Add Aspects to ASP.NET MVC controller using AspectMap - asp.net-mvc-3

We're looking at using an AOP framework for handling things like logging, tracing, and exception handling. I've built a prototype using PostSharp and now I'm trying to build the same functionality using AspectMap.
In a nutshell, I have an ASP.NET MVC 3 application and I want an aspect that I can easily attach to my controller methods that shows the entry, exit, execution time, and argument values. My PoC is the basic MVC 3 Internet Application template (File > New > Project > Web > ASP.NET MVC 3 Web Application > Internet). What I've done so far...
Created an AspectsRegistry
public class PoCRegistry : AspectsRegistry
{
public PoCRegistry()
{
ForAspect<ProfileAttribute>().HandleWith<ProfileHandler>();
}
}
Created a StructureMapControllerFactory
public class StuctureMapControllerFactory : DefaultControllerFactory
{
protected override IController GetControllerInstance( RequestContext requestContext, Type controllerType )
{
if( controllerType == null ) return null;
try
{
return ObjectFactory.GetInstance( controllerType ) as Controller;
}
catch( StructureMapException )
{
Debug.WriteLine( ObjectFactory.WhatDoIHave() );
throw;
}
}
}
Registered everything in Application_Start
protected void Application_Start()
{
AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
RegisterGlobalFilters( GlobalFilters.Filters );
RegisterRoutes( RouteTable.Routes );
ObjectFactory.Initialize( ie => ie.AddRegistry( new PoCRegistry() ) );
ControllerBuilder.Current.SetControllerFactory( new StuctureMapControllerFactory() );
}
At this point the application works, and I can see it's using my StructureMapControllerFactory to build the controller (debugger steps into that code). The problem is that I can't figure out where or how to "enrich" the controller that is generated. In the tutorial it says I need to use something like the following:
For<ICaseController>()
.Use<CaseController>()
.EnrichWith( AddAspectsTo<CaseController> );
But in the tutorial that goes in the AspectRegistry, which doesn't seem like the right place in this situation because the registry isn't responsible for resolving the controller request, the controller factory is. Unfortunately the GetInstance() method in the controller factory returns an object and the EnrichWith() method needs a SmartInstance.
At this point I'm stuck. Any hints, pointers, or assistance would be appreciated.

This is a use case I hadn't thought about to be honest. I'll setup a test project today and see what I can come up with. Bear with me!
Update
I've been playing around with the backend code (you can get a complete copy of the code from http://aspectmap.codeplex.com) and the relevant part is this:
public T AddAspectsTo<T>(T concreteObject)
{
ProxyGenerator dynamicProxy = new ProxyGenerator();
return (T)dynamicProxy.CreateInterfaceProxyWithTargetInterface(typeof(T), concreteObject,
new[] { (IInterceptor)new AspectInterceptor(attributeMap) });
}
This is using the castle dynamic proxy stuff. Unfortunately the CreateInterfaceProxy... methods require that an interface is passed in (rather than a base class like I'd hoped). Now I've found this question:
C# Dynamic Proxy 2 generate proxy from class with code in constructor ? How to?
That seems to show that it could be possible to use CreateClassProxy. I've not had chance to try this out yet and I'm going away for a week away from the computer. If you want to try and wire it up though you're welcome to get the source from codeplex and give it a try though. If not I'll put something together when I return.

Action filters can be used to provide such AOP functionality.
http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/older-versions/controllers-and-routing/understanding-action-filters-cs
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd410056%28v=vs.90%29.aspx

Related

using signalR .net core client

I have set up a signalR website .net core. My function in my hub is:
public async Task Notify(int id) {
await Clients.All.InvokeAsync("Notified", id);
}
I have also tested this with the following js:
let connection = new signalR.HubConnection(myURL);
connection.on('Notified', data => {
console.log(4, data);
});
connection.start();
The js code seems to work fine and I see the log when I try connection.Invoke('Notify').
Now I have a console app that can needs to make the invoke. I am trying this in two ways and don't mind either solution:
1. A mvc controller within the signalR website that can take the id and invoke 'Notified'.
2. Use the client library Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR.Client in the console app.
The way 1 I have only done in classic asp.net like this:
GlobalHost.ConnectionManager.GetHubContext(hubName)
But couldn't find a way to do this in .net core.
Way 2 I have used the library and tried this so far:
var con = new HubConnectionBuilder();
con.WithUrl(myURL);
var connection = con.Build();
connection.InvokeAsync("Notify",args[0]).Wait();
This is the closest I have come to create a connection in the same way as the js code. However this code throws a null pointer when calling connection.InvokeAsync. The connection object is not null. It seems to be an internal object that is null. According to the stack trace the exception is thrown when a MoveNext() function is internally called.
Well looks like both are not currently possible. As of now I just used a forced way which is hopefully temporary.
I have created and used the following base class for hubs:
public abstract class MyHub : Hub
{
private static Dictionary<string, IHubClients> _clients = new Dictionary<string, IHubClients>();
public override Task OnConnectedAsync()
{
var c = base.OnConnectedAsync();
_clients.Remove(Name);
_clients.Add(Name, Clients);
return c;
}
public static IHubClients GetClients(string Name) {
return _clients.GetValueOrDefault(Name);
}
}
GlobalHost is gone. You need to inject IHubContext<THub> like in this sample.
This can be a bug in SignalR alpha1. Can you file an issue on https://github.com/aspnet/signalr and include a simplified repro?

How to pursuade the ApiExplorer to create documentation for ExpandoObject?

I've created a very neat way of implementing a PATCH method for my Web.API project by making use of an ExpandoObject as a parameter. As illustrated below:
[HttpPatch, Route("api/employee/{id:int}")]
public IHttpActionResult Update(int id, [FromBody] ExpandoObject employee)
{
var source = Repository.FindEmployeeById(id);
Patch(employee, source);
Repository.SaveEmployee(source);
return Ok(source);
}
However, when generating documentation ApiExplorer is at a loss as to what to do with the ExpandoObject, which is totally understandable. Would anyone have any ideas on how to manipulate the ApiExplorer to provide some sensible documentation?
My idea was to maybe introduce an new attribute which points to the actual Type that is expected:
public IHttpActionResult Update(int id, [FromBody, Mimics(typeof(Employee))] ExpandoObject employee)
{
...
}
But I have no idea where to start, any ideas or suggestions are welcome.
So this has been the source of some late evenings in order to get the Api Explorer to play along with our developed Http Patch mechanism. Truth be told, I'd probably should do a bit of a proper write up to full explain the mechanics behind the whole idea. But for those of you who landed on this page because you want the Api explorer to use a different type in the documentation, this is where you need to look:
Open HelpPageConfigurationExtensions.cs and locate the following method:
//File: Areas/HelpPage/HelpPageConfigurationExtensions.cs
private static void GenerateRequestModelDescription(HelpPageApiModel apiModel, ModelDescriptionGenerator modelGenerator, HelpPageSampleGenerator sampleGenerator)
{
....
}
this is the location where the parameter information is available to you and also provides you with the ability to replace/substitute parameter information with something else. I ended up doing the following to handle my ExpandoObject parameter issue:
if (apiParameter.Source == ApiParameterSource.FromBody)
{
Type parameterType = apiParameter.ParameterDescriptor.ParameterType;
// do something different when dealing with parameters
// of type ExpandObject.
if (parameterType == typeof(ExpandoObject))
{
// if a request-type-attribute is defined, assume the parameter
// is the supposed to mimic the type defined.
var requestTypeAttribute = apiParameter.ParameterDescriptor.GetCustomAttributes<RequestTypeAttribute>().FirstOrDefault();
if (requestTypeAttribute != null)
{
parameterType = requestTypeAttribute.RequestType;
}
}
}
Just, note that the RequestTypeAttribute is something I devised. My WebApi endpoint looks like this now:
public IHttpActionResult Update(int id,
[FromBody, RequestType(typeof(Employee))] ExpandoObject employee)
Thank you to everyone who took time to look into the problem.

RazorEngine WebApiTemplateBase #Url.Content()

How can I get #Url.Content() working in my _Layout.cshtml when RazorEngine is being used from ASP.NET Web API?
RazorEngine (v.3.7.2) only deals with the Razor syntax and not the additional helper methods like #Html or #Url. These can be added by extending the TemplateBase<> and setting it in the configuration.
There are code examples in some old issues: #26, #29; in an unreleased, incomplete piece of code in MvcTemplateBase.cs; and in the documentation for Extending the Template Syntax.
My problem is I'm using ASP.NET Web API (v.1) which won't have HttpContext.Current (nor should it). I want to provide a UrlHelper as I want to use its Content() method but it needs to be instantiated with the HttpRequestMessage which won't be available.
Perhaps there's no way to get #Url helper methods for my compiled layout. Perhaps I need some other way of getting the absolute path from the virtual path. It seems I'd still need some way of checking the Request though.
A way to get this working is to follow the direction set by Extending the Template Syntax and use VirtualPathUtility.ToAbsolute() in a helper method.
using System.Web;
using RazorEngine.Templating;
namespace MyNamespace.Web
{
public abstract class WebApiTemplateBase<T> : TemplateBase<T>
{
protected WebApiTemplateBase()
{
Url = new UrlHelper();
}
public UrlHelper Url;
}
public class UrlHelper
{
public string Content(string content)
{
return VirtualPathUtility.ToAbsolute(content);
}
}
}
Set up the TemplateService configuration with this extension of the TemplateBase<>.
var config =
new RazorEngine.Configuration.TemplateServiceConfiguration
{
TemplateManager = new TemplateManager(),
BaseTemplateType = typeof(WebApiTemplateBase<>)
};

ASP.NET MVC 3 Dependency Injection - Controllers, Views & Action Filters

I'm trying to get dependency injection working in an ASP.NET MVC 3 application using Microsoft Unity. First i have implemented my own IDependencyResolver and activated it in my Global.asax file like so:
DependencyResolver.SetResolver(new UnityDependencyResolver(container));
I found that i don't need to do anything else to get controller injection (via both the constructor and [Dependency] attribute) to work. With the default view engine i also found i could get the [Dependency] attribute to work in the standard views but not the Layout views. Is it possible to get this to work for the Layout Views aswell?
However i have implemented my own view engine which inherits from VirtualPathProviderViewEngine that overrides the CreateView/CreatePartialView methods and returns my own custom view (implements IView). See the Render method of the custom view below:
public void Render(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer) {
var webViewPage = DependencyResolver.Current.GetService(_type) as WebViewPage;
//var webViewPage = Activator.CreateInstance(_type) as WebViewPage;
if (webViewPage == null)
throw new InvalidOperationException("Invalid view type");
webViewPage.VirtualPath = _virtualPath;
webViewPage.ViewContext = viewContext;
webViewPage.ViewData = viewContext.ViewData;
webViewPage.InitHelpers();
WebPageRenderingBase startPage = null;
if (_runViewStartPages)
startPage = StartPage.GetStartPage(webViewPage, "_ViewStart", _viewStartFileExtensions);
var pageContext = new WebPageContext(viewContext.HttpContext, webViewPage, null);
webViewPage.ExecutePageHierarchy(pageContext, writer, startPage);
}
With the commented out line i completely lost dependency injection within my views so i changed it to the line above which again works fine for the standard views but not for the Layout views. I'd appreciate it if you could show me how the above could be modified to work for the Layout views aswell?
Finally i'm trying to get action filter injection working aswell. I have found two different cases:
Apply the filter to the action via an attribute.
Defining it as a global filter, e.g.:
GlobalFilters.Filters.Add(new TestAttribute());
Neither seem to use the dependency resolver. Therefore i need to do some extra work. Please correct me if there's a better way. To enable the first scenario i did the following:
public class UnityFilterAttributeFilterProvider : FilterAttributeFilterProvider {
private IUnityContainer _container;
protected override IEnumerable<FilterAttribute> GetControllerAttributes(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionDescriptor actionDescriptor) {
var attributes = base.GetControllerAttributes(controllerContext, actionDescriptor);
foreach (var attribute in attributes) {
_container.BuildUp(attribute.GetType(), attribute);
}
return attributes;
}
protected override IEnumerable<FilterAttribute> GetActionAttributes(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionDescriptor actionDescriptor) {
var attributes = base.GetActionAttributes(controllerContext, actionDescriptor);
foreach (var attribute in attributes) {
_container.BuildUp(attribute.GetType(), attribute);
}
return attributes;
}
}
And then defined this within my Global.asax file like so:
FilterProviders.Providers.Remove(FilterProviders.Providers.Single(f => f is FilterAttributeFilterProvider));
FilterProviders.Providers.Add(new UnityFilterAttributeFilterProvider(container));
This works fine but i was wondering if this is the correct way to do it? To resolve the second case i simply changed where i defined my global filter to the following:
GlobalFilters.Filters.Add(DependencyResolver.Current.GetService<TestAttribute>());
This again now works but is this the correct way to do it?
I'd appreciate the help. Thanks
It's been a while since I originally asked this but I thought I would share what I ended up doing.
In cases where I could not use constructor or attribute injection I solved it by using the DependencyResolver (service locator pattern). For example if I require the service IService I would simply inject it like so:
public IService Service => DependencyResolver.Current.GetService<IService>();
While some may consider this an anti-pattern I have found this performs well, leads to less problems and with new advances in C# I don't think it looks too bad.
However if you are using ASP.NET Core you should never have to use the service locator pattern as it has been rebuilt with dependency injection at the heart of it.

Enterprise Library Validation Block - Should validation be placed on class or interface?

I am not sure where the best place to put validation (using the Enterprise Library Validation Block) is? Should it be on the class or on the interface?
Things that may effect it
Validation rules would not be changed in classes which inherit from the interface.
Validation rules would not be changed in classes which inherit from the class.
Inheritance will occur from the class in most cases - I suspect some fringe cases to inherit from the interface (but I would try and avoid it).
The interface main use is for DI which will be done with the Unity block.
The way you are trying to use the Validation Block with DI, I dont think its a problem if you set the attributes at interface level. Also, I dont think it should create problems in the inheritance chain. However, I have mostly seen this block used at class level, with an intent to keep interfaces not over specify things. IMO i dont see a big threat in doing this.
Be very careful here, your test is too simple.
This will not work as you expect for SelfValidation Validators or Class Validators, only for the simple property validators like you have there.
Also, if you are using the PropertyProxyValidator in an ASP.NET page, iI don;t believe it will work either, because it only looks a field validators, not inherited/implemented validators...
Yes big holes in the VAB if you ask me..
For the sake of completeness I decided to write a small test to make sure it would work as expected and it does, I'm just posting it here in case anyone else wants it in future.
using System;
using Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Validation;
using Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Validation.Validators;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ISpike spike = new Spike();
spike.Name = "A really long name that will fail.";
ValidationResults r = Validation.Validate<ISpike>(spike);
if (!r.IsValid)
{
throw new InvalidOperationException("Validation error found.");
}
}
}
public class Spike : ConsoleApplication1.ISpike
{
public string Name { get; set; }
}
interface ISpike
{
[StringLengthValidator(2, 5)]
string Name { get; set; }
}
}
What version of Enterprise Library are you using for your code example? I tried it using Enterprise Library 5.0, but it didn't work.
I tracked it down to the following section of code w/in the EL5.0 source code:
[namespace Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Validation]
[public static class Validation]
public static ValidationResults Validate<T>(T target, ValidationSpecificationSource source)
{
Type targetType = target != null ? target.GetType() : typeof(T);
Validator validator = ValidationFactory.CreateValidator(targetType, source);
return validator.Validate(target);
}
If the target object is defined, then target.GetType() will return the most specific class definition, NOT the interface definition.
My workaround is to replace your line:
ValidationResults r = Validation.Validate<ISpike>(spike);
With:
ValidationResults r ValidationFactory.CreateValidator<ISpike>().Validate(spike);
This got it working for me.

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