Xamarin MVVM Fill Model with a Model Property - xamarin

Question

How do work with a model with a model property inside of it?
I am pulling info from an api successfully but it does not work after I try to change my model from int to model like below:
public class TypeModel
{
[PrimaryKey]
public int pType { get; set; }
public DepartmentModel fDepartment { get; set; }
public string Title { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
public string Comments { get; set; }
public string Version { get; set; }
}
Here is the department model
public class DepartmentModel
{
public int pDepartment { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
My ViewModel had this code and was working. Been trying to make changes as I think I need to change it in here somehow.
Types.Clear();
IEnumerable<TypesModel> types = await DataSource.GetTypesAsync(typeinfo.pType, true);
foreach (var column in types)
{
Types.Add(column);
}
Here is the deserialization from the api.
IEnumerable<TypeModel> TypeEnumerator;
public async Task<IEnumerable<TypeModel>> GetTypesAsync(bool r = false)
{
if (r)
{
var j = await HttpConstructor.GetStringAsync($"api/gettypes");
return await Task.Run(() => JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IEnumerable<TypeModel>>(j));
}
return TypeEnumerator; ;
}
Here is the json information being produced from the api for types
{
"pType": 10,
"fDepartment": 1,
"title": "Bigwig",
"description": "For the bigwigs",
"comments": "high priority",
"version": "1.2.3"
},
{
"pType": 11,
"fDepartment": 1,
"title": "Frontdesk",
"description": "front end people",
"comments": "none",
"version": "1.2.4"
}

Answer 1

this is what I would do. There are undoubtedly other ways to approach it
public class TypeModel
{
[PrimaryKey]
public int pType { get; set; }
public int fDepartment { get; set; }
public DepartmentModel Department { get; set; }
public string Title { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
public string Comments { get; set; }
public string Version { get; set; }
}
List<TypesModel> types = await DataSource.GetTypesAsync(typeinfo.pType, true);
foreach (var type in types)
{
type.Department = new DepartmentModel
{
pDepartment = type.fDeparment,
Name = "???"
};
}

Answer 2

Got a solution going by using a Dictionary collection and avoided adjusting the model and mess up the business logic throughout the app.
I kept the original model and created a new one called TypesModel to use for list views.
public class TypesModel
{
[PrimaryKey]
public int pType { get; set; }
public Dictionary<int, string> fDepartment { get; set; }
public string Title { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
public string Comments { get; set; }
public string Version { get; set; }
}
Then I used Linq join to combine the information and also fill in the dictionary values.
var query = from t in types
join d in departments
on t.fDeparment equals d.pDepartment
select new TypesModel
{
pType = t.pType,
fDepartment = new Dictionary<int, string>()
{
{ d.pDepartment, d.Name }
},
Title = t.Title,
Description = t.Description
};