OutputCache varying by a complex object property - asp.net-mvc-3

Question

I have a controller action that receives a complex object as a parameter, I need the OutputCache to vary by one of the properties of this complex object. Is this possible? How?

Answer 1

if you have a model like
public class person{
public string Name {get;set;}
public string location {get;set;}
}
and in the (strongly typed)view you have a form
#model Person
#Html.BeginForm(){
#Html.TextBoxFor(x=>x.Name)
#Html.TextBoxFor(x=>x.location)
}
and you submit the form to an ActionResult savePerson, with varying signature like
public ActionResult savePerson(Person p){
// p.Name
// p.location
}
or
public ActionResult savePerson(string Name, string location){
}
therefore i think if you annotate the ActionResult like
[OutputCache(Duration=3600, VaryByParam="Name")]
public ActionResult savePerson(Person p)
{
//
return View();
}
it will do for you, or if you have a complex model like
public class person{
public string Name {get;set;}
public Location loc {get;set;}
}
public class Location{
public string address
}
try
[OutputCache(Duration=3600, VaryByParam="Person.Location.address")]
public ActionResult savePerson(Person p)
{
//
return View();
}

Answer 2

I had the same requirement as above and came up with a slightly different approach
The class
/// <summary>
/// This class is used to encapsulate search filters for monitor graphs
/// </summary>
public class DatacarMonitorSearchCriteriaModel
{
public int? SynergyCode { get; set; }
[Required]
[DataType(DataType.Date)]
public DateTime StartDate { get; set; }
[Required]
[DataType(DataType.Date)]
public DateTime EndDate { get; set; }
/// <summary>
/// Filter to apply
/// </summary>
public IEnumerable<int> Countries { get; set; }
public DatacarMonitorSearchCriteriaModel()
{
Countries = new List<int>();
}
}
OutputCacheComplexAttribute
/// <summary>
/// <para>
/// An instance of this class mimic the behaviour of OutputCacheAttribute but for complex objects.
/// </para>
/// <para>
/// It allows to cache the output of any action that takes complex objects
/// </para>
/// </summary>
public class OutputCacheComplexAttribute : OutputCacheAttribute
{
private readonly Type[] _types;
private string _cachedKey;
/// <summary>
/// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="OutputCacheComplexAttribute"/> class.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="types">Types that this attribute will lookup for in QueryString/Form data and store values in cache.</param>
/// <exception cref="System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException">type;type cannot be null</exception>
public OutputCacheComplexAttribute(params Type[] types)
{
if (types == null)
{
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("type", "type cannot be null");
}
_types = types;
}
public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
StringBuilder sbCachedKey = new StringBuilder();
if (filterContext.HttpContext.Request.Url != null)
{
string path = filterContext.HttpContext.Request.Url.PathAndQuery;
IDictionary<string, object> parameters = filterContext.ActionParameters;
//we need to compute a cache key which will be used to store the action output for later retrieval
//The cache key scheme is
// {url}:{key 1}:{value};[{key 2}:{value 2}[; ... {key n}:{value n}]];
// where :
// - url is the url of the action that will be executed
// - key n is the name of the n-th parameter
// - value n is the value of the n-th parameter as json string.
foreach (KeyValuePair<string, object> kv in parameters)
{
var kv1 = kv;
if (kv.Value != null && _types.AtLeastOnce(t => t.IsInstanceOfType(kv1.Value)))
{
sbCachedKey = sbCachedKey.AppendFormat("{0}:{1};",kv.Key,
JsonConvert.SerializeObject(kv.Value, Formatting.None, new JsonSerializerSettings()
{
NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore,
ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore
}));
}
}
_cachedKey = String.Format("{0}:{1}:{2}", GetType().Name, path, sbCachedKey.ToString());
}
if (!String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(_cachedKey) && filterContext.HttpContext.Cache[_cachedKey] != null)
{
filterContext.Result = (ActionResult)filterContext.HttpContext.Cache[_cachedKey];
}
else
{
base.OnActionExecuting(filterContext);
}
}
public override void OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
{
if (!String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(_cachedKey))
{
filterContext.HttpContext.Cache.Add(_cachedKey, filterContext.Result, null,
DateTime.UtcNow.AddSeconds(Duration), Cache.NoSlidingExpiration,
CacheItemPriority.Default, null);
}
base.OnActionExecuted(filterContext);
}
}
Attribute usage
[OutputCacheComplex(typeof(DatacarMonitorSearchCriteriaModel), Duration = OutputCacheDurationInSeconds, Location = OutputCacheLocation.Server)]
public async Task<JsonNetResult<DatacarMonitorDetailModel>> ReadMonitorDetailsJson([DataSourceRequest] DataSourceRequest request, DatacarMonitorSearchCriteriaModel criteria)
{
//some really complicated code here
}
with this new attribute, you can specify which type[s] to use for caching and the cache key will be computed based on values of each its properties.

Answer 3

For object, just that work fine:
[OutputCache(VaryByParam = "*", Duration = 60)]