No more recursive functions to define CAML Queries thanks to Camlex

Some times you have a random number of conditions to check in a CAML query and in those cases I used to define the queries using a random recursive function that I usually have to debug a few times works perfectly on the first go.

The code for those queries would be something like this (and this is a simple one):

public List<string> GetSomeInfo(string fieldsToSearch, string contentTypesToSearch)
{
    ...

    var queryval = string.Empty;
    if (contentTypesToSearch.IsNullOrEmpty())
        queryval = string.Format("<Where>" + GenerateFieldsQuery(fieldsToSearch.Split(','), 0) + "</Where>", text);
    else
        queryval = string.Format("<Where><And>" + GenerateCTypesQuery(contentTypesToSearch.Split(','), 0) + GenerateFieldsQuery(fieldsToSearch.Split(','), 0) + "</And></Where>", text);

    var scope = "Scope=\"RecursiveAll\"";

    ...
}

private static string GenerateFieldsQuery(string[] fields, int index)
{
    if (fields.Length == 0) return string.Empty;

    if (fields.Length == index + 1)
        return "<Contains><FieldRef Name='" + fields[index] + "' /><Value Type='Text'>{0}</Value></Contains>";

    return "<Or><Contains><FieldRef Name='" + fields[index] + "' /><Value Type='Text'>{0}</Value></Contains>" + GenerateFieldsQuery(fields, ++index) + "</Or>";
}

private static string GenerateCTypesQuery(string[] cTypes, int index)
{
    if (cTypes.Length == 0) return string.Empty;

    if (cTypes.Length == index + 1)
        return "<Eq><FieldRef Name='ContentType' /><Value Type='Choice'>" + cTypes[index] + "</Value></Eq>";

    return "<Or><Eq><FieldRef Name='ContentType' /><Value Type='Choice'>" + cTypes[index] + "</Value></Eq>" + GenerateCTypesQuery(cTypes, ++index) + "</Or>";
}

That was until now... Thanks to Camlex (and thanks to Luis for showing it to me), that code can be written like this:

public List<string> GetSomeInfo(string fieldsToSearch, string contentTypesToSearch)
{
    ...

    var queryVal = string.Empty;
    var fieldExtensions = new List<Expression<Func<SPListItem, bool>>>();
    var cTypeExtensions = new List<Expression<Func<SPListItem, bool>>>();

    if (!contentTypesToSearch.IsNullOrEmpty())
    {
        foreach (var cType in contentTypesToSearch.Split(','))
            cTypeExtensions.Add(x => (string)x["ContentType"] == cType);
    }

    foreach (var field in fieldsToSearch.Split(','))
        fieldExtensions.Add(x => ((string)x[field]).Contains(text));

    var expressions = new List<Expression<Func<SPListItem, bool>>>();
    expressions.Add(ExpressionsHelper.CombineOr(cTypeExtensions));
    expressions.Add(ExpressionsHelper.CombineOr(fieldExtensions));

    queryVal = Camlex.Query().WhereAll(expressions).ToString();

    ...
}

I'll miss the recursive methods though... they made me feel special...

Get Cortana in Windows 10 Desktop Outside the US

One of the features I wanted to test the most on the new release of Windows 10 was Cortana but living outside the US it was disabled :(

Fear not, it will take seconds to have the system configured.

Look for Region and Language Settings in the search bar where Cortana should be and open it.

There change your location to United States and then click on Add a language. Of course the language you need to add is English (United States) then make English (United States) your primary language (you don't need to remove your other languages or keyboards).

Once your screen look like this:

Reset the machine and you'll have Cortana waiting for you there.

If you are anything like me you would be yelling "Hey Cortana" to the computer closer and closer to the mic. Don't. Before it works you need to configure it. Click on the search bar, look for the hamburguer icon and click on Settings:

And finally enable everything :)

And now say: "Hey Cortana, How are you doing?"

She's so polite...

I just need to ask her why the accent colour of my Windows is suddenly brown U_U