Is it possible to use precompiled linq queries with repositories. Current I have my repositories set up like
public class CustomerRepository : EntityRepository
{
private readonly IContext _context;
public CustomerRepository(UnitOfWork uow)
{
_context = uow.context;
}
}
I would be able to create a precompiled query in the following manner by using my actual context class MyEntities : ObjectContext,IContext.
static Func<ObjectContext, int, Customer> _custByID;
public static Customer GetCustomer( int ID)
{
if (_custByID == null)
{
_custByID = CompiledQuery.Compile<MyEntities, int, Customer>
((ctx, id) => ctx.Customers.Where(c => c.CustomerID == id).Single());
}
return _custByID.Invoke(_context, ID);
}
The problem is that the Compile methods TArg0 takes in a type derived from ObjectContext. Since my whole purpose of using repositories with IContext was to hide entity framework related code using the above doesnt make sense. How should I go about using precompiled linq queries. Should I move them to a separate class library which references my model and the entity framework or is my understanding of the repositories incorrect? I am using EF4 in an ASP.net application.
The repository implementation should have the knowledge of the data access technology. The responsibility of the repository is to talk to the underlying data source inorder to satisfy the contract. It would be useless to have a repository if you can not perform such optimizations because the ObjectSet is already a repository. Creating another layer of indirection between repository and EF is a useless abstraction.
Related
What is the purpose of SudentRepository in this example? Why do I need one?
public class StudentController : Controller
{
private IStudentRepository _repository;
public StudentController() : this(new StudentRepository())
{
}
public StudentController(IStudentRepository repository)
{
_repository = repository;
}
I updated to actually include a specific question that I think you're getting at. The purpose of StudentRepository is to encapsulate interactions with persisted data. The Controller need not know if its stored in a db, flat file, in memory, etc.
The reason you're injecting it in via an interface is because you may eventually have multiple implementations of that repository, and the interface is just a contract to ensure basic functionality across all implementations. This is called constructor injection (a type of dependency injection) in case you want to learn more.
I'm using an EF Code First approach with an ASP.NET MVC 3 application, and instead of re-creating the wheel, I was wondering if there already exists a solid base Repository class that my custom Repository classes could extend in order to provide default functionality out of the box (e.g. basic CRUD, etc...).
So something like this ...
public class CustomerRepository : BaseRepository { ... }
... would therefore provide a default way to work with Customer objects out of the box. I'd like to then inject an ICustomerRepository into my MVC controllers and have the functionality available to me there.
I'm sure something like this already exists out there as I've done something similar with NHibernate.
Thanks
No, there is no built-in repository, other than EF itself (which is in and of itself an implementation of the Unit of Work pattern, and DbSet's are basically Repositories).
There is currently a debate in the software community over whether generic repositories have much real value. For testing purposes, many argue, they provide easy unit testing. Others say that unit testing repositories doesn't help because mocked repositories don't behave the same way that real ones do (because of the linq -> Sql translation layer, which doesn't exist in a mocked repository).
Many are suggesting that you do integration testing against EF using an in-memory database like SqlLite rather than unit testing it.
Still, if you are intent on using repositories, there are many examples out there on the net, with varying styles and methods. Or you can roll your own. MS does not provide one.
In my experience, write your own repositories is redundant because EF implements this pattern already through DbSet's.
I worked with MVC3 + EF Code Fisrt in a recent project. We started implementing a generic repository following some tutorials and soon we realized that we are writing a lot of unnecessary and redundant code. Actually, the repositories were given us nothing but hiding a lot of the DbSet's functionality. Finally, we decided to remove them and work with our DbContext and DbSet's directly.
But, how about complex business logic beyond simple CRUD operations?
Well, we exposed all complex functionality like queries and multiple CRUD operations through a service layer. You can build different service classes by functionality. By example, you can write an AccountService to manage all functionality related with user accounts. Something like this:
public class AccountService {
private MyContext ctx;
public AccountService(DbContext dbContext) {
this.ctx = (MyContext)dbContext;
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets the underlying DbContext object.
/// </summary>
public DbContext DbContext {
get { return ctx; }
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets the users repository.
/// </summary>
public DbSet<User> Users {
get {return ctx.Users;}
}
public bool ValidateLogin(string username, string password) {
return ctx.Users.Any(u => u.Username == username && u.Password == password);
}
public string[] GetRolesForUser(string username) {
var qry = from u in ctx.Users
from r in u.Roles
where u.Username == username
select r.Code;
return qry.ToArray<String>();
}
public User CreateUser(string username, string password) {
if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(username)) throw new ArgumentException("Invalid user name");
if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(password)) throw new ArgumentException("Invalid password");
User u = new User {
Username = username.Trim().ToLower(),
Password = password.Trim().ToLower(),
Roles = new List<Role>()
};
ctx.Users.Add(u);
ctx.SaveChanges();
return u;
}
How about dependency injection?
Using this approach, the only thing we need to inject is the DbContext. The service classes has a constructor that takes a DbContext. So, when your controller constructor takes a service instance the DbContext will be injected to it.
Edit: Example code
This is an example code about how you controller could look:
public class HomeController : Controller {
private readonly AccountService accountService;
public AccountController(AccountService accountService) {
this.accountService = accountService;
}
}
And this could be the DI configuration using NInject:
private static void RegisterServices(IKernel kernel) {
kernel.Bind<MyContext>().ToSelf().InRequestScope();
kernel.Bind<DbContext>().ToMethod(ctx => ctx.Kernel.Get<MyContext>());
}
How about unit testing?
You could build specific interfaces for each service layer class and mock it where you need.
A friend of mine, Sacha Barber wrote a nice article covering some of these ideas.
Link can be found here.
RESTful WCF / EF POCO / Unit of Work / Repository / MEF: 1 of 2
EF has a base class called DbContext. You can add properties of type DbSet<TEntity>
This allows you to do something like this:
public class User {
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
public class DatabaseContext : DbContext {
public DbSet<User> Users { get; set; }
}
You can now use this like so:
using(var db = new DatabaseContext()) {
User jon = new User {Name = "Jon Smith"};
db.Users.Add(jon);
db.SaveChanges();
var jonById = db.Users.Single(x => x.Id == 1);
}
If you want more abstraction see this post about building a generic repository around EF Entity Framework 4 CTP 4 / CTP 5 Generic Repository Pattern and Unit Testable Just to note, this level of abstraction is not always needed. You should decide if your abblication will truly benefit from adding a generic repository over just using DbContext directly.
I am a newbie in TDD (Asp.net MVC3 environment) and trying to adopt TDD as our better better development approach.
In our production code,we have a following scenario
In web
//Autofac used to resolve Dependency
TestController(XService xSerivice,YSerivice yService)
{_xService =xService,_YService= yService}
[HTTPPost]
ActionResult Create(A1 a1)
{
_xService.XUnitOfWork.A1.add(a1)
_xService.XUnitOfwork.SaveChanges();
}
// where X, Y are different context,Concrete class, no interface implemented!
In Business Layer
Xservice(XUnitofWork) // no interface implemented!
In DAL Layer
'XUnitofWork:DataRepostory(Generic)...
{
GenericRepository<a1Entity> A1,
GenericRepository<a2Entity> A2
}
Now I realize that we should implement interface both in our BAL and Web layer.
My question is are there any way i can mock the services(XService,YService) in our controller to test some behavior (TDD) [for example save change exception occur while saving a entity via' _xService.XUnitOfwork.SaveChanges()'?
Please help.Thanks in Advance!
If you mark members (properties, methods) in your concrete class as virtual, I think you may be able to just mock those methods / properties individually. (I think the VB equivalent of virtual is Overridable..?)
Moq works by creating a new concrete implementation of something at runtime when your test runs. This is why it works so well with interfaces and abstract classes. But if there is no interface or abstract class, it needs to override a method or property.
Reply to question author's answer:
Since you are a self-proclaimed TDD newbie, I just wanted to point out that adding a parameterless constructor to a class just for the sake of making the class testable should not be an acceptable solution.
By giving your GenericRepository class a hard dependency on Entity Framework's DbSet / IDbSet, you are creating a tight coupling between your repository implementation and EF... note the using System.Data.Entity line at the top of that file.
Any time you decide to add a constructor dependency, you should seriously consider adding it as an interface or abstract class. If you need access to members of a library which you do not control (like EF's DbContext), follow Morten's answer and wrap the functionality in your own custom interface.
In the case of DbContext, this class does more than just provide you with a UnitOfWork implementation. It also provides you a way of querying out data and adding / replacing / removing items in your repository:
public interface IUnitOfWork
{
int SaveChanges();
}
public interface IQuery
{
IQueryable<TEntity> GetQueryable<TEntity>() where TEntity : class;
}
public interface ICommand : IQuery
{
void Add(object entity);
void Replace(object entity);
void Remove(object entity);
}
You can pretty easily wrap DbContext in these 3 interfaces like so:
public class MyCustomDbContext : DbContext, IUnitOfWork, ICommand
{
// DbContext already implements int SaveChanges()
public IQueryable<TEntity> GetQueryable<TEntity>() where TEntity : class
{
return this.Set<TEntity>();
}
public void Add(object entity)
{
this.Entry(entity).State = EntityState.Added;
}
public void Replace(object entity)
{
this.Entry(entity).State = EntityState.Modified;
}
public void Remove(object entity)
{
this.Entry(entity).State = EntityState.Deleted;
}
}
Note how your interfaces take no dependencies on System.Data.Entity. They use primitives and standard .NET types like object, IQueryable<T>, and int. This way, when you give your generic repository dependencies on the interfaces, you can remove the dependency on System.Data.Entity:
// using System.Data.Entity; // no need for this dependency any more
public class GenericRepository
{
private readonly ICommand _entities;
private readonly IQueryable<TEntity> _queryable;
public GenericRepository(ICommand entities)
{
this._entities = entities;
this._queryable = entities.GetQueryable<TEntity>();
}
//public GenericRepository()
//{
// no need for a parameterless constructor!
//}
}
...and your GenericRepository is now fully unit testable, since you can easily mock any of these interface methods.
Final Notes:
Also, after seeing your answer to your own question, it looks like you have CompanyRepository as a property of your UnitOfWork class. You then inject UnitOfWork as a dependency on your CompanyInformationController. This is backwards. Instead, you should be injecting the CompanyRepository (or its interface) into the controller's constructor. The UnitOfWork pattern has nothing to do with maintaining references for your known repositories. It is about tracking multiple changes made to related items so that they can all be pushed once as a single transaction. EF does this automatically, so as long as AutoFac is providing the same DbContext instance no matter whether your app requests an IQuery, ICommand, or IUnitOfWork implementation, then the only method UnitOfWork should be concerned with is SaveChanges().
thanks for your reply. The test I was trying to do was successful after spending few hours and changes my previous code.
Changes are follows:
1) Now using UnitofWork in my controller instead of a redundant service.
2) Added a parameter less constructor to the GenericRepository Class.(with out any DBContext!),because it will requied a DBContext as a parameter in Constructor,which can not be substituted by supplying a Mocked DBContext.
GenericRepository:
public class GenericRepository where TEntity : class
{
internal DbContext _context;
internal DbSet<TEntity> dbSet;
public GenericRepository(DbContext context)
{
this._context = context;
this.dbSet = context.Set<TEntity>();
}
public GenericRepository() //newly added!
{
}
...............
Complete Test
[TestMethod]
public void Index_Return_OneModel_WhenCalling()
{
//arrange
AutoMapperExtension automapper = new AutoMapperExtension();
var moqentities = new Mock<SetupEntities>();
List<CompanyInformation> list =new List<CompanyInformation>();
list.Add(new CompanyInformation{ CompanyName = "a", CompanyAddress = "aa", Id = 1});
list.Add(new CompanyInformation { CompanyName = "b", CompanyAddress = "b", Id = 2 });
var unitOfWork = new Mock<UnitOfWork>(moqentities.Object);
unitOfWork.Setup(d => d.CompanyRepository).Returns(new GenericRepository<CompanyInformation>());
unitOfWork.Setup(d => d.CompanyRepository.GetAll()).Returns(list.AsQueryable());
var controller = new CompanyInformationController(unitOfWork.Object);
//Act
var result =(ViewResult) controller.Index();
var model =(CompanyInformationViewModel) result.ViewData.Model;
//Assert
Assert.AreEqual(1, model.Id);
}
The best way is to create an interface for XService. If that is not possible for some reason (if XService is a third party class that doesn't implement an interface), then consider wrapping the functionality in a wrapperclass that does have an interface.
I tried using Dependency Injection with Entity framework in my MVC application. In the project I have defined Generic Repository class for CRUD operations. There are concrete service classes for each model object. My Controller in Presentation layer uses Concrete classes of Service layer to get data from database. These concrete classes in turn calls RepositoryClass methods to implement actual operation with database.
Below is sample of the class definations (for simplicity I have removed various interfaces details and implementation of some methods):
class RepositoryBase<T>
{
Add(T entity) {...}
Update (T entity) {...}
Delete (T entity) {...}
T GetById(int id) {...}
IEnumerable<T> GetAll()
{dbContext.ToList();}
}
public class CarsService {
public IEnumerable<Cars> GetCars()
{
var cars = RepositoryBase<Cars>.GetAll();
return cars;
}
public Car GetCar(int id)
{
var car = RepositoryBase<T>.GetById(id);
return car;
}
}
Public class DealerService {...}
All this works great as long as I have to deal with 1 object type at a time in my application. But I am not sure how to make change in service class to get data for multiple entities i.e. Car and dealers togather. Please note in my scenario although i have dealer id defined in Cars model but navigation property is missing. So I have to join Cars and Dealers using linq query.
Please help to identify correct class (layer) which needs to be modified. All the examples I have found only talks about 1 entity at a time.
DbContext.Set().Include()first of all you put you config mapping for fixing,
second if you don't want to use navigation properties , you can use
RepositoryBase<Cars>.GetEntitySet<Cars>.Include("Dealers") //this does join if you key to join
but in this case you should use the
add to RepositoryBase<T> a property
public ISet<T> GetEntitySet<T>(string table2Include)
{
return DbContext.Set<T>()
}
I've hit on the idea of creating static methods on the partial Linq queries such as
public partial class User
{
public static User FindByGuid(string guid, ApplicationDataContext context)
{
return context.Users.Where(x => x.GUID == guid).Single();
}
}
So, for example, I can easily find a user by doing:
using (var context = new ApplicationDataContext())
{
var user = DataAccess.User.FindByGuid(UsersDropDown.SelectedValue, context);
}
Is this a recognised design pattern? What are the advantages/disadvantages of doing this vs the repository model?
While I don't see a recognized pattern in what your doing here I do see that you are using Dependency Injection by passing the applicationdatacontext into the method as a dependency. The problem here is that you are still tightly coupled to your datacontext regardless of where the dependency is initiated which makes it more difficult to unit test.