Dynamic LINQ to DataTable: why using hardcode string "it" as DataRow

Question

Assume I have a DataTable with three columns C1, C2, C3:

var dt = new DataTable();
dt.Columns.Add("C1", typeof (int));
dt.Columns.Add("C2", typeof (string));
dt.Columns.Add("C3", typeof(string));

dt.Rows.Add(1, "1", "1");
dt.Rows.Add(1, "1", "2");
dt.Rows.Add(1, "2", "2");

I use Dynamic Linq on nuget to GroupBy columns C1 and C2 like the code below and it works perfectly:

 var output = dt.AsEnumerable()
            .AsQueryable()
            .GroupBy("new(it[\"C1\"] as C1, it[\"C2\"] as C2)", "it");

If you notice, there is a hardcode string it to present as DataRow, I get this idea from:

Dynamic Linq GroupBy

. If I try changing it to string row for example:

GroupBy("new(row[\"C1\"] as C1, row[\"C2\"] as C2)", "row");

I will get runtime error:

No property or field 'row' exists in type 'DataRow'

So, I don't clear up my mind much why having to hardcode it as DataRow? Is there any reason for this.

Answer 1

That's just how the Dynamic LINQ provider is written. It has three hard-coded keywords that it recognizes when it tries to parse the LINQ expressions: it, iff, and new:

static readonly string keywordIt = "it";
static readonly string keywordIif = "iif";
static readonly string keywordNew = "new";

You can check the source to the LINQ assembly yourself if you want to see more details.

(BTW: "it" here appears to be short for "identifier token", if I had to guess.)

Answer 2

Well I suppose they had to call the current object in the enumeration 'something', so 'it' seems like a reasonable choice.