Allow explicit return type object

src/DynamicExpresso.Core/Interpreter.cs

@@ -405,7 +405,16 @@ public Expression<TDelegate> ParseAsExpression<TDelegate>(string expressionText,
 
 		internal LambdaExpression ParseAsExpression(Type delegateType, string expressionText, params string[] parametersNames)
 		{
-			var lambda = ParseAs(delegateType, expressionText, parametersNames);
+			var delegateInfo = ReflectionExtensions.GetDelegateInfo(delegateType, parametersNames);
+
+			// return type is object means that we have no information beforehand
+			// => we force it to typeof(void) so that no conversion expression is emitted by the parser
+			//    and the actual expression type is preserved
+			var returnType = delegateInfo.ReturnType;
+			if (returnType == typeof(object))
+				returnType = typeof(void);
+
+			var lambda = ParseAsLambda(expressionText, returnType, delegateInfo.Parameters);
 			return lambda.LambdaExpression(delegateType);
 		}
 

src/DynamicExpresso.Core/Parsing/Parser.cs

@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ private Expression ParseExpressionSegment(Type returnType)
 			int errorPos = _token.pos;
 			var expression = ParseExpressionSegment();
 
-			if (returnType != typeof(void) && returnType != typeof(object))
+			if (returnType != typeof(void))
 			{
 				return GenerateConversion(expression, returnType, errorPos);
 			}
@@ -1126,31 +1126,41 @@ private MemberBinding[] ParseMemberInitializerList(Type newType)
 		}
 
 		private Expression ParseLambdaInvocation(LambdaExpression lambda, int errorPos)
+		{
+			return ParseInvocation(lambda, errorPos, ErrorMessages.ArgsIncompatibleWithLambda);
+		}
+
+		private Expression ParseDelegateInvocation(Expression delegateExp, int errorPos)
+		{
+			return ParseInvocation(delegateExp, errorPos, ErrorMessages.ArgsIncompatibleWithDelegate);
+		}
+
+		private Expression ParseInvocation(Expression expr, int errorPos, string error)
 		{
 			var args = ParseArgumentList();
 
-			if (!PrepareDelegateInvoke(lambda.Type, ref args))
-				throw CreateParseException(errorPos, ErrorMessages.ArgsIncompatibleWithLambda);
+			var invokeMethod = FindInvokeMethod(expr.Type);
+			if (invokeMethod == null || !CheckIfMethodIsApplicableAndPrepareIt(invokeMethod, args))
+				throw CreateParseException(errorPos, error);
 
-			return Expression.Invoke(lambda, args);
+			return Expression.Invoke(expr, invokeMethod.PromotedParameters);
 		}
 
 		private Expression ParseMethodGroupInvocation(MethodGroupExpression methodGroup, int errorPos)
 		{
 			var args = ParseArgumentList();
 
 			// find the best delegates that can be used with the provided arguments
-			var flags = BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Instance;
 			var candidates = methodGroup.Overloads
 				.Select(_ => new
 				{
 					Delegate = _,
 					Method = _.Method,
-					InvokeMethods = _.GetType().FindMembers(MemberTypes.Method, flags, Type.FilterName, "Invoke").Cast<MethodInfo>(),
+					InvokeMethod = FindInvokeMethod(_.GetType()),
 				})
 				.ToList();
 
-			var applicableMethods = FindBestMethod(candidates.SelectMany(_ => _.InvokeMethods), args);
+			var applicableMethods = FindBestMethod(candidates.Select(_ => _.InvokeMethod), args);
 
 			// no method found: retry with the delegate's method
 			// (the parameters might be different, e.g. params array, default value, etc)
@@ -1164,31 +1174,10 @@ private Expression ParseMethodGroupInvocation(MethodGroupExpression methodGroup,
 				throw CreateParseException(errorPos, ErrorMessages.AmbiguousDelegateInvocation);
 
 			var applicableMethod = applicableMethods[0];
-			var usedDeledate = candidates.Single(_ => new[] { _.Method }.Concat(_.InvokeMethods).Any(m => m == applicableMethod.MethodBase)).Delegate;
+			var usedDeledate = candidates.Single(_ => new[] { _.Method, _.InvokeMethod?.MethodBase }.Any(m => m == applicableMethod.MethodBase)).Delegate;
 			return Expression.Invoke(Expression.Constant(usedDeledate), applicableMethod.PromotedParameters);
 		}
 
-		private Expression ParseDelegateInvocation(Expression delegateExp, int errorPos)
-		{
-			var args = ParseArgumentList();
-
-			if (!PrepareDelegateInvoke(delegateExp.Type, ref args))
-				throw CreateParseException(errorPos, ErrorMessages.ArgsIncompatibleWithDelegate);
-
-			return Expression.Invoke(delegateExp, args);
-		}
-
-		private bool PrepareDelegateInvoke(Type type, ref Expression[] args)
-		{
-			var applicableMethods = FindMethods(type, "Invoke", false, args);
-			if (applicableMethods.Length != 1)
-				return false;
-
-			args = applicableMethods[0].PromotedParameters;
-
-			return true;
-		}
-
 		private Type ParseKnownType()
 		{
 			var name = _token.text;
@@ -1797,6 +1786,23 @@ private MethodData[] FindMethods(Type type, string methodName, bool staticAccess
 			return new MethodData[0];
 		}
 
+		private MethodData FindInvokeMethod(Type type)
+		{
+			var flags = BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.DeclaredOnly |
+						BindingFlags.Instance | _bindingCase;
+			foreach (var t in SelfAndBaseTypes(type))
+			{
+				var method = t.FindMembers(MemberTypes.Method, flags, _memberFilterCase, "Invoke")
+					.Cast<MethodBase>()
+					.SingleOrDefault();
+
+				if (method != null)
+					return MethodData.Gen(method);
+			}
+
+			return null;
+		}
+
 		private MethodData[] FindExtensionMethods(string methodName, Expression[] args)
 		{
 			var matchMethods = _arguments.GetExtensionMethods(methodName);

test/DynamicExpresso.UnitTest/GithubIssues.cs

@@ -347,6 +347,27 @@ public void GitHub_Issue_169_quatro()
 			Assert.AreEqual("56", result);
 		}
 
+		[Test]
+		public void GitHub_Issue_185()
+		{
+			var interpreter = new Interpreter().SetVariable("a", 123L);
+
+			// forcing the return type to object should work
+			// (ie a conversion expression should be emitted from long to object)
+			var del = interpreter.ParseAsDelegate<Func<object>>("a*2");
+			var result = del();
+			Assert.AreEqual(246, result);
+		}
+
+		[Test]
+		public void GitHub_Issue_185_2()
+		{
+			var interpreter = new Interpreter().SetVariable("a", 123L);
+			var del = interpreter.ParseAsDelegate<Func<dynamic>>("a*2");
+			var result = del();
+			Assert.AreEqual(246, result);
+		}
+
 		[Test]
 		public void GitHub_Issue_191()
 		{