MatinDeWet.Searchable.SqlServer 1.0.1

Searchable.SqlServer

SQL Server-specific dynamic search helpers for Entity Framework Core.

This package provides a small, focused API for building LIKE-based search filters over IQueryable<T> using SQL Server semantics. It is intended to be consumed as a NuGet package and versioned like one.

Package

dotnet add package MatinDeWet.Searchable.SqlServer

What It Does

• Builds dynamic search expressions from a request object or raw search terms.
• Supports Contains, StartsWith, EndsWith, and Exact matching modes.
• Escapes SQL Server wildcard characters before composing the query.
• Lets you combine multiple properties and multiple search terms with AND / OR logic.
• Keeps the API small so it can stay provider-specific and easy to mirror later for PostgreSQL.

Usages

1. Request-based search over a queryable

Use this when your request object already carries a search term.

using Searchable.SqlServer;
using Searchable.SqlServer.Contracts;
using Searchable.SqlServer.Enums;

IQueryable<Person> query = dbContext.People;
ISearchableRequest request = new SearchableRequest("al ex");

query = query.DynamicLikeSearch(
    request,
    [person => person.FirstName, person => person.LastName],
    ILikeMatchModeEnum.Contains);

DynamicLikeSearch removes empty input handling from the calling code and returns the original query when the request or search term is blank.

2. Search a queryable with raw terms

Use this when you already have a collection of terms and do not want to wrap them in a request object.

ICollection<string> terms = ["al", "ex"];

query = query.DynamicLikeSearch(
    terms,
    [person => person.FirstName, person => person.LastName],
    ILikeMatchModeEnum.StartsWith,
    termLogic: true,
    propertyLogic: true);

In this example, both terms must match because termLogic: true uses AND, while either property may match because propertyLogic: true uses OR.

3. Build a reusable expression from a request

Use this when you want to build an Expression<Func<T, bool>> and pass it into a LINQ Where later.

Expression<Func<Person, bool>> predicate = SearchableExtensions.BuildDynamicSearchExpression<Person>(
    request,
    [person => person.FirstName, person => person.LastName],
    ILikeMatchModeEnum.Contains);

query = query.Where(predicate);

4. Build a reusable expression from raw terms

Use this when the search terms are already in memory and you want to compose a predicate first.

Expression<Func<Person, bool>> predicate = SearchableExtensions.BuildDynamicSearchExpression<Person>(
    ["al", "ex"],
    [person => person.FirstName, person => person.LastName],
    ILikeMatchModeEnum.Contains,
    termLogic: false,
    propertyLogic: true);

query = query.Where(predicate);

5. Match modes

ILikeMatchModeEnum controls the generated SQL Server LIKE pattern.

• Contains matches anywhere in the string.
• StartsWith matches values that begin with the term.
• EndsWith matches values that end with the term.
• Exact matches the value exactly.

6. Search term normalization

Search terms are trimmed, split on whitespace, and escaped before being used in the query. That means input like " al ex " becomes two search terms, and special SQL Server wildcard characters are safely escaped.

API Surface

• Searchable.SqlServer.SearchableExtensions
• Searchable.SqlServer.Contracts.ISearchableRequest
• Searchable.SqlServer.Enums.ILikeMatchModeEnum

The package uses the GPL-3.0-only license.