How to convert a String to its equivalent LINQ Expression Tree?

Would the dynamic linq library help here? In particular, I'm thinking as a Where clause. If necessary, put it inside a list/array just to call .Where(string) on it! i.e.

var people = new List<Person> { person };
int match = people.Where(filter).Any();

If not, writing a parser (using Expression under the hood) isn't hugely taxing - I wrote one similar (although I don't think I have the source) in my train commute just before xmas...

void Main()
{
    var testdata = new List<Ownr> {
        //new Ownr{Name = "abc", Qty = 20}, // uncomment this to see it getting filtered out
        new Ownr{Name = "abc", Qty = 2},
        new Ownr{Name = "abcd", Qty = 11},
        new Ownr{Name = "xyz", Qty = 40},
        new Ownr{Name = "ok", Qty = 5},
    };

    Expression<Func<Ownr, bool>> func = Extentions.strToFunc<Ownr>("Qty", "<=", "10");
    func = Extentions.strToFunc<Ownr>("Name", "==", "abc", func);

    var result = testdata.Where(func.ExpressionToFunc()).ToList();

    result.Dump();
}

public class Ownr
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Qty { get; set; }
}

public static class Extentions
{
    public static Expression<Func<T, bool>> strToFunc<T>(string propName, string opr, string value, Expression<Func<T, bool>> expr = null)
    {
        Expression<Func<T, bool>> func = null;
        try
        {
            var type = typeof(T);
            var prop = type.GetProperty(propName);
            ParameterExpression tpe = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T));
            Expression left = Expression.Property(tpe, prop);
            Expression right = Expression.Convert(ToExprConstant(prop, value), prop.PropertyType);
            Expression<Func<T, bool>> innerExpr = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(ApplyFilter(opr, left, right), tpe);
            if (expr != null)
                innerExpr = innerExpr.And(expr);
            func = innerExpr;
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            ex.Dump();
        }

        return func;
    }
    private static Expression ToExprConstant(PropertyInfo prop, string value)
    {
        object val = null;

        try
        {
            switch (prop.Name)
            {
                case "System.Guid":
                    val = Guid.NewGuid();
                    break;
                default:
                    {
                        val = Convert.ChangeType(value, prop.PropertyType);
                        break;
                    }
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            ex.Dump();
        }

        return Expression.Constant(val);
    }
    private static BinaryExpression ApplyFilter(string opr, Expression left, Expression right)
    {
        BinaryExpression InnerLambda = null;
        switch (opr)
        {
            case "==":
            case "=":
                InnerLambda = Expression.Equal(left, right);
                break;
            case "<":
                InnerLambda = Expression.LessThan(left, right);
                break;
            case ">":
                InnerLambda = Expression.GreaterThan(left, right);
                break;
            case ">=":
                InnerLambda = Expression.GreaterThanOrEqual(left, right);
                break;
            case "<=":
                InnerLambda = Expression.LessThanOrEqual(left, right);
                break;
            case "!=":
                InnerLambda = Expression.NotEqual(left, right);
                break;
            case "&&":
                InnerLambda = Expression.And(left, right);
                break;
            case "||":
                InnerLambda = Expression.Or(left, right);
                break;
        }
        return InnerLambda;
    }

    public static Expression<Func<T, TResult>> And<T, TResult>(this Expression<Func<T, TResult>> expr1, Expression<Func<T, TResult>> expr2)
    {
        var invokedExpr = Expression.Invoke(expr2, expr1.Parameters.Cast<Expression>());
        return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, TResult>>(Expression.AndAlso(expr1.Body, invokedExpr), expr1.Parameters);
    }

    public static Func<T, TResult> ExpressionToFunc<T, TResult>(this Expression<Func<T, TResult>> expr)
    {
        var res = expr.Compile();
        return res;
    }
}

LinqPad has the Dump() method

Another such library is Flee

I did a quick comparison of Dynamic Linq Library and Flee and Flee was 10 times faster for the expression "(Name == \"Johan\" AND Salary > 500) OR (Name != \"Johan\" AND Salary > 300)"

This how you can write your code using Flee.

static void Main(string[] args)
{
  var context = new ExpressionContext();
  const string exp = @"(Person.Age > 3 AND Person.Weight > 50) OR Person.Age < 3";
  context.Variables.DefineVariable("Person", typeof(Person));
  var e = context.CompileDynamic(exp);

  var bob = new Person
  {
    Name = "Bob",
    Age = 30,
    Weight = 213,
    FavouriteDay = new DateTime(2000, 1, 1)
  };

  context.Variables["Person"] = bob;
  var result = e.Evaluate();
  Console.WriteLine(result);
  Console.ReadKey();
}