Add ExpandEnumMethods to expand enum extension calls into ternary expressions by Copilot · Pull Request #150 · koenbeuk/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables

Copilot · 2026-01-21T20:13:25Z

Adds a new ExpandEnumMethods property to the ProjectableAttribute that expands enum extension method calls into a chain of ternary expressions for each enum value. This enables EF Core to translate these expressions to SQL CASE statements, making enum methods usable in Where() and OrderBy() clauses.

How it works

When ExpandEnumMethods = true is set on a projectable property, enum method calls are expanded into ternary expressions that call the method on each enum member. EF Core then evaluates these method calls at runtime.

@this.Status == Status.Pending ? EnumExtensions.GetDisplayName(Status.Pending) : @this.Status == Status.Approved ? EnumExtensions.GetDisplayName(Status.Approved) : null

Supported return types

String - returns null as fallback
Boolean - returns default(bool) (false) as fallback
Integer - returns default(int) (0) as fallback
Other value types - returns default(T) as fallback

Features

Works with any enum extension method without special configuration
Supports nullable enum types (wraps expansion in null check)
Supports methods with parameters
Supports enum properties on navigation properties

Example

public enum OrderStatus
{
    [Display(Name = "Pending Review")]
    Pending,
    [Display(Name = "Approved")]
    Approved,
}

public static class EnumExtensions
{
    public static string GetDisplayName(this OrderStatus value) { ... }
    public static bool IsApproved(this OrderStatus value) { ... }
    public static string Format(this OrderStatus value, string prefix) { ... }
}

public class Order
{
    public OrderStatus Status { get; set; }
    
    [Projectable(ExpandEnumMethods = true)]
    public string StatusName => Status.GetDisplayName();
    
    [Projectable(ExpandEnumMethods = true)]
    public bool IsStatusApproved => Status.IsApproved();
    
    [Projectable(ExpandEnumMethods = true)]
    public string FormattedStatus => Status.Format("Status: ");
}

SQL Generated

EF Core translates the expanded expressions to CASE statements:

SELECT CASE
    WHEN [o].[Status] = 0 THEN N'Pending Review'
    WHEN [o].[Status] = 1 THEN N'Approved'
END AS [StatusName]
FROM [Orders] AS [o]

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Expand enum types properties' extension methods to the generated expression tree</issue_title>
<issue_description>While it is not useful in .Select() projections because it is resolved on runtime by EF core, it is useful when used in .Where() and .OrderBy()

Given this example :

public static class EnumExtensions
{
    public static T? GetAttribute<T>(this Enum value) where T : Attribute
    {
        var type = value.GetType();
        var memberInfo = type.GetMember(value.ToString()).FirstOrDefault();
        return memberInfo?.GetCustomAttribute<T>();
    }
}

namespace Foo {
    public static class EntityExtensions
    {
        public enum CustomEnum
        {
            [Display(Name = "Value 1")]
            Value1,
            
            [Display(Name = "Value 2")]
            Value2,
        }
        
        public record Entity
        {
            public int Id { get; set; }
            public CustomEnum? MyValue { get; set; }
            
            [Projectable(EnumPropertiesExapend = true)] // New ProjectableAttribute parameter here
            public string? MyEnumName => MyValue?.GetAttribute<DisplayAttribute>()?.Name;
        }
    }
}

MyEnumName would be expanded to an sequence of ternary expressions (because switch are not suppored in expression trees), like this :

public string MyEnumName => MyValue == CustomEnum.Value1 ? "Value 1" : MyValue == CustomEnum.Value2 ? "Value 2" : null;

Here, GetAttribute() is just an example, it could be any user specified extension, the value would be resolved during compilation to the expression tree source generation.
</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Fixes Expand enum types properties' extension methods to the generated expression tree #149

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.

…enum method expansion Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

PhenX · 2026-01-21T21:08:17Z

@copilot I see that methods interpretation is not straightforward at all during source generation, so I want to try something, using the ProjectableEnumMethodAttribute which tends to describe extension methods for what they return, it can be used without argument if the method returns the enum member attribute of type T, one argument (the attribute type) if it returns the attribute of this type from the enum member, or two args : attribute type and property name : if the method returns the attribute's property value.
Please change the evaluation code to use it, and throw a compilation error if it is not present.
Also, add functional tests

…ation Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-01-21T21:19:21Z

@copilot I see that methods interpretation is not straightforward at all during source generation, so I want to try something, using the ProjectableEnumMethodAttribute which tends to describe extensio...

Implemented in becae46.

Added ProjectableEnumMethodAttribute which describes what an enum extension method returns:

[ProjectableEnumMethod(typeof(DisplayAttribute), nameof(DisplayAttribute.Name))] - returns the attribute's property value
[ProjectableEnumMethod(typeof(DescriptionAttribute))] - returns the attribute's constructor value

The generator now requires this attribute on any method called with ExpandEnumMethods = true and reports error EFP0003 if missing.

Added functional tests that verify the SQL generation for filtering, selecting, and ordering by expanded enum properties.

PhenX · 2026-01-22T07:04:09Z

@copilot I was wrong to want to in-line attribute values in the expression tree. All we need is to call the enum methods on the enum members, in the expression tree and let EF do the rest.
Please remove ProjectableEnumMethodAttribute, it's uses and the method evaluation class because it is not needed as the source generator won't need it.
Adapt the unit tests, ans also add tests with enum members on navigation properties.

…ning values Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-01-22T07:13:18Z

@copilot I was wrong to want to in-line attribute values in the expression tree. All we need is to call the enum methods on the enum members, in the expression tree and let EF do the rest.
Please rem...

Implemented in f42ef49.

Removed ProjectableEnumMethodAttribute, EnumMethodCallEvaluator, and the EFP0003 diagnostic. The generator now calls enum methods directly on enum members in the expression tree, letting EF Core evaluate them at runtime.

Example generated expression:

@this.Status == Status.Pending ? EnumExtensions.GetDisplayName(Status.Pending) : @this.Status == Status.Approved ? EnumExtensions.GetDisplayName(Status.Approved) : null

Added a test for enum members on navigation properties as requested.

PhenX · 2026-01-22T16:53:53Z

@copilot Add new tests (unit et integration) that validate that other types are supported for enum expansion : boolean, integer, etc, and add new test showing that enum extension methods with parameters work well, fix if it does not work.
Update the readme according to the changes in the pull request, for the end user.

…rs, update README Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-01-22T17:03:38Z

@copilot Add new tests (unit et integration) that validate that other types are supported for enum expansion : boolean, integer, etc, and add new test showing that enum extension methods with paramete...

Implemented in e7b388e.

Added:

Unit tests for boolean (ExpandEnumMethodsReturningBoolean), integer (ExpandEnumMethodsReturningInteger), and methods with parameters (ExpandEnumMethodsWithParameter, ExpandEnumMethodsWithMultipleParameters)
Functional tests for filtering/selecting boolean enums (FilterOnBooleanEnumExpansion, SelectBooleanEnumExpansion), ordering by integer (OrderByIntegerEnumExpansion), and methods with parameters (SelectEnumMethodWithParameter)
Fixed generator to use default(T) for non-nullable value types instead of null
Updated README with comprehensive documentation for the ExpandEnumMethods feature, including examples for string, boolean, integer return types and methods with parameters

Copilot

Pull request overview

This pull request adds a new ExpandEnumMethods feature to the ProjectableAttribute that enables enum extension method calls to be expanded into ternary expressions, allowing EF Core to translate them into SQL CASE statements. This is particularly useful for Where() and OrderBy() clauses where enum extension methods (like getting display names from attributes) need to be translated to SQL.

Changes:

Added ExpandEnumMethods boolean property to ProjectableAttribute
Implemented enum method expansion logic in ExpressionSyntaxRewriter that generates ternary expressions for each enum value
Added comprehensive test coverage including generator tests and functional tests with verified SQL output
Updated README with detailed documentation and examples

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 41 out of 41 changed files in this pull request and generated 8 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Abstractions/ProjectableAttribute.cs	Adds ExpandEnumMethods property with XML documentation
src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Generator/ProjectableInterpreter.cs	Extracts ExpandEnumMethods attribute value and passes to ExpressionSyntaxRewriter
src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Generator/ExpressionSyntaxRewriter.cs	Core implementation: expands enum method calls into ternary expressions, handles nullable enums, supports different return types
tests/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Generator.Tests/ProjectionExpressionGeneratorTests.cs	Generator tests covering display attributes, descriptions, nullable enums, navigation properties, boolean/integer returns, and parameterized methods
tests/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Generator.Tests/*.verified.txt	Verified expected output for all generator tests
tests/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.FunctionalTests/ExpandEnumMethodsTests.cs	Functional tests verifying SQL generation for filtering, selecting, ordering, and various enum scenarios
tests/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.FunctionalTests/*.verified.txt	Verified SQL output for all functional tests across different .NET versions
README.md	Comprehensive documentation with examples, generated expressions, and SQL output

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.

src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Generator/ExpressionSyntaxRewriter.cs

src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Abstractions/ProjectableAttribute.cs

README.md

src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Generator/ExpressionSyntaxRewriter.cs

tests/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.FunctionalTests/ExpandEnumMethodsTests.cs

src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Generator/ExpressionSyntaxRewriter.cs

# Conflicts: # src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Generator/ExpressionSyntaxRewriter.cs # src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Generator/ProjectableInterpreter.cs # tests/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Generator.Tests/ProjectionExpressionGeneratorTests.cs

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 41 out of 41 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.

README.md

src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Abstractions/ProjectableAttribute.cs

Initial plan

dbc3e7b

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and PhenX Jan 21, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of PhenX January 21, 2026 20:14 View session

Add ExpandEnumMethods property to ProjectableAttribute and implement …

caaf34f

…enum method expansion Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Expand enum types properties' extension methods~~ Add ExpandEnumMethods to expand enum extension calls into ternary expressions Jan 21, 2026

Copilot AI requested a review from PhenX January 21, 2026 20:32

Copilot finished work on behalf of PhenX January 21, 2026 20:32

Prepare for better projectable enum methods interpretation

77e4440

Copilot started work on behalf of PhenX January 21, 2026 21:08 View session

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits January 21, 2026 21:15

Add ProjectableEnumMethodAttribute for compile-time enum method evalu…

7ff7d26

…ation Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Address code review feedback: improve comments and attribute matching

becae46

Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of PhenX January 21, 2026 21:20

Copilot started work on behalf of PhenX January 22, 2026 07:04 View session

Simplify enum method expansion: call methods directly instead of inli…

f42ef49

…ning values Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of PhenX January 22, 2026 07:14

Remove useless code

388a3b4

Copilot started work on behalf of PhenX January 22, 2026 16:54 View session

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits January 22, 2026 16:59

Add tests for boolean, integer return types and methods with paramete…

b4b2dba

…rs, update README Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Use SpecialType for nullable type check instead of string comparison

e7b388e

Co-authored-by: PhenX <42170+PhenX@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of PhenX January 22, 2026 17:04

PhenX assigned koenbeuk Jan 22, 2026

PhenX marked this pull request as ready for review January 22, 2026 17:22

PhenX requested a review from koenbeuk January 24, 2026 13:06

PhenX unassigned koenbeuk Jan 24, 2026

PhenX requested a review from Copilot February 5, 2026 21:32

PhenX unassigned Copilot Feb 5, 2026

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of PhenX February 5, 2026 21:32 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Feb 5, 2026

View reviewed changes

PhenX added 2 commits February 14, 2026 17:08

Improve code readability and better handle default return values

fdcecb0

PhenX requested a review from Copilot February 15, 2026 08:17

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of PhenX February 15, 2026 08:18 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Feb 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

README.md Show resolved Hide resolved

src/EntityFrameworkCore.Projectables.Abstractions/ProjectableAttribute.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Fix phrase

a5643df

PhenX merged commit 93cb8d2 into master Feb 15, 2026
4 checks passed

PhenX added this to the v6.0.0 milestone Feb 15, 2026

Conversation

Copilot AI commented Jan 21, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

How it works

Supported return types

Features

Example

SQL Generated

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Uh oh!

PhenX commented Jan 21, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI commented Jan 21, 2026

Uh oh!

PhenX commented Jan 22, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI commented Jan 22, 2026

Uh oh!

PhenX commented Jan 22, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI commented Jan 22, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Reviewed changes

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

3 participants

Copilot AI commented Jan 21, 2026 •

edited

Loading