ViewModel with dependencies on Services + tombstoning - windows-phone-7

What is the recommended way to set up / inject dependencies in a viewModel after tombstoning given that when the app deactivates you typically add the ViewModel to the State dictionary and then before your app reactivates the framework deserialises the ViewModel which requires a default constructor?
If I have the class below, I would like to have dependency injection create an instance of "MyVM" injecting the dependencies for IServiceA and IServiceB. Having a default constructor would not set up the requried dependecies.
public class MyVM(IServiceA svca,IServiceB svcB)
{
}
How should the ViewModel be setup in a tombstoning scenario here?

I don't know if you're using a specific MVVM framework but Caliburn Micro has some built in features for tombstoning.
A little snippet from the docs:
public class PivotPageModelStorage : StorageHandler<PivotPageViewModel> {
public override void Configure() {
this.ActiveItemIndex()
.InPhoneState()
.RestoreAfterViewLoad();
}
}
That example is storing the ActiveItemIndex, a property on PiveotPageViewModel, in phone state but it can also store entire object graphs in PhoneState, AppSettings, or your own custom implementation. You get all that by inheriting from StorageHandler. With CM you don't have to worry about re-injecting services, it will handle that for you as it has it's own built in container.
CM WP7 Docs
In a recent Hanselman post about building a WP7 app he talked a bit about TombstoneHelper. I haven't used this one but it looks interesting.

Related

Dependency Injection Android

I am not sure how to use Dependency Injection on Xamarin Android project solution. Currently my Android solution holds a reference to another class library solution. I have used Unity on my service layer and registered the container via WebApiConfig.cs.
My question is, how do i go about using Unity on Android side in order to run on start up, would be grateful if code was included. I dont want to new-up the container through main activity of Android. I want the container to register behind the process i.e. AppStart or Global asax where it does it for you for MVC apps. Is there a way to do it for Android? Also I noticed on Main Activity I am unable to create constructor. I guess this isnt possible but how do I go about holding object reference to my Class Library solution ? example that i attempted to do:
private IExample _ex;
MainActivity(IExample ex){
_ex = ex; //depedency Injection rather than newing it up
}
public void DoSomething(){
_ex.HelloWorld();
}
Is there a way to do it via Attribute ? Also for each of my layer do I need to install and create container in order to resolve current solution dependency ? or can I use container from android which would resolve all dependency in each layer as DDD architecture goes from outer to inner ?
In terms of setting up DI at startup you can create a custom Application implementation like so:
// Must include this attribute so that Android knows we want to use this as our Application implementation
[Application(Icon = "#drawable/Icon", Label = "#string/ApplicationName")]
public class MyApplication : Application
{
public override void OnCreate()
{
base.OnCreate();
// Do your DI initialization/registration here
}
}
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by not being able to create a constructor on the main activity. You can create constructors for any activity you feel like. You don't always see it though because people tend to put their initialization logic in OnCreate.

Sample IoC, that is not DI

Dependency Injection is some form of Inversion of Control.
Could somebody please specify some other form of Inversion of
Control, that is not a dependency injection ?
Is there any java framework that is IoC container, but is not a DI
container ?
Which part of spring is IoC, but not a DI ?
Inversion of Control is the ability to allow a framework to run your custom code. As Martin Fowler says here:
Inversion of Control is a common phenomenon that you come across when
extending frameworks. Indeed it's often seen as a defining
characteristic of a framework.
So this is an example of Inversion of Control:
public class HomePage : Page
{
protected override void OnPageLoad(object sender, EventArgs e) {
// here your custom code
}
}
Here we have some custom class that 'by some convention' the framework (ASP.NET Web Forms in this case) picks up and it runs our custom code. The way it is done here is by inheritance and overriding virtual methods of the base class that the framework provides.
So this is an other example of Inversion of Control:
public class HomeController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Save(HomeSaveModel model) {
// here your custom code
}
}
Here we have our own custom controller where again the framework will call our code by some convention. Here we still use a base class given by the framework, but now the framework will call our Save action using reflection.
Inversion of control is all about hooking into framework code. Do note that in the examples above there is no dependency injection what so ever (nor is there Service Location).
Is there any java framework that is IoC container, but is not a DI container ?
The name "IoC container" is misleading, because those tools are meant to help you wire the dependency graphs in your application and do not help you wiring your code to a framework. IoC is a property of a framework; if it doesn't do IoC, it's not a framework: it's a library. Therefore "IoC containers" are libraries, not frameworks and they usually have no relationship with frameworks that we use (such as web frameworks such as ASP.NET).
So in this sense, there is no such thing as an "IoC container", since this is something that they can't do; by definition. In that context, your question stopped making sense :-), but to still answer it: no, "IoC containers" are always "DI containers" but never "IoC containers".

WebAPI: Accessing Child Container as a Service Locator

In normal ASP.MVC projects we configure the dependency resolver with Unity and the Unity.Mvc3 package from http://unitymvc3.codeplex.com/
We have this test service registered with a HierarchicalLifetimeManager
container.RegisterType<ITestService, TestService>(new HierarchicalLifetimeManager());
And we hook up the container with Mvc in Global.asax.cs:
System.Web.Mvc.DependencyResolver.SetResolver(new Unity.Mvc3.UnityDependencyResolver(container));
And we run this test controller:
public class TestController : Controller
{
private readonly ITestService _service;
public TestController(ITestService service)
{
this._service = service;
}
public ActionResult Test()
{
var locatedService = System.Web.Mvc.DependencyResolver.Current.GetService<ITestService>();
if (_service == locatedService)
return View("Success - Same Service");//This is always the result in an MVC controller
else
throw new Exception("Failure - Different Service Located");//This is never the result in an MVC controller
}
}
However, on this project we are adding a number of WebAPI controllers.
We have this configuration in global.asax.cs (using http://unitywebapi.codeplex.com/ for now. But I am open to suggestions):
System.Web.Http.GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.DependencyResolver = new Unity.WebApi.UnityDependencyResolver(container);
We have created an ApiTestController similar to TestController inheriting from ApiController rather than from Controller.
However, the ApiTestController fails its test. I understand that the System.Web.Mvc.DependencyResolver class and the System.Web.Mvc.DependencyResolver.Current property are specific to Mvc. But does WebAPI have an equivalent?
System.Web.Http.GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.DependencyResolver.GetService does not work because the System.Web.Http.GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.DependencyResolver instance is the parent container that I configured. It is not the child controller that was used to inject the ITestService into the constructor.
This user seems to have a similar problem: http://unitywebapi.codeplex.com/discussions/359413
But I feel that this probably has more to do with ASP.NET's WebAPI than it has to do with Unity.
Thanks
After looking over the source of http://unitymvc3.codeplex.com/ and http://unitywebapi.codeplex.com/ I created this class:
public class MyUnityDependencyResolver : Unity.Mvc3.UnityDependencyResolver, System.Web.Http.Dependencies.IDependencyResolver
{
public MyUnityDependencyResolver(IUnityContainer container)
: base(container)
{
}
public System.Web.Http.Dependencies.IDependencyScope BeginScope()
{
return this;
}
public void Dispose()
{
Unity.Mvc3.UnityDependencyResolver.DisposeOfChildContainer();
}
}
Configuration in gobal.asax.cs:
var myResolver = new MyUnityDependencyResolver(container);
System.Web.Mvc.DependencyResolver.SetResolver(myResolver);
System.Web.Http.GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.DependencyResolver = myResolver;
Unity.Mvc3.UnityDependencyResolver uses HttpContext.Current.Items to manage child containers. MyUnityDependencyResolver may not be the most "correct" implementation of System.Web.Http.Dependencies.IDependencyResolver, but it seems to work so far.
I will mark this as the answer in a couple days if no one else has any better answers.
Unfortunately, when you call the GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.DependencyResolver.GetService, it completely ignores any scope and resolves using the outer non-child container which is around for the lifetime of the application. This is an issue with Web Api and makes it impossible to use constructor injection for per-request dependencies outside of controllers. Confusingly this is completely different behaviour from MVC as you say.
What you can do is use the GetDependencyScope() extension method off HttpRequestMessage. Anything you resolve using this will be in per request scope when using HierarchicalLifetimeManager in conjunction with Unity.WebApi. The request is available from action filters and handlers so may be a viable workaround.
Obviously this is pure service location rather than dependency injection which is far from ideal but I have not found another way to access per-request dependencies outside of controllers.
See this post for more info.
The DependencyResolver is not the right seam for dependency injection in ASP.NET WebAPI.
Mark Seemann has two really good posts on DI with WebAPI.
Dependency Injection and Lifetime Management with ASP.NET Web API
Dependency Injection in ASP.NET Web API with Castle Windsor
If you want to do it right you should have a look at them.

Architecture and Microsoft.AspNet.Providers

I have been Googling for hours and cant find an article that is exactly related to what I need.
I have a MVC4 site with the following layers:
Presentation layer (MVC4)
Business Layer
Data layer
I want to use the following provider:(installed using NuGet)
Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.Providers
My question is more of an architectural one.
In my mind, I should install this (Microsoft.AspNet.Providers) in my data layer as it is code that talks to a membership database.
All the posts I can find, however, even by Hanselman just install it in the Presentation layer / MVC4.
I am very big on separation of concerns and am using dependency injection throughout my application.
Obviously I need the config for the provider in my web.config but want all the membership code in my data layer.
Any thoughts?
thanks
RuSs
PS. Would love to know the process of installing this in a data / repository layer using nuget. Slightly confused as to what DLLs Nuget is installing. If I install in my data layer, nuget doesnt update the MVC web.config.
The answer is quite simple actually: You should hide the providers behind an abstraction that you define in your business layer. This way you can write an adapter that implements this abstraction an wraps the provider and you can inject this adapter into your business layer using dependency injection. This way you will only have to reference the Microsoft.AspNet.Providers from your MVC4 project, and prevent any code from directly referencing the AspNet.Providers, which allows you to switch more easily later on.
Example:
// Define in business layer
public interface IAuthorizationService
{
bool bool IsCurrentUserInRole(string role);
}
public class SomeBusinessLayerCommand
{
private IAuthorizationService authorizer;
public SomeBusinessLayerCommand(
IAuthorizationService authorizer)
{
this.authorizer = authorizer;
}
public void SomeOperation()
{
if (this.authorizer.UserIsInRole("Admins"))
{
// some secret admin stuf
}
else
{
// some normal user stuf
}
}
}
And in your Presentation Layer you can define an adapter:
public class MembershipAdapter : IAuthorizationService
{
public bool IsCurrentUserInRole(string role)
{
return Roles.IsUserInRole(role);
}
}
And you can map IAuthorizationService to MembershipAdapter using your favorite DI container.

Use Container/DependencyResolver in other dll

I'm trying to get myself familiar with MVC3 and autofac but I've encountered small problem that I'm having trouble resolving.
I am using autofac integrated with MVC3 and all works well, pages are loading correctly, dependencies are being injected and that's cool. What's bugging me is how to use autofac's Container or MVC's DependencyResover in class library project.
I'm trying to create static class that will help me handle domain events. I simply want to be able to call the method with event parameter and everything should be handeled by this class. Here is code:
public static IContainer Container { get; set; }
public static void Raise<T>(T e) where T : IDomainEvent
{
foreach (var eventHandler in DomainEventManager.Container.Resolve<IEnumerable<EventHandlers.Handles<T>>>())
{
eventHandler.Handle(e);
}
}
As you can see it's pretty straightforward and everything would work great if it wasn't MVC approach. Some of my dependencies are registeres as InstancePerHttpRequest (NHibernate' session), while other are registered as InstancePerDependency or SingleInstance. Thus when I try to use container created in my UI project, I get exception that there is no httpRequest tag available.
How can i reuse the Container created in web project to get access to all of it's features, including InstancePerHttpRequest and httpRequest tag?
Or maybe there is other solution to my problem? I was thinking about using delegate function to obtain event handlers, but I cannot (can I?) create generic delegate that I would not need to initialize with concrete type at time of assignment.
Why I want to do this using static class is basically every entity and aggregate or service needs to be able to raise domain event. Injecting EventManager into every one of these would be troublesome and static class is exactly what would resolve all my problems.
If anyone could help me get my head around it I would be grateful.
Cheers, Pako
You shouldn't be referencing your container directly from your app code. This looks like the Service Locator anti-pattern. The correct action is to pass your objects the services they need to do their jobs, usually done through constructor parameters. BUT... if you are going to insist on depending on a global static, then at least model EventManager as a singleton, such that usage would look like:
EventManager.Current.Raise<SomeEvent>(someObject);
and then you can set EventManager.Current equal to a properly constructed instance when your app is initialized.

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