Convert Linq expression “obj => obj.Prop” into “parent => parent.obj.Prop”

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What you’re looking for is the ability to compose expressions, just as you can compose functions:

public static Expression<Func<T, TResult>> Compose<T, TIntermediate, TResult>(
    this Expression<Func<T, TIntermediate>> first,
    Expression<Func<TIntermediate, TResult>> second)
{
    return Expression.Lambda<Func<T, TResult>>(
        second.Body.Replace(second.Parameters[0], first.Body),
        first.Parameters[0]);
}

This relies on the following method to replace all instances of one expression with another:

public class ReplaceVisitor:ExpressionVisitor
{
    private readonly Expression from, to;
    public ReplaceVisitor(Expression from, Expression to)
    {
        this.from = from;
        this.to = to;
    }

    public override Expression Visit(Expression ex)
    {
        if(ex == from) return to;
        else return base.Visit(ex);
    }  
}

public static Expression Replace(this Expression ex,
    Expression from,
    Expression to)
{
    return new ReplaceVisitor(from, to).Visit(ex);
}

You can now take an expression selecting a property:

Expression<Func<Customer, object>> propertySelector = cust => cust.Name;

And an expression selecting that object from the model:

Expression<Func<CustomerModel, Customer>> modelSelector = model => model.Customer;

and compose them:

Expression<Func<Customer, object> magic = modelSelector.Compose(propertySelector);

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