Expression of type 'System.Int32' cannot be used for parameter of type 'System.Object' of method 'Boolean Equals(System.Object)'

Question

i have one common grid view column filter method that filter grid view record with ColumnName and SearchText wise. here when i operate on nullable int datacolumn there is error thrown from this method like :

Expression of type 'System.Int32' cannot be used for parameter of type 'System.Object' of method 'Boolean Equals(System.Object)'

my method code is :

 public static IQueryable<T> FilterForColumn<T>(this IQueryable<T> queryable, string colName, string searchText)
{
    if (colName != null && searchText != null)
    {
        var parameter = Expression.Parameter(typeof(T), "m");
        var propertyExpression = Expression.Property(parameter, colName);
        System.Linq.Expressions.ConstantExpression searchExpression = null;
        System.Reflection.MethodInfo containsMethod = null;
        // this must be of type Expression to accept different type of expressions
        // i.e. BinaryExpression, MethodCallExpression, ...
        System.Linq.Expressions.Expression body = null;
        Expression ex1 = null;
        Expression ex2 = null;
        switch (colName)
        {
            case "JobID":
            case "status_id":
                Int32 _int = Convert.ToInt32(searchText);
                searchExpression = Expression.Constant(_int);
                containsMethod = typeof(Int32).GetMethod("Equals", new[] { typeof(Int32) });
                body = Expression.Call(propertyExpression, containsMethod, searchExpression);
                break;
            case "group_id":
                Int32? _int1 = Convert.ToInt32(searchText);
                searchExpression = Expression.Constant(_int1);
                containsMethod = typeof(Int32?).GetMethod("Equals", new[] { typeof(Int32?) });                     
                //Error throws from this line
                body = Expression.Call(propertyExpression, containsMethod, searchExpression);


                break;
            case "FileSize":
            case "TotalFileSize":
                Int64? _int2 = Convert.ToInt64(searchText);
                searchExpression = Expression.Constant(_int2);
                containsMethod = typeof(Int64?).GetMethod("Equals", new[] { typeof(Int64?) });
                body = Expression.Call(propertyExpression, containsMethod, searchExpression);
                break;
            // section for DateTime? properties
            case "PublishDate":
            case "Birth_date":
            case "Anniversary_date":
            case "Profile_Updated_datetime":
            case "CompletedOn":
                DateTime currentDate = DateTime.ParseExact(searchText, "dd/MM/yyyy", null);
                DateTime nextDate = currentDate.AddDays(1);
                ex1 = Expression.GreaterThanOrEqual(propertyExpression, Expression.Constant(currentDate, typeof(DateTime?)));
                ex2 = Expression.LessThan(propertyExpression, Expression.Constant(nextDate, typeof(DateTime?)));
                body = Expression.AndAlso(ex1, ex2);
                break;
            // section for DateTime properties
            case "Created_datetime":
            case "Reminder_Date":
            case "News_date":
            case "thought_date":
            case "SubscriptionDateTime":
            case "Register_datetime":
            case "CreatedOn":
                DateTime currentDate1 = DateTime.ParseExact(searchText, "dd/MM/yyyy", null);
                DateTime nextDate1 = currentDate1.AddDays(1);
                ex1 = Expression.GreaterThanOrEqual(propertyExpression, Expression.Constant(currentDate1));
                ex2 = Expression.LessThan(propertyExpression, Expression.Constant(nextDate1));
                body = Expression.AndAlso(ex1, ex2);
                break;
            default:
                searchExpression = Expression.Constant(searchText);
                containsMethod = typeof(string).GetMethod("Contains", new[] { typeof(string) });
                body = Expression.Call(propertyExpression, containsMethod, searchExpression);
                break;
        }
        var predicate = Expression.Lambda<Func<T, bool>>(body, new[] { parameter });
        return queryable.Where(predicate);
    }
    else
    {
        return queryable;
    }
}

here is my query that i fired :

var query = Helper.GetUsers().Where(u => u.Id != user_id).OrderByDescending(u => u.Register_datetime).Select(u => new
                  {
                      Id = u.Id,
                      Name = u.First_name + " " + u.Last_name,
                      IsActive = u.IsActive,
                      IsVerified = u.IsVerified,
                      Username = u.Username,
                      password = u.password,
                      Birth_date = u.Birth_date,
                      Anniversary_date = u.Anniversary_date,
                      status_id = u.status_id,
                      group_id = u.group_id,
                      Profile_Updated_datetime = u.Profile_Updated_datetime,
                      Register_datetime = u.Register_datetime
                  }).FilterForColumn(ColumnName, SearchText).ToList();

here i include my query.GetType().ToString() result for better understanding types of columns that i operate on it.

System.Collections.Generic.List`1[<>f__AnonymousType0`12[System.Int32,System.String,System.Boolean,System.Boolean,System.String,System.String,System.Nullable`1[System.DateTime],System.Nullable`1[System.DateTime],System.Int32,System.Nullable`1[System.Int32],System.Nullable`1[System.DateTime],System.DateTime]]

Answer 1

EDIT

Found the solution in this question. You need to convert the expression to Object before calling the Equals(object)method:

var converted = Expression.Convert(searchExpression, typeof(object));
body = Expression.Call(propertyExpression, containsMethod, converted);

Nicodemus13's suggestion of explicitly setting searchExpression's type to Object in the first place should work, too.

Original

I haven't found the issue yet, but I have reproduced the problem in a SSCCE using Linqpad:

void Main()
{
    var myInstance = new myClass();
    var equalsMethod = typeof(Int32?).GetMethod("Equals", new[] { typeof(Int32?) });
    int? nullableInt = 1;
    var nullableIntExpr = System.Linq.Expressions.Expression.Constant(nullableInt);
    var myInstanceExpr = System.Linq.Expressions.Expression.Constant(myInstance);
    var propertyExpr = System.Linq.Expressions.Expression.Property(myInstanceExpr, "MyProperty");
    var result = Expression.Call(propertyExpr,equalsMethod,nullableIntExpr); // This line throws the exception.
    Console.WriteLine(result);
}

class myClass{public int? MyProperty{get;set;}}

This line:

containsMethod = typeof(Int32?).GetMethod("Equals", new[] { typeof(Int32?) });

returns a MethodInfo for the method Int32?.Equals (Object other). Notice the parameter type is object, not Int32 (or Int32?) as you might expect.

The reason is typeof(Int32?) is System.Nullable<Int32>, which only has the Equals(object) method.