueryableTerraServerData()
        {
            Provider = new TerraServerQueryProvider();
            Expression = Expression.Constant(this);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// This constructor is called by Provider.CreateQuery().
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="expression"></param>
        public QueryableTerraServerData(TerraServerQueryProvider provider, Expression expression)
        {
            if (provider == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException("provider");
            }

            if (expression == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException("expression");
            }

            if (!typeof(IQueryable<TData>).IsAssignableFrom(expression.Type))
            {
                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("expression");
            }

            Provider = provider;
            Expression = expression;
        }
        #endregion

        #region Properties

        public IQueryProvider Provider { get; private set; }
        public Expression Expression { get; private set; }

        public Type ElementType
        {
            get { return typeof(TData); }
        }

        #endregion

        #region Enumerators
        public IEnumerator<TData> GetEnumerator()
        {
            return (Provider.Execute<IEnumerable<TData>>(Expression)).GetEnumerator();
        }

        System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
        {
            return (Provider.Execute<System.Collections.IEnumerable>(Expression)).GetEnumerator();
        }
        #endregion
    }
}

The IOrderedQueryable<(Of <(T>)>) implementation by the QueryableTerraServerData class implements three properties declared in IQueryable and two enumeration methods declared in IEnumerable and IEnumerable<(Of <(T>)>).

This class has two constructors. The first constructor is called from the client application to create the object to write the LINQ query against. The second constructor is called internal to the provider library by the code in the IQueryProvider implementation.

When the GetEnumerator method is called on an object of type QueryableTerraServerData, the query that it represents is executed and the results of the query are enumerated.

This code, except for the name of the class, is not specific to this TerraServer-USA Web service provider. Therefore, it can be reused for any LINQ provider.

To implement System.Linq.IQueryProvider

Add the TerraServerQueryProvider class to your project.

Visual Basic

Imports System.Linq.Expressions
Imports System.Reflection

Public Class TerraServerQueryProvider
    Implements IQueryProvider

    Public Function CreateQuery(ByVal expression As Expression) As IQueryable _
        Implements IQueryProvider.CreateQuery

        Dim elementType As Type = TypeSystem.GetElementType(expression.Type)

        Try
            Dim qType = GetType(QueryableTerraServerData(Of )).MakeGenericType(elementType)
            Dim args = New Object() {Me, expression}
            Dim instance = Activator.CreateInstance(qType, args)

            Return CType(instance, IQueryable)
        Catch tie As TargetInvocationException
            Throw tie.InnerException
        End Try
    End Function

    ' Queryable's collection-returning standard query operators call this method.
    Public Function CreateQuery(Of TResult)(ByVal expression As Expression) As IQueryable(Of TResult) _
        Implements IQueryProvider.CreateQuery

        Return New QueryableTerraServerData(Of TResult)(Me, expression)
    End Function

    Public Function Execute(ByVal expression As Expression) As Object _
        Implements IQueryProvider.Execute

        Return TerraServerQueryContext.Execute(expression, False)
    End Function

    ' Queryable's "single value" standard query operators call this method.
    ' It is also called from QueryableTerraServerData.GetEnumerator().
    Public Function Execute(Of TResult)(ByVal expression As Expression) As TResult _
        Implements IQueryProvider.Execute

        Dim IsEnumerable As Boolean = (GetType(TResult).Name = "IEnumerable`1")

        Dim result = TerraServerQueryContext.Execute(expression, IsEnumerable)
        Return CType(result, TResult)
    End Function
End Class

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Linq.Expressions;

namespace LinqToTerraServerProvider
{
    public class TerraServerQueryProvider : IQueryProvider
    {
        public IQueryable CreateQuery(Expression expression)
        {
            Type elementType = TypeSystem.GetElementType(expression.Type);
            try
            {
                return (IQueryable)Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(QueryableTerraServerData<>).MakeGenericType(elementType), new object[] { this, expression });
            }
            catch (System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException tie)
            {
                throw tie.InnerException;
            }
        }

        // Queryable's collection-returning standard query operators call this method.
        public IQueryable<TResult> CreateQuery<TResult>(Expression expression)
        {
            return new QueryableTerraServerData<TResult>(this, expression);
        }

        public object Execute(Expression expression)
        {
            return TerraServerQueryContext.Execute(expression, false);
        }

        // Queryable's "single value" standard query operators call this method.
        // It is also called from QueryableTerraServerData.GetEnumerator().
        public TResult Execute<TResult>(Expression expression)
        {
            bool IsEnumerable = (typeof(TResult).Name == "IEnumerable`1");

            return (TResult)TerraServerQueryContext.Execute(expression, IsEnumerable);
        }
    }
}

The query provider code in this class implements the four methods that are required to implement the IQueryProvider interface. The two CreateQuery methods create queries that are associated with the data source. The two Execute methods send such queries off to be executed.

The non-generic CreateQuery method uses reflection to obtain the element type of the sequence that the query it creates would return if it was executed. It then uses the Activator class to construct a new QueryableTerraServerData instance that is constructed with the element type as its generic type argument. The result of calling the non-generic CreateQuery method is the same as if the generic CreateQuery method had been called with the correct type argument.

Most of the query execution logic is handled in a different class that you will add later. This functionality is handled elsewhere because it is specific to the data source being queried, whereas the code in this class is generic to any LINQ provider. To use this code for a different provider, you might have to change the name of the class and the name of the query context type that is referenced in two of the methods.

Adding a Custom Type to Represent the Result Data

You will need a .NET type to represent the data that is obtained from the Web service. This type will be used in the client LINQ query to define the results it wants. The following procedure creates such a type. This type, named Place, contains information about a single geographical location such as a city, a park, or a lake.

This code also contains an enumeration type, named PlaceType, that defines the various types of geographical location and is used in the Place class.

To create a custom result type

Add the Place class and the PlaceType enumeration to your project.

Visual Basic

Public Class Place
    ' Properties.
    Private _Name As String
    Private _State As String
    Private _PlaceType As PlaceType

    Public Property Name() As String
        Get
            Return _Name
        End Get
        Private Set(ByVal value As String)
            _Name = value
        End Set
    End Property

    Public Property State() As String
        Get
            Return _State
        End Get
        Private Set(ByVal value As String)
            _State = value
        End Set
    End Property

    Public Property PlaceType() As PlaceType
        Get
            Return _PlaceType
        End Get
        Private Set(ByVal value As PlaceType)
            _PlaceType = value
        End Set
    End Property

    ' Constructor.
    Friend Sub New(ByVal name As String, _
                   ByVal state As String, _
                   ByVal placeType As TerraServerReference.PlaceType)

        Me.Name = name
        Me.State = state
        Me.PlaceType = CType(placeType, PlaceType)
    End Sub
End Class

Public Enum PlaceType
    Unknown
    AirRailStation
    BayGulf
    CapePeninsula
    CityTown
    HillMountain
    Island
    Lake
    OtherLandFeature
    OtherWaterFeature
    ParkBeach
    PointOfInterest
    River
End Enum

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace LinqToTerraServerProvider
{
    public class Place
    {
        // Properties.
        public string Name { get; private set; }
        public string State { get; private set; }
        public PlaceType PlaceType { get; private set; }

        // Constructor.
        internal Place(string name,
                        string state,
                        LinqToTerraServerProvider.TerraServerReference.PlaceType placeType)
        {
            Name = name;
            State = state;
            PlaceType = (PlaceType)placeType;
        }
    }

    public enum PlaceType
    {
        Unknown,
        AirRailStation,
        BayGulf,
        CapePeninsula,
        CityTown,
        HillMountain,
        Island,
        Lake,
        OtherLandFeature,
        OtherWaterFeature,
        ParkBeach,
        PointOfInterest,
        River
    }
}

The constructor for the Place type simplifies creating a result object from the type that is returned by the Web service. While the provider can return the result type defined by the Web service API directly, it would require client applications to add a reference to the Web service. By creating a new type as part of the provider library, the client does not have to know about the types and methods that the Web service exposes.

Adding Functionality to Get Data from the Data Source

This provider implementation assumes that the innermost call to Queryable.Where contains the location information to use to query the Web service. The innermost Queryable.Where call is the where clause (Where clause in Visual Basic) or Queryable.Where method call that occurs first in a LINQ query, or the one nearest to the "bottom" of the expression tree that represents the query.

To create a query context class

Add the TerraServerQueryContext class to your project.

Visual Basic

Imports System.Linq.Expressions

Public Class TerraServerQueryContext

    ' Executes the expression tree that is passed to it.
    Friend Shared Function Execute(ByVal expr As Expression, _
                                   ByVal IsEnumerable As Boolean) As Object

        ' The expression must represent a query over the data source.
        If Not IsQueryOverDataSource(expr) Then
            Throw New InvalidProgramException("No query over the data source was specified.")
        End If

        ' Find the call to Where() and get the lambda expression predicate.
        Dim whereFinder As New InnermostWhereFinder()
        Dim whereExpression As MethodCallExpression = _
            whereFinder.GetInnermostWhere(expr)
        Dim lambdaExpr As LambdaExpression
        lambdaExpr = CType(CType(whereExpression.Arguments(1), UnaryExpression).Operand, LambdaExpression)

        ' Send the lambda expression through the partial evaluator.
        lambdaExpr = CType(Evaluator.PartialEval(lambdaExpr), LambdaExpression)

        ' Get the place name(s) to query the Web service with.
        Dim lf As New LocationFinder(lambdaExpr.Body)
        Dim locations As List(Of String) = lf.Locations
        If locations.Count = 0 Then
            Dim s = "You must specify at least one place name in your query."
            Throw New InvalidQueryException(s)
        End If

        ' Call the Web service and get the results.
        Dim places() = WebServiceHelper.GetPlacesFromTerraServer(locations)

        ' Copy the IEnumerable places to an IQueryable.
        Dim queryablePlaces = places.AsQueryable()

        ' Copy the expression tree that was passed in, changing only the first
        ' argument of the innermost MethodCallExpression.
        Dim treeCopier As New ExpressionTreeModifier(queryablePlaces)
        Dim newExpressionTree = treeCopier.CopyAndModify(expr)

        ' This step creates an IQueryable that executes by replacing 
        ' Queryable methods with Enumerable methods.
        If (IsEnumerable) Then
            Return queryablePlaces.Provider.CreateQuery(newExpressionTree)
        Else
            Return queryablePlaces.Provider.Execute(newExpressionTree)
        End If
    End Function

    Private Shared Function IsQueryOverDataSource(ByVal expression As Expression) As Boolean
        ' If expression represents an unqueried IQueryable data source instance,
        ' expression is of type ConstantExpression, not MethodCallExpression.
        Return (TypeOf expression Is MethodCallExpression)
    End Function
End Class

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Linq.Expressions;

namespace LinqToTerraServerProvider
{
    class TerraServerQueryContext
    {
        // Executes the expression tree that is passed to it.
        internal static object Execute(Expression expression, bool IsEnumerable)
        {
            // The expression must represent a query over the data source.
            if (!IsQueryOverDataSource(expression))
                throw new InvalidProgramException("No query over the data source was specified.");

            // Find the call to Where() and get the lambda expression predicate.
            InnermostWhereFinder whereFinder = new InnermostWhereFinder();
            MethodCallExpression whereExpression = whereFinder.GetInnermostWhere(expression);
            LambdaExpression lambdaExpression = (LambdaExpression)((UnaryExpression)(whereExpression.Arguments[1])).Operand;

            // Send the lambda expression through the partial evaluator.
            lambdaExpression = (LambdaExpression)Evaluator.PartialEval(lambdaExpression);

            // Get the place name(s) to query the Web service with.
            LocationFinder lf = new LocationFinder(lambdaExpression.Body);
            List<string> locations = lf.Locations;
            if (locations.Count == 0)
                throw new InvalidQueryException("You must specify at least one place name in your query.");

            // Call the Web service and get the results.
            Place[] places = WebServiceHelper.GetPlacesFromTerraServer(locations);

            // Copy the IEnumerable places to an IQueryable.
            IQueryable<Place> queryablePlaces = places.AsQueryable<Place>();

            // Copy the expression tree that was passed in, changing only the first
            // argument of the innermost MethodCallExpression.
            ExpressionTreeModifier treeCopier = new ExpressionTreeModifier(queryablePlaces);
            Expression newExpressionTree = treeCopier.CopyAndModify(expression);

            // This step creates an IQueryable that executes by replacing Queryable methods with Enumerable methods.
            if (IsEnumerable)
                return queryablePlaces.Provider.CreateQuery(newExpressionTree);
            else
                return queryablePlaces.Provider.Execute(newExpressionTree);
        }

        private static bool IsQueryOverDataSource(Expression expression)
        {
            // If expression represents an unqueried IQueryable data source instance,
            // expression is of type ConstantExpression, not MethodCallExpression.
            return (expression is MethodCallExpression);
        }
    }
}

This class organizes the work of executing a query. After finding the expression that represents the innermost Queryable.Where call, this code retrieves the lambda expression that represents the predicate that was passed to Queryable.Where. It then passes the predicate expression to a method to be partially evaluated, so that all references to local variables are translated into values. Then it calls a method to extract the requested locations from the predicate, and calls another method to obtain the result data from the Web service.

In the next step, this code copies the expression tree that represents the LINQ query and makes one modification to the expression tree. The code uses an expression tree visitor subclass to replace the data source that the innermost query operator call is applied to with the concrete list of Place objects that were obtained from the Web service.

Before the list of Place objects is inserted into the expression tree, its type is changed from IEnumerable to IQueryable by calling AsQueryable. This type change is necessary because when the expression tree is rewritten, the node that represents the method call to the innermost query operator method is reconstructed. The node is reconstructed because one of the arguments has changed (that is, the data source that it is applied to). The Call(Expression, MethodInfo, IEnumerable<(Of <(Expression>)>)) method, which is used to reconstruct the node, will throw an exception if any argument is not assignable to the corresponding parameter of the method that it will be passed to. In this case, the IEnumerable list of Place objects would not be assignable to the IQueryable parameter of Queryable.Where. Therefore, its type is changed to IQueryable.

By changing its type to IQueryable, the collection also obtains an IQueryProvider member, accessed by the Provider property, that can create or execute queries. The dynamic type of the IQueryable°Place collection is EnumerableQuery, which is a type that is internal to the System.Linq API. The query provider that is associated with this type executes queries by replacing Queryable standard query operator calls with the equivalent Enumerable operators, so that effectively the query becomes a LINQ to Objects query.

The final code in the TerraServerQueryContext class calls one of two methods on the IQueryable list of Place objects. It calls CreateQuery if the client query returns enumerable results, or Execute if the client query returns a non-enumerable result.

The code in this class is very specific to this TerraServer-USA provider. Therefore, it is encapsulated in the TerraServerQueryContext class instead of being inserted directly into the more generic IQueryProvider implementation.

The provider you are creating requires only the information in the Queryable.Where predicate to query the Web service. Therefore, it uses LINQ to Objects to do the work of executing the LINQ query by using the internal EnumerableQuery type. An alternative way to use LINQ to Objects to execute the query is to have the client wrap the part of the query to be executed by LINQ to Objects in a LINQ to Objects query. This is accomplished by calling AsEnumerable<(Of <(TSource>)>) on the rest of the query, which is the part of the query that the provider requires for its specific purposes. The advantage of this kind of implementation is that the division of work between the custom provider and LINQ to Objects is more transparent.

Note:
The provider presented in this topic is a simple provider that has minimal query support of its own . Therefore, it relies heavily on LINQ to Objects to execute queries. A complex LINQ provider such as LINQ to SQL may support the whole query without handing any work off to LINQ to Objects.

To create a class to obtain data from the Web service

Add the WebServiceHelper class (or module in Visual Basic) to your project.

Visual Basic

Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports LinqToTerraServerProvider.TerraServerReference

Friend Module WebServiceHelper
    Private numResults As Integer = 200
    Private mustHaveImage As Boolean = False

    Friend Function GetPlacesFromTerraServer(ByVal locations As List(Of String)) As Place()
        ' Limit the total number of Web service calls.
        If locations.Count > 5 Then
            Dim s = "This query requires more than five separate calls to the Web service. Please decrease the number of places."
            Throw New InvalidQueryException(s)
        End If

        Dim allPlaces As New List(Of Place)

        ' For each location, call the Web service method to get data.
        For Each location In locations
            Dim places = CallGetPlaceListMethod(location)
            allPlaces.AddRange(places)
        Next

        Return allPlaces.ToArray()
    End Function

    Private Function CallGetPlaceListMethod(ByVal location As String) As Place()

        Dim client As New TerraServiceSoapClient()
        Dim placeFacts() As PlaceFacts

        Try
            ' Call the Web service method "GetPlaceList".
            placeFacts = client.GetPlaceList(location, numResults, mustHaveImage)

            ' If we get exactly 'numResults' results, they are probably truncated.
            If (placeFacts.Length = numResults) Then
                Dim s = "The results have been truncated by the Web service and would not be complete. Please try a different query."
                Throw New Exception(s)
            End If

            ' Create Place objects from the PlaceFacts objects returned by the Web service.
            Dim places(placeFacts.Length - 1) As Place
            For i = 0 To placeFacts.Length - 1
                places(i) = New Place(placeFacts(i).Place.City, _
                                      placeFacts(i).Place.State, _
                                      placeFacts(i).PlaceTypeId)
            Next

            ' Close the WCF client.
            client.Close()

            Return places
        Catch timeoutException As TimeoutException
            client.Abort()
            Throw
        Catch communicationException As System.ServiceModel.CommunicationException
            client.Abort()
            Throw
        End Try
    End Function
End Module

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using LinqToTerraServerProvider.TerraServerReference;

namespace LinqToTerraServerProvider
{
    internal static class WebServiceHelper
    {
        private static int numResults = 200;
        private static bool mustHaveImage = false;

        internal static Place[] GetPlacesFromTerraServer(List<string> locations)
        {
            // Limit the total number of Web service calls.
            if (locations.Count > 5)
                throw new InvalidQueryException("This query requires more than five separate calls to the Web service. Please decrease the number of locations in your query.");

            List<Place> allPlaces = new List<Place>();

            // For each location, call the Web service method to get data.
            foreach (string location in locations)
            {
                Place[] places = CallGetPlaceListMethod(location);
                allPlaces.AddRange(places);
            }

            return allPlaces.ToArray();
        }

        private static Place[] CallGetPlaceListMethod(string location)
        {
            TerraServiceSoapClient client = new TerraServiceSoapClient();
            PlaceFacts[] placeFacts = null;

            try
            {
                // Call the Web service method "GetPlaceList".
                placeFacts = client.GetPlaceList(location, numResults, mustHaveImage);

                // If there are exactly 'numResults' results, they are probably truncated.
                if (placeFacts.Length == numResults)
                    throw new Exception("The results have been truncated by the Web service and would not be complete. Please try a different query.");

                // Create Place objects from the PlaceFacts objects returned by the Web service.
                Place[] places = new Place[placeFacts.Length];
                for (int i = 0; i < placeFacts.Length; i++)
                {
                    places[i] = new Place(
                        placeFacts[i].Place.City,
                        placeFacts[i].Place.State,
                        placeFacts[i].PlaceTypeId);
                }

                // Close the WCF client.
                client.Close();

                return places;
            }
            catch (TimeoutException timeoutException)
            {
                client.Abort();
                throw;
            }
            catch (System.ServiceModel.CommunicationException communicationException)
            {
                client.Abort();
                throw;
            }
        }
    }
}

This class contains the functionality that obtains data from the Web service. This code uses a type named TerraServiceSoapClient, which is auto-generated for the project by Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), to call the Web service method GetPlaceList. Then, each result is translated from the return type of the Web service method to the .NET type that the provider defines for the data.

This code contains two checks that enhance the usability of the provider library. The first check limits the maximum time that a client application will wait for a response by limiting the total number of calls that are made to the Web service, per query, to five. For each location that is specified in the client query, one Web service request is generated. Therefore, the provider throws an exception if the query contains more than five locations.

The second check determines whether the number of results returned by the Web service is equal to the maximum number of results that it can return. If the number of results is the maximum number, it is likely that the results from the Web service are truncated. Instead of returning an incomplete list to the client, the provider throws an exception.

Adding the Expression Tree Visitor Classes

To create the visitor that finds the innermost Where method call expression

Add the ExpressionVisitor class to your project. This code is available in How to: Implement an Expression Tree Visitor. Add using directives (Imports statements in Visual Basic) to the file for the following namespaces: System.Collections.Generic, System.Collections.ObjectModel and System.Linq.Expressions.

Add the InnermostWhereFinder class, which inherits the ExpressionVisitor class, to your project.

Visual Basic

Imports System.Linq.Expressions

Class InnermostWhereFinder
    Inherits ExpressionVisitor

    Private innermostWhereExpression As MethodCallExpression

    Public Function GetInnermostWhere(ByVal expr As Expression) As MethodCallExpression
        Me.Visit(expr)
        Return innermostWhereExpression
    End Function

    Protected Overrides Function VisitMethodCall(ByVal expr As MethodCallExpression) As Expression
        If expr.Method.Name = "Where" Then
            innermostWhereExpression = expr
        End If

        Me.Visit(expr.Arguments(0))

        Return expr
    End Function
End Class

using System;
using System.Linq.Expressions;

namespace LinqToTerraServerProvider
{
    internal class InnermostWhereFinder : ExpressionVisitor
    {
        private MethodCallExpression innermostWhereExpression;

        public MethodCallExpression GetInnermostWhere(Expression expression)
        {
            Visit(expression);
            return innermostWhereExpression;
        }

        protected override Expression VisitMethodCall(MethodCallExpression expression)
        {
            if (expression.Method.Name == "Where")
                innermostWhereExpression = expression;

            Visit(expression.Arguments[0]);

            return expression;
        }
    }
}

This class inherits the base expression tree visitor class to perform the functionality of finding a specific expression. The base expression tree visitor class is designed to be inherited and specialized for a specific task that involves traversing an expression tree. The derived class overrides the VisitMethodCall method to seek out the expression that represents the innermost call to Where in the expression tree that represents the client query. This innermost expression is the expression that the provider extracts the search locations from.

To create the visitor that extracts data to query the Web service

Add the LocationFinder class to your project.

Visual Basic

Imports System.Linq.Expressions
Imports ETH = LinqToTerraServerProvider.ExpressionTreeHelpers

Friend Class LocationFinder
    Inherits ExpressionVisitor

    Private _expression As Expression
    Private _locations As List(Of String)

    Public Sub New(ByVal exp As Expression)
        Me._expression = exp
    End Sub

    Public ReadOnly Property Locations() As List(Of String)
        Get
            If _locations Is Nothing Then
                _locations = New List(Of String)()
                Me.Visit(Me._expression)
            End If
            Return Me._locations
        End Get
    End Property

    Protected Overrides Function VisitBinary(

Product Families

Resources

About Microsoft

Popular Places

Popular Searches

Popular Downloads

To create the project in Visual Studio

To add a service reference to the Web service

To implement System.Linq.IQueryable`1 and System.Linq.IOrderedQueryable`1

To implement System.Linq.IQueryProvider

To create a custom result type

To create a query context class

To create a class to obtain data from the Web service

To create the visitor that finds the innermost Where method call expression

To create the visitor that extracts data to query the Web service