Unittesting MVC controller - model-view-controller

Im trying to learn MVC combined with IoC and DI. In my project I also use Castle, Automapper, NHibernate, NHibernateIntegration.
Thanks to the excellent example "ToBeSeen" app by Kozmic I think I have the solution pretty much set up now. But now I want to unittest basic save operation at the controller method level. I just dont get how to go about this. I expect my problem is pretty simple but Im a novice at this and any help is appreciated.
I have a dossiercontroller like this:
[Authorize]
[Transactional]
public class DossierController : BaseController
{
private readonly IRepository repository;
private readonly IMappingEngine mappingEngine;
private readonly ILogger logger;
public DossierController(IRepository repository, IMappingEngine mappingEngine, ILogger logger)
{
this.repository = repository;
this.mappingEngine = mappingEngine;
this.logger = logger;
}
As you can see it needs a repostitory, mappingengine and logger. As I understand all this is configured and wired up at runtime.
Next I have a controller method that is used to save a dossier:
[HttpPost]
[ActionName("Dossier")]
[Transaction]
[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
[AcceptParameter(Name = "button", Value = "save")]
public ActionResult Dossier_Save(string button, DossierModel dossierModel, string returnUrl)
{
if (!Request.IsAuthenticated)
return RedirectToAction("Index", "Home");
if (!ModelState.IsValid) return View(dossierModel);
Dossier dossier = mappingEngine.Map<DossierModel, Dossier>(dossierModel);
repository.Save(dossier);
return View();
}
Here I just want to automap the dossiermodel into a dossier and save it using the repository.
Now I want to unit test this using Nunit. I dont want to mock anything, I want a real persistence test from the controller level. For this I have to create a new dossiercontroller and pass in the correct arguments. Now Im lost. How do I create and configure the arguments so they work exactly like in the web application. For instance: How do I create a correctly configured Automapper in a Unittest? How do I create a correctly configured repository? Should I use a container?
Any help, especcialy a code example is highly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

If you don't want to mock anything, you will need to instantiate concrete versions of the services required by the constructor of your controller.
e.g.
IRepository repository = GetRepository();
IMappingEngine mappingEngine = GetMappingEngine();
ILogger logger = GetLogger();
DossierController controller = new DossierController(repository, mappingEngine, logger);
ActionResult rsult = controller.Save(...etc...);
As to how you are to configure and instantiate these, you will essentially need to do this in exactly the same way that your MVC app is doing this.
If you are unsure where in your MVC app these are being configured, I'd suggest that the first place to look is in the IoC configuration and work backword from there.

Related

Web Api 2 with OWIN OAuth Bearer tokens

I'm in the process of building a web api in visual studio 2013 and want to authenticate using OWIN middleware and bearer tokens. However I already have a database and don't want to use Microsoft's new Identity framework as the majority of tables and columns that it auto generates I simply don't need.
Can anyone point me in the right direction of how to apply this type of authentication without having to use the Microsoft Identity framework?
My suggestion would be to use the framework but extend it to use your objects and infrastructure. I am currently in the middle of doing this and landed on this question. Here's how I've tackled it so far:
Step 1: Your own CustomUserObject
Write/Use your own "ApplicationUser" object. In the template project, you want to modify the "IdentityModels" file. It has ApplicationUser object defined in there. Assuming you already have all the properties from your existing app, you will need to add GenerateUserIdentityAsync() method but change the type of the parameter to UserManager manager). After the change, your method signature looks like this:
public async Task<ClaimsIdentity> GenerateUserIdentityAsync(UserManager<CustomUserObject> manager)
Step 2: Define your own IUserStore<> implementation
Add a new class CustomUserStore that implements IUserStore, like so:
public class CustomUserStore : IUserStore<CustomUserObject>
{
private readonly IUserManagerService _userManagerService;
public CustomUserStore(IUserManagerService userManagerService)
{
_userManagerService = userManagerService
}
//implementation code for all of the IUserStore methods here using
//userManagerService or your existing services/classes
}
I am using Unity to inject IUserManagementService's implementation above.
I have made use of the comprehensive UserManager class that comes with the Microsoft Identity framework but extended the framework to use my API for authentication and authorization. You could write your own UserManager but I found that it is pretty tedious and there is no reason why UserManager could work for most cases of Securing an app.
Step 3: Changes in the IdentityConfig.cs file
Change the class definition to make ApplicationUserManager class inherit from UserManager
You'll need to do the samething in the constructor of this class as well; i.e. have IUserStore. Modify the Create static method's first line to make use of the new store and a wrapper class that provides as a means to be a "DbContext" like so:
public static ApplicationUserManager Create(IdentityFactoryOptions<ApplicationUserManager> options, IOwinContext context)
{
var manager = new ApplicationUserManager(new ApplicationUserStore(context.Get<UserManagementServiceWrapper>()));
//modify the relevant lines after this to suit your needs
...
}
My UserManagementServiceWrapper looks like this (please note that I'm not too happy that it inherits from a concrete UserManagementService class that provides the methods to connect to the service that provides user data, I'm still building this out):
public class UserManagementServiceWrapper : UserManagementService, IDisposable
{
public void Dispose()
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
Step 4: Change the ApplicationDbContext class to return a UserManagementServiceWrapper instance
public class ApplicationDbContext : UserManagementServiceWrapper
{
public static UserManagementServiceWrapper Create()
{
return new UserManagementServiceWrapper();
}
}
And that is pretty much it. You still have to write the implementation for CustomUserStore object but everything should work.
Please note this is not boilerplate code and no where near "code review ready", as I said, I'm still digging deeper into this and building it out to use custom stores, data access objects, services etc. I thought you'll get a good start with some of the things that took me a couple of hours to figure out. I will blog about this when I have a good solution.
Hope this helps.
I prob. dont understand the question entirely but it looks like you are trying to do without the whole owin pipeline?
If not then..
You need to implement few interfaces related to users and roles described as below.
http://www.asp.net/identity/overview/extensibility/overview-of-custom-storage-providers-for-aspnet-identity
Have a look at the following post from Scott Allen
http://odetocode.com/blogs/scott/archive/2013/11/25/asp-net-core-identity.aspx
This way you can use your own tables, DAL and services to create UserManager and RoleManager objects.
Edit: Samples over here should give you some pointers.
Edit2: Custom User Store Example.
IRepository is the object which takes care of CRUD.
public class CustomUserStore : IUserStore<User>,....
{
private readonly IRepository _repository;
public CustomUserStore(IRepository repository)
{
if (repository == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("repository");
_repository = repository;
}
public Task CreateAsync(User user)
{
if (user == null) throw new ArgumentException("user");
_repository.User.Add(user);
return _repository.CommitAsync();
}
...

How to inject ISession into Repository correctly?

Please correct me on the following scenario. ( Question is at the end)
(I asked a similar question that was un-organized and it was voted to close. So I have summarized the question here into a scope that can be replied with exact answers.)
I am developing a web application with multiple layers using nhibernate as ORM. My layer structure is as follow
Model Layer
Repository Layer
Services Layer
UI Layer
with the above layers, the classes and interfaces are placed as below.
ProductController.cs (UI Layer)
public class ProductController : Controller
{
ProductServices _ProductServices;
NHibernate.ISession _Session;
public ProductController()
{
_Session = SessionManager.GetCurrentSession();
_ProductServices = new ProductServices(
new ProductRepository(), _Session);
}
// Cont..
}
ProductServices.cs (Service Layer)
public class ProductServices : IProductServices
{
protected IProductRepository _ProductRepository;
protected NHibernate.ISession _Session;
public ProductServices(IProductRepository productRepository,
NHibernate.ISession session)
{
_ProductRepository = productRepository;
_Session = session;
_ProductRepository.SetSession(_Session);
}
// cont...
}
ProductRepository.cs (Repository Layer)
public class ProductRepository : IProductRepository
{
NHibernate.ISession _Session;
public void SetSession(NHibernate.ISession session)
{
_Session = session;
}
public IEnumerable<Product> FindAll()
{
return _Session.CreateCriteria<Product>().List<Product>();
}
//cont..
}
From the UI layer, I create the session as request per session and inject into service layer with the help of class constructor. Then set the session of repository with a help of a method.
I am afraid if I pass the _Session directly to repository as constructor, I will not have the control over it under the service layer. Also there is a future extension plan for using a webservice layer.
** Is there a way to ensure in each method of ProductRepository class that _Session is set already, without writing the piece of code if(_Session==null) in each and every method as it is repeating the same code.
** If the above pattern is wrong, Please show me a right way to achieve this goal.
What you are doing amazed me a bit. You applying the constructor injection pattern in the ProductService, which is definitely the way to go. On the other hand you are not injecting the dependencies into the ProductController, but that class is requesting one of those dependencies through a static class (this is the Service Locator anti-pattern) and creates a ProductServices class itself. This makes this class hard to test and makes your application less flexible and maintainable, since you can't easily change, decorate or intercept the use of the ProductServices class, when it's been used in multiple places.
And although you are (correctly) using constructor injection for the dependencies in the ProductServices, you are passing those dependencies on to the product repository, instead of applying the constructor injection pattern on the ProductResopistory as well.
Please show me a right way to achieve this goal.
The right way is to apply the constructor injection pattern everywhere. When you do this, your code will start to look like this:
public class ProductController : Controller
{
private ProductServices _ProductServices;
public ProductController(ProductServices services)
{
_ProductServices = services;
}
// Cont..
}
public class ProductServices : IProductServices
{
private IProductRepository _ProductRepository;
public ProductServices(
IProductRepository productRepository)
{
_ProductRepository = productRepository;
}
// cont...
}
public class ProductRepository : IProductRepository
{
private ISession _Session;
public ProductRepository (ISession session)
{
_Session = session;
}
public IEnumerable<Product> FindAll()
{
return _Session
.CreateCriteria<Product>().List<Product>();
}
//cont..
}
See how each class only takes in dependencies that it uses itself. So the ProductController and ProductServices don't depend on ISession (I made the assumption that only ProductRepoistory needs ISession). See how -from a class's perspective- everything is much simpler now?
Did we actually solve a problem here? It seems like we just moved the problem of wiring all classes together up the dependency graph. Yes we did move the problem. And this is a good thing. Now each class can be tested in isolation, is easier to follow, and the application as a whole is more maintainable.
Somewhere in the application however, a ProductController must be created. This could look like this:
new ProductController(
new ProductServices(
new ProductRepository(
SessionManager.GetCurrentSession())));
In its normal configuration, ASP.NET MVC will create controller classes for you, and it needs a default constructor to do so. If you want to wire up controllers using constructor injection (which you should definitely do), you need to do something 'special' to get this to work.
ASP.NET MVC allows you to override the default ControllerFactory class. This allows you to decide how to create controller instances. However, when your application starts to grow, it will get really awkward very quickly when you are creating your dependency graphs by hand (as my last example shows). In this case, it would be much better to use a Dependency Injection framework. Most of them contain a feature / package that allows you to integrate it with ASP.NET MVC and automatically allows to use constructor injection on your MVC controllers.
Are we done yet? Well... are we ever? There's one thing in your design that triggered a flag in my brain. Your system contains a class named ProductServices. Although a wild guess, the name Services seems like you wrapped all product related business operations inside that class. Depending on the size of your system, the number of people on your team, and the amount of changes you need to make, this might get problematic. For instance, how to you effectively apply cross-cutting concerns (such as logging, validation, profiling, transaction management, fault tolerance improvements) in such way that to system stays maintainable?
So instead of wrapping all operations in a single ProductServices class, try giving each business transaction / use case its own class and apply the same (generic) interface to all those classes. This description might be a bit vague, but it is a great way to improve the maintainability of small and big systems. You can read more about that here.
You can use a dependency injection container such as Autofac to instantiate your session and manage the lifetime of it. Leave the responsibility of instantiating the session to Autofac and simply inject the ISession interface into any classes that require the dependency. Have a look at this post: Managing NHibernate ISession with Autofac
You will also find this wiki page useful about configuring Autofac with MVC3: http://code.google.com/p/autofac/wiki/MvcIntegration3

Getting property from injected type during registration

Hopefully I can explain this to where someone might understand it enough to help :)
Anyways, I want to take a property from an injected type and use that in another injection. So imagine you have MVC model state on a controller that you want to inject into a service the controller uses.
public class MyController
{
public MyController(IService service)
{
....
}
}
public class MyService : IService
{
public MyService(IModelStateWrapper modelState)
{
....
}
}
How can I accomplish basically this:
public class MyController
{
public MyController(IService service)
{
service.ModelState = new ModelStateWrapper(ModelState);
}
}
Using an injection with Autofac or whatever DI container.
You can do this, but you have to unravel a couple of design problems before it's possible.
First, it appears that your IService implementation requires you pass the IModelStateWrapper in during construction only to be overwritten later during the creation of the controller. You have to make it so the IService implementation only has it as a property, not as a constructor requirement.
Second, you have to make sure it's OK that the service.ModelState setting happens just after construction of the controller. If there is other constructor logic that assumes the service.ModelState is set, then you have something that can't really be done via DI.
If you do that unraveling, Autofac will let you do some pretty cool stuff. When you register your controller type, register a lambda instead of just a type.
var builder = new ContainerBuilder();
builder.RegisterType<MyService>().As<IMyService>();
builder.Register(
c=>
{
var service = c.Resolve<IMyService>();
var controller = new MyController(service);
service.ModelState = new ModelStateWrapper(controller.ModelState);
return controller;
}).As<IController>();
var container = builder.Build();
Note the circular logic thing is handled in the lambda of the registration. Now when you resolve a controller...
var controller = container.Resolve<IController>();
...that logic will run and you'll get the effect you're looking for.
Again, I'll voice some concern over the circular reference stuff going on here. If there's a way to remove that circular dependency between the controller and the service, you'd be in a better spot to let DI work for you.

Ninject Binding Issue with Constructor Chaining

I have a MVC3 project that uses the Entity Framework and Ninject v2.2, and follows the Unit of Work pattern with a Service Layer wrapping my repositories.
After looking at the code below, hopefully its apparent that Ninject is using constructor chaining to inject the correct classes. It currently works prefectly in my application, however I am at the point that I need to bind an instance of IDatabase to MyDatabase with a different scope such as InSingletonScope() or InNamedScope(), not InRequestScope(). I know that I can use the [Named("MyDatabaseScope")] Attribute to customize which IDatabase object is injected, however it seems that with my code structure, if I wanted to inject my SingletonScoped instance, I would have to recreate a new Abstract and Concrete Implementation of my Unit of Work, my Service and all my Repositories, that will then chain down.
Basically my application currently goes
Controller -> Unit of Work -> Database, (Repositories -> Database)
If I have to change my Database Binding, I will now have to create another chain in addition to the current one:
Controller -> New Unit of Work -> SingletonDatabase, (New Repositories-> SingletonDatabase)
This seems to completely defeat the DRY principal. Is there a way to, from the Controller Constructor, inform Ninject that when doing constructor chaining it should use my singleton (or named binding) rather than my request scope binding, without having to recreate all my classes with a Named attribute, or a new Interface?
Sorry for the long text, I wasnt sure if I could get the point across without my code snippets and my somewhat rambling explaination.
Ninject Module Load Function:
..snip..
Bind<IUserServices>().To<UserServices>();
Bind<IBaseServices>().To<BaseServices>();
Bind<IUserRepository>().To<UserRepository>();
Bind(typeof (IRepository<>)).To(typeof (RepositoryBase<>));
Bind<IUnitOfWork>().To<UnitOfWork>();
Bind<IDatabase>().To<MyDatabase>().InRequestScope();
//This is my problem:
//Bind<IDatabase>().To<MySingletonDatabase>().InSingletonScope();
Unit of Work Implementation Constructor:
public class UnitOfWork : IUnitOfWork
{
private IDatabase _database;
public UnitOfWork(IDatabase database,
IUserRepository userRepository,
IPeopleRepository peopleRepository,
)
{
this._database = database;
this.UserRepository = userRepository;
this.PeopleRepository = peopleRepository;
}
protected IDatabase Database
{
get { return _database; }
}
...snip...
}
User Service Layer Implementation Constructor:
public class UserServices : BaseServices, IUserServices
{
private IUnitOfWork _uow;
public UserServices(IUnitOfWork uow)
: base(uow)
{
_uow = uow;
}
...snip...
}
User Repository Constructor:
public class UserRepository : RepositoryBase<User>, IUserRepository
{
public UserRepository(IDatabase database)
: base(database)
{
}
...snip...
}
Controller Constructor:
public IUserServices _userServices { get; set; }
public ActivityController(IUserServices userServices)
{
_userServices = userServices;
}
}
Using Ninject 3.0.0 you can use WhenAnyAncestrorNamed("Some name") But if you need to run asyncronous things you should thing about splitting your application into a web frontend and a server backend. This could make many things easier.

Who should be responsible for getting the data in MVC?

Learning ASP.NET MVC with a new project, and a little unsure of where some things should happen. I've read that ViewModels are a Good Thing (tm) and had planned on doing it in a similar fashion anyway, but I'm still not entirely clear on the responsibilities of the Model vs. the Controller.
Should the ViewModel be responsible for actually loading itself from the ORM? Thus the controller would just call ViewModel.GetObject() and pass the result back to the view?
Or should I load the data in the Controller, and then transform it into the ViewModel? Seems like that puts a lot of work in the Controller though, which is supposed to be kept somewhat lightweight.
I guess I could also have a third party that is responsible for pulling the data, then the Controller would call that and transform it for the appropriate ViewModel.
So any thoughts on what is the "best" approach?
The controller will create the viewmodel object and fill it out using the model. The model should use the ORM to get the data.
The ViewModel is always specific to the view only, and the model is specific to the domain. In CQRS you would actually just get the ViewModel and send it to the view.
From the controller you can do what ever it takes to make your CRUD happen for the view. If you use the Repo pattern thats ok, if you use NHibernate or EF directly thats cool tool. Once the ViewModel goes to the view it will be disconnected from everything like the DB, so fill it out before it gets there.
Personally I use a repository. So the controller queries a repository and gets a model, then maps the model to a view model and passes the view model to the view. Example:
public class ProductsController: Controller
{
private readonly IProductsRepository _repository;
private readonly IMapperEngine _mapper;
public ProductsController(IProductsRepository repository, IMapperEngine mapper)
{
_repository = repository;
_mapper = mapper;
}
public ActionResult Index(int id)
{
Product product = _repository.GetProduct(id);
ProductViewModel viewModel = _mapper.Map<Product, ProductViewModel>(product);
return View(viewModel);
}
}
And because this is repetitive logic I use custom action filters:
public class ProductsController: Controller
{
private readonly IProductsRepository _repository;
public ProductsController(IProductsRepository repository)
{
_repository = repository;
}
[AutoMap(typeof(Product), typeof(ProductViewModel))]
public ActionResult Index(int id)
{
Product product = _repository.GetProduct(id);
return View(product);
}
}
in this case the custom action filter intercepts the result of the action and replaces it using the corresponding mapping layer.
The way this repository is implemented is not the responsibility of the controller (whether it is an ORM, direct SQL queries, or even distant web service calls). As long as it is injected some proper implementation it will work which allows for weaker coupling between the different parts of the application and easier unit testing in isolation. So in this example it is the implementation of the repository that is responsible for fetching data.

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