Validate that the where statement is of the right type.

    The type may either be String, Expr, or list-like of Exprs.

    Parameters
    ----------
    w : String term expression, Expr, or list-like of Exprs.

    Returns
    -------
    where : The original where clause if the check was successful.

    Raises
    ------
    TypeError : An invalid data type was passed in for w (e.g. dict).

def _validate_where(w):
    """
    Validate that the where statement is of the right type.

    The type may either be String, Expr, or list-like of Exprs.

    Parameters
    ----------
    w : String term expression, Expr, or list-like of Exprs.

    Returns
    -------
    where : The original where clause if the check was successful.

    Raises
    ------
    TypeError : An invalid data type was passed in for w (e.g. dict).
    """

    if not (isinstance(w, (Expr, str)) or is_list_like(w)):
        raise TypeError("where must be passed as a string, Expr, "
                        "or list-like of Exprs")

    return w