Is it possible to create an object expression at runtime? [duplicate] - f#

Question

How do I execute F# code from a string in a compiled F# program?

Answer 1

Here's a little script that uses the FSharp CodeDom to compile a string into an assembly and dynamically load it into the script session.
It uses a type extension simply to allow useful defaults on the arguments (hopefully let bound functions will support optional, named and params arguments in the near future.)
#r "FSharp.Compiler.dll"
#r "FSharp.Compiler.CodeDom.dll"
open System
open System.IO
open System.CodeDom.Compiler
open Microsoft.FSharp.Compiler.CodeDom
let CompileFSharpString(str, assemblies, output) =
use pro = new FSharpCodeProvider()
let opt = CompilerParameters(assemblies, output)
let res = pro.CompileAssemblyFromSource( opt, [|str|] )
if res.Errors.Count = 0 then
Some(FileInfo(res.PathToAssembly))
else None
let (++) v1 v2 = Path.Combine(v1, v2)
let defaultAsms = [|"System.dll"; "FSharp.Core.dll"; "FSharp.Powerpack.dll"|]
let randomFile() = __SOURCE_DIRECTORY__ ++ Path.GetRandomFileName() + ".dll"
type System.CodeDom.Compiler.CodeCompiler with
static member CompileFSharpString (str, ?assemblies, ?output) =
let assemblies = defaultArg assemblies defaultAsms
let output = defaultArg output (randomFile())
CompileFSharpString(str, assemblies, output)
// Our set of library functions.
let library = "
module Temp.Main
let f(x,y) = sin x + cos y
"
// Create the assembly
let fileinfo = CodeCompiler.CompileFSharpString(library)
// Import metadata into the FSharp typechecker
#r "0lb3lphm.del.dll"
let a = Temp.Main.f(0.5 * Math.PI, 0.0) // val a : float = 2.0
// Purely reflective invocation of the function.
let asm = Reflection.Assembly.LoadFrom(fileinfo.Value.FullName)
let mth = asm.GetType("Temp.Main").GetMethod("f")
// Wrap weakly typed function with strong typing.
let f(x,y) = mth.Invoke(null, [|box (x:float); box (y:float)|]) :?> float
let b = f (0.5 * Math.PI, 0.0) // val b : float = 2.0
To use this in a compiled program you would need the purely reflective invocation.
Of course this is a toy compared to a full scripting API that many of us in the community have urgently requested.
best of luck,
Danny

Answer 2

Are you looking for an Eval function?
You might want to try looking at this blog post:
http://fsharpnews.blogspot.com/2007/02/symbolic-manipulation.html
If you read in your expressions into these kind of symbolic datastructures, they are pretty easy to evaluate.
Or, perhaps you are looking for scripting support:
http://blogs.msdn.com/chrsmith/archive/2008/09/12/scripting-in-f.aspx
If you really want dynamic compilation, you could do it with the F# CodeDom provider.

Answer 3

There has been movement on this front. You can now compile using the FSharp.Compiler.Service
simple sample using FSharp.Compiler.Service 5.0.0 from NuGet
open Microsoft.FSharp.Compiler.SimpleSourceCodeServices
let compile (codeText:string) =
let scs = SimpleSourceCodeServices()
let src,dllPath =
let fn = Path.GetTempFileName()
let fn2 = Path.ChangeExtension(fn, ".fs")
let fn3 = Path.ChangeExtension(fn, ".dll")
fn2,fn3
File.WriteAllText(src,codeText)
let errors, exitCode = scs.Compile [| "fsc.exe"; "-o"; dllPath; "-a";src; "-r"; "WindowsBase"; "-r" ;"PresentationCore"; "-r"; "PresentationFramework" |]
match errors,exitCode with
| [| |],0 -> Some dllPath
| _ ->
(errors,exitCode).Dump("Compilation failed")
File.Delete src
File.Delete dllPath
None
then it's a matter of Assembly.LoadFrom(dllPath) to get it into the current app domain.
followed by reflection based-calls into the dll (or possibly Activator.CreateInstance)
Sample LinqPad Usage