What I know about web development I can count on one hand. In an effort to change that I have begun to look at asp.net web pages as this technology seems to have a low technical barrier to entry and sits nicely, in my view, above plain 'ol HTML.
I have been working through some samples and something has caught my eye. To create a connection and query a database you simply have to do this:
#{
var database = Database.Open("deanvmc");
var sqlQuery = "SELECT * FROM Articles";
var data = database.Query(sqlQuery);
}
From that I seem to be able to access the row data from the returned table in the following fashion:
#foreach(var row in data)
{
<article>
<h3>#row.Heading</h3>
<nav>
<ul>
<li>#row.DatePosted</li>
<li>#row.Category</li>
<li>0 Comments</li>
</ul>
</nav>
<p>#row.SubHeading</p>
</article>
}
Is this an ORM at work? Is it correct to assume that the object contained in row will always be mapped to the columns returned from the sqlQuery?
Also, is this a function of webmatrix as a stack or asp.net web pages as a library? I am a little confused about where one ends and the other begins.
The code above does not use an ORM - it is simply mapping fields returned from the database view to the row object returned by your query. So your assumption is correct - all of the object properties are mapped to the columns returned from the query.
WebMatrix itself is just a web development tool - it provides the editor, templates, and other dev tool type things. The libraries you're using (ASP.NET Web Pages with Razor & C#) are the stack on top of which your application is built. WebMatrix happens to also support non .NET technologies such as PHP, and may support more in the future.
I know this was kind of open ended, but hopefully I was some help. Happy Coding!
Related
I've been refactoring an existing Umbraco project to use more performant querying when getting back document data as everything was previously being returned using LINQ. I have been using a combination of Umbraco's querying via XPaths and Examine.
I am currently stumped on trying to get child documents using the Umbraco.ContentAtXPath() method. What I would like to do is get child document based on a path I parse to the method. This is what I have currently:
IEnumerable<IPublishedContent> umbracoPages = Umbraco.ContentAtXPath("//* [#isDoc]/descendant::/About [#isDoc]");
Running this returns a "Object reference not set to an instance of an object." error and unable to see exactly where I'm going wrong (new to this form of querying in Umbraco).
Ideally, I'd like to enhance the querying to also carry out sorting using the non-LINQ approach, as demonstrated here.
Up until Umbraco 8, content was cached in an XML file, which made XPath perfect for querying content efficiently. In v8, however, the so called "NuCache" is not file based nor XML based, so the XPath query support is only there for ... well... Old times sake, I guess? Either way it's probably not going to be super efficient and (I'd advise) not something to "aim for". That said I of course don't know what you are changing from (Linq can be a lot of things) :-/
It certainly depends on how big your dataset is.
As Umbraco has moved away from the XML backed cache, you should look into Linq queries against your content models. Make sure you use ModelsBuilder to generate the models.
On a small dataset Linq will be much quicker than examine. On a large dataset Examine/Lucene will be much more steady on performance.
Querying NuCache is pretty fast in Umbraco 8, only beaten by an Examine search.
Assuming you're using Models Builder, and your About page is a child of Home page, you could use:
var homePage = (HomePage) Model.Root();
var aboutPage = homePage?.Children<AboutPage>().FirstOrDefault();
var umbracoPages = aboutPage.Children();
Where HomePage is your home page Document Type Alias and AboutPage is your About page Document Type alias.
I am trying to list the view template’s properties so we can compare them with another old template.
For example what model elements are hidden or have overrides in a given template or which Revit links have been hidden or overridden in a given template.
View Template
(https://www.google.com/search?q=view+template+revit&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS770US770&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLndrd2cTbAhVESq0KHX1cAPwQ_AUICygC&biw=1536&bih=824#imgrc=Q0v-pV7Nxl4kfM:)
I’m looking to devise a View Template Compare tool and access to the owner and creator of them.
public void ApplyViewTemplateToActiveView()
{
Document doc = this.ActiveUIDocument.Document;
View viewTemplate = (from v in new FilteredElementCollector(doc)
.OfClass(typeof(View))
.Cast<View>()
where v.IsTemplate == true && v.Name == "MyViewTemplate"
select v)
.First();
using (Transaction t = new Transaction(doc,"Set View Template"))
{
t.Start();
doc.ActiveView.ViewTemplateId = viewTemplate.Id;
t.Commit();
}
}
With Revit API you can access with:
GetTemplateParameterIds Method / ViewTemplateId Property
The Revit API exposes almost all the ViewTemplate properties.
For instance this method returns all the Visibility/Graphic Overrides for a specific category:
https://apidocs.co/apps/revit/2019/ed267b82-56be-6e3b-0c6d-4de7df1ed312.htm
The only thing I couldn't get for a ViewTemplate are the "includes", but all the rest seems to be there.
Update:
The list or properties "not included" can be retrieved with GetNonControlledTemplateParameterIds().
Yes, and no.
Yes, I guess you can use Forge Model Derivative API to export RVT file and then build a dashboard around the View Templates data. That's assuming that View Templates data actually gets exported when the model is translated. That data is not attached to any geometry so I would not be surprised if it was skipped. The question here is why? This is like renting a 16-wheel truck to move a duffel bag across the street.
No, if your intention is to directly interact with the RVT model. Forge can view it, but to push anything back or request changes to the model, is not available yet. Then again, I am not even sure that the view template data is available via model derivative exports.
This brings me another alternative. Why not just collect the data using Revit API, the standard way and then push it out to a Database and build on top of that? There is no reason to employ Forge for any of that.
Thanks Jeremy, I had dig into your amazing website and also some solution that Konrad post in the Dynamo Forum about this. In Revit seems pretty achievable, you filter the View that is View Template and then extracts these properties, is it correct?.
I am wondering if someone can point me in the right direction with Forge.
Some amazing guys are developing a BQL https://www.retriever.works/.
BQL(Building Query Language) is a query language for buildings, similar to how SQL is a query language for databases. It is fast and flexible. BQL helps improve efficiency for QA/QC (quality assurance and quality control), and building data extraction without leaving Revit. I am also trying these and I would like to understand if there are some works where I could start with Forge next week about this.
I have 2 separate MVC 3 websites (A & B), both with their own SQL Azure databases which may or may not be on the same server. Both are using Code First Entity Framework and will be deployed to windows azure.
Website A is considered the master website and database. This holds data of the clients using our software along with usernames and passwords. I want website B to connect to website A's database when user logs in or registers. Website B will also need to hit website A's database in order to get some of the client's data after the user is logged in.
Right now I just have this one website B hitting website A's database, but in the future I will have more of these websites like website B hitting the main database for the same reasons.
My question is what is the best way to send and receive data between these smaller websites and the master database?
At first I was just using 2 connection strings in website B with two different contexts(one for each db). I liked this because the object types all flowed together, there wasn't any converting to do.However, I wasn't sure if this was the best and most secure way to go.
Another option I have been looking at is oData Services. I do like the idea of having everything separated and just calling the service when needing data from the master database. The issue I am having though is transferring the data from the service into my model's objects. I am having to do nasty things like this foreach statement:
public ActionResult GetMovies()
{
var ctx = new MovieODataService.MovieContext(new Uri("http://localhost:54274/MovieService.svc/"));
DataServiceQuery<MovieODataService.Movie> query = ctx.Movies;
var response = query.Execute() as QueryOperationResponse<MovieODataService.Movie>;
var model = new MovieModel();
model.Movies = new List<Movie>();
foreach (var item in response)
{
model.Movies.Add(new Movie
{
Title = item.Title,
ReleaseDate = item.ReleaseDate
});
}
return View(model);
}
I am also open to any other suggestions. Thanks in advance!
OData is great for a lot of things, but where it really shines is in exposing rich queryability over (preferably) schematized information. That doesn't really feel like a great fit for authentication calls.
Have you looked at the more traditional authentication protocols, such as OAuth? That seems like a much better fit for what you're trying to achieve.
I see articles on using SPMetal to generate the .cs file that allows LINQ to work properly. The file I'm talking about inherits from the Microsoft.SharePoint.Linq.DataContext class. How can I use LINQ without recompiling on my production environment, since I would need to regenerate this file using SPMetal on my production environment? I suspect the answer is going to be "can't do it".
I guess I'll use a CAML query instead unless there is some easier way to use LINQ that I am missing.
If the objective is just to query lists using LINQ and you want to avoid such recompilations, do not use SPMetal.
LINQ can be directly used on SPListItemCollection
e.g.
var FindCustomer = from SPListItem Item in Customers.Items
where Item["Orders"] as int == 5
select Item;
//or select new{Title = Item["Title"]}
This does not have hard coded entities but is more flexible. And as long as your list column names remain same, code can be deployed on any environment even if other lists are changing.
Also you can choose to retrieve few chosen field's data instead of retrieving data of all the fields every time.
There is no problem I guess. Personally I have been using Linq for good amount of time. I never generated the cs specifically for production. Is your site different across environments?
Im not sure if I'm missing the point or not, but the DataContext object takes the URL as apart of the constructor, so you should retrieve the URL from config somewhere E.g. database
DataContext teamSite = new DataContext("http://MarketingServer/SalesTeam");
OR use the SPContext object, if your code has a SharePoint context. E.g. in a web part
DataContext teamSite = new DataContext(SPContext.Current.Web.Url);
When I use Massive ORM to retrieve a record using the .Find() method, it returns a Massive.DynamicModel.Query object which doesn't get along very well with the ASP.MVC 3 View.
Controller:
public ViewResult Details(int id)
{
// Massive ORM Find syntax requires this next statement to use 'dynamic' not 'var'
dynamic table = new Things();
// Thing will return as type Massive.DynamicModel.Query
var Thing = table.Find(ThingId:id);
return View(Issue);
}
In the View, I've tried both #model dynamic and #model Massive.DynamicModel.Query, but neither will allow me to access the properties of my 'Thing' object using the normal #Model.Name syntax.
There is some discussion on here about how to handle ExpandoObjects with MVC3 views, but nothing in particular about the Massive.DynamicModel.Query implementation that has worked for me so far.
Any general ideas how to convert the Massive.DynamicModel.Query object to something typed?
Two words: View models. Strongly typed view models, that's what you should be passing to your views. Not dynamics, not expandos, not anonymous objects, not ViewData, not ViewBag => only strongly typed view models. So start by defining a view model which will represent the data this view will be working with. Then have your controller action do the necessary in order to convert whatever your repositories spit into a view model which will be passed to the view.
Failing to follow this basic rule, your ASP.NET MVC experience could quickly turn into a nightmare.
I think the easiest way is to use ViewBag because it's dynamic already.
You'd better watch the production because it's about Rob's opinionated way of development more than it is about MVC 3, and describes using Massive and other Rob tools.
But even if you don't make sure to check the code sample here for the production (free), to see how he integrates Massive to MVC 3:
https://github.com/tekpub/mvc3
You can see his production controller looks like. Quite interesting ways.
I'm experimenting with dynamics and Massive now. I'm using a dynamic viewModel:
public ActionResult Index() {
_logger.LogInfo("In home");
dynamic viewModel = new ExpandoObject();
var data = _tricksTable.Query("SELECT TOP(10) * FROM Tricks ORDER BY DateCreated DESC");
viewModel.TenTricksNewestFirst = data;
var data2 = _tricksTable.Query("SELECT TOP(10) * FROM Tricks ORDER BY Votes DESC");
viewModel.TenTricksMostPopularFirst = data2;
return View(viewModel);
}
In my view there is no reference to anything strongly typed on the first line eg NOT THIS:
#model IEnumerable<MvcApplication2.Models.Thing>
so in my view I do stuff like this:
#foreach (var item in Model.TenTricksNewestFirst) {
<div class="post block">
<div class="tab-image-block">
<a href="/tricks/#URL.MakeSpacesMinuses(#item.Name)" title="#item.Name">
<img src="/public/images/#item.Thumbnail" alt="#item.Name" class="woo-image thumbnail" /></a>
</div>
<h2 class="title">
#item.Name</h2>
<span class="date">#Dates.ShortDate(#item.DateCreated)</span>
<span class="likes">Likes: #item.Votes</span>
</div>
}
Experience so far is that I'm writing a lot less code.
Because of anonymous type are always annotated as "internal" so you can't access your dynamic type instance from View as they are in different scopes.
I find a better way make it work than using ViewBag. And the answer is Mono.Cecil. Grab it handy from NuGet.
With Mono.Cecil's help you can change MSIL code generated from your ASP.NET MVC project and change the type's accessible modifier to "public".
I write a little console program and host it on GitHub.
You can invoke the program from command line or add a post-build event in your ASP.NET MVC project's Build Events:
"$(SolutionDir)DynamicHelper\bin\Debug\DynamicHelper.exe" "$(TargetPath)"
NOTICE: "DynamicHelper" is the the code's project name and you can change it depending on your situation.