I'm working on ASP.NET MVC 3 project using EF CodeFirst. I have a simple class with few attributes set on key column:
public class Tag
{
[Key]
[DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.None)]
[ScaffoldColumn(true)]
public short TagID { get; set; }
[Required]
[MaxLength(50)]
public string Name { get; set; }
}
As you can see there are DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.None) and ScaffoldColumn(true) attributes. That's because I want to be able to enter the TagID manually. Now when TagControler is added to the project I don't have the TagID column shown in neither of 5 generated views.
I know I can add it manually, but I wonder if this behavior is by design or I'm doing something wrong?
Primary keys aren't scaffolded as editable fields by default. Instead there is a hidden field for the key. If you wanted to change this behavior you could modify the templates but it is by design since generally it doesn't make sense to edit the primary key of an entity.
Here is some info on how to do this if you wanted to make this change any time you added a view or wanted to make some other custom change to the scaffolding:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/joecar/archive/2011/01/06/add-the-asp-net-mvc-3-code-templates-to-your-application-with-nuget.aspx
Related
I'm building my first Razor Pages app by following Microsoft's tutorial, and I'm curious about the correct way to reflect changes to my model on CRUD/scaffolded pages and corresponding database table. I have used below steps to handle this, but my solution feels more like a hack. Is there a better way to do it? I'm looking for a dynamic solution which allows for better separation of concerns.
What I aim to do: I want to remove CVRnr from below model, have the corresponding column in the database table dropped, as well as removing references to CVRnr on pages. The problem is that my changes to the model isn't reflected dynamically elsewhere in the project.
namespace Virksomhedsgodkendelser.Models
{
public class Company
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public int Pnr { get; set; }
public int CVRnr { get; set; }
}
}
What I have done to solve this:
Deleted public int CVRnr { get; set; } from the model
Deleted the CRUD pages in ~/Pages/Companies/
Re-added the CRUD pages via: Add > New Scaffolded Item > Razor Pages using Entity Framework
Deleted dbo.Company from my database
Re-added the database table via Package Manager Console: Add-Migration InitialCreate + Update-Database
Question is in the title. Can we programmatically change the database table which an object in the Model class, like one below, refers to and continue to operate on the new table?
public class Word
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Text { get; set; }
}
This originally refers to "Words" table automatically in EntityFramework, is there a way to change it before/during runtime? If so, how?
EDIT:
I get all the string used in Views in the project from the database table, "Words", by their ID's. Now, what I want is, a user enters a new language to system, and a new table will be created, for example WordsEnglish. From then, the Word object will refer to WordEnglish, if user selects English as language.
It would be desirable with a use case to better understand what you are trying to accomplish, but here goes...
In the DbContext.OnModelCreating method you can configure the model, e.g.
// Removes pluralization convention for all tables.
modelBuilder.Conventions.Remove<PluralizingTableNameConvention>();
or
// Specific table name for Word Entity.
modelBuilder.Entity<Word>().ToTable("TableContainingWords");
If you are changing your model, Code First Migrations might be what you need.
I havent found a way to truly dynamically extend an EF model at runtime. Given what goes on in DB context inherited class, the use of generated views for performance and a model class approach, avoiding recompilation seems hard. I have generated code, compiled and access this using assembly discovery approaches. But this is all unsatisfactory from my viewpoint , so i have stopped investigating this path. Very clunky outcome.
Ironically the topic you provide as a use case for such a problem, is one that doesnt need dynamic EF in my view.
I have exactly the same use case, language specific look for messages/labels etc Ie a language specific textpool.
Why not add language to the class/table.
Use a table or Enum for supported languages.
Use Language in the Textpool table/s
Use a different model class for presentation. (view model).
So you can present it the way like .
public class Word
{
Guid ID {get;set;} // logical key is WordID + Language
public int WordID { get; set; } // implement with new id or 2 field key
public Language Language {get;set;} // see cultureInfo for more details
public bool IsMaster {get;set;}
public string Text { get; set; } // consider renaming due to reserved word implications
}
public class language
{
int ID,
String Lang
}
}
I have an mvc3 create page using a View Model with 2 entities
like
class ViewModel1{
public User user{get;set;}
public Company company{get;set;}
}
where User and Company are EF4 entities(tables). I need to use a single page to create both(related) tables. Now the Company entity is optional under some conditions and I use jQuery to hide the corresponding section in the view.
However since company has required fields , the post back create function has ModelState.Valid as false.
What I want to do is if the Company section is hidden, I would like to skip validating the Company entity in ViewModel in Server( I avoid validation of hidden elements in Client).
Maybe there is a better and more proper approach to this?
What you have shown is not a view model. You call it a view model but it isn't because it is referencing your EF domain entities.
A more realistic view model would look like this:
class ViewModel1
{
public UserViewModel User { get;set; }
public CompanyViewModel Company { get; set; }
}
or even flattened out and containing only the properties that your view needs:
class ViewModel1
{
public int UserId { get;set; }
[Required]
public string FullUserName { get;set; }
[Required]
public string CompanyName { get; set; }
}
Now depending on your specific requirements about view model validation your UserViewModel and CompanyViewModel classes will be specifically designed for them.
Instead of putting the entities directly in the view model, put the properties for the entities in the view model and map between the view model and the actual entity objects on the server. That way you can control what properties are required for your view. Create some custom validation rules to validate that the required company properties are there when some company information is required. To do this on the server, you can have your view model implement IValidatableObject and implement the logic in the Validate method. On the client you can add rules to the jQuery validate plugin for the "required if" properties.
public class UserCreationViewModel : IValidatableObject
{
[Required]
public string Username { get; set; }
[Required]
public string FirstName { get; set; }
...
public string CompanyName { get; set; }
public string CompanyEmail { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<ValidationResult> Validate( ValidationContext context )
{
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(CompanyName) && string.IsNullOrEmpty(CompanyEmail))
{
return yield new ValidationResult("Company Email is required if you specify a company", new [] { "CompanyEmail" });
}
}
}
I'm not sure what I would do on the client-side. You have a choice of either adding specific rules to the validate plugin directly, but it might be hard to make it look exactly the same as using the unobtrusive validation that MVC adds. Alternatively, you could look at adding/removing the unobtrusive attributes from the "required if" elements using jQuery depending on the state of the elements that trigger their requirement. I suggest trying both ways -- look at the docs for the validate plugin to see how to add custom rules and examine the code emitted by the MVC framework for the unobtrusive validate to see what you would need to add to make that work.
Another possibility would be including/removing a partial view with the company properties in the from based on whether the company information is required or not. That is, type in a company name and use AJAX to grab the inputs required for the company and add them to the form. If the company name is deleted, delete the elements. Leave the server-side validation the way it is, but in the partial view mimic the HTML that the framework would add in for unobtrusive validation. This is sort of the best of both worlds as the jQuery code is much simpler and you get consistent validation, too.
There are many ways you can achieve,
1) more commonly donot use [Required] attribute on Company object, but have proper validation for parameters inside Company object.
In this case if Company object is null still validation will pass, but if Company object isnot null it will validate each properties.
2) If validation involves some complex business logic, then go for Self Validating Model. (inherit from IValiddatableObject, and override Validate(...).
3) By code, in the controller.
if(model.company == null)
this.ModelState.Keys.Where(k => k.Contains("company")).ToList().ForEach(k => this.ModelState.Remove(k));
first two are best approved approaches, third is just another way to achieve your functionalities
So, I am using ASP.NET MVC 3 and Entity Framework 4.1 (code-first).
I have a class like this:
public class Person
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
[Range(18, 99)]
public int Age { get; set; }
}
The range validation is fired correctly. But, for example, in some situations I would like to change the range for the Age attribute. Or even turn it off. How could I do it without changing my Model class? Is this possible to made programatically?
You can use the IValidatableObject interface and define custom validation rules.
See my answer at:
Using Data Annotations to make a field required while searching for another in a form mvc 3
Its usually just a matter of implementing the interface and determine when to enforce your rules.
I just realised the solution for this case.
Eg. A user can have an authorization to create a 14 years old person.
Before save the Model, we can invoke DataContext.GetValidationErrors() and infer if the only error validation is that we want to disable, and then set
DataContext.Configuration.ValidateOnSaveEnabled = false;
So, this way we are able to save the model.
Yes, it is possible to inject validators programmatically. Altering existing validators presents separate issues, as some attributes are read-only, so you may have to delete and replace your existing validator.
You can add a class to work on the validators by following my answer to this question.
I'm using MVC3 with Razor views and would like to build reusable DropDownLists for several of my classes, but after much searching I have not found an example that performs exactly how I need it...
For this example I have two classes like this:-
public class Person
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public Group Group { get; set; }
}
public class Group
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
I have a working Controller/View for Person. The view has a DropDownListFor control:
#model Person
...
#Html.DropDownListFor(o => o.Group.ID, (ViewData["groups"] as SelectList))
The view uses the Person class directly, not an intermediary model, as I haven't found a compelling reason to abstract one from the other at this stage.
The above works fine... in the controller I grab the value from Group.ID in the Person returned from the view, look it up, and set Person.Group to the result. Works, but not ideal.
I've found a binder here: MVC DropDownList values posted to model aren't bound that will work this out for me, but I haven't got that working yet... as it only really seems useful if I can reuse.
What I'd like to do is have something like this in a template:-
#model Group
#Html.DropDownListFor(o => o.Group.ID, (ViewData["groups"] as SelectList))
And use it in a view like this:-
#Html.EditorFor(o => o.Group)
However the above doesn't seem to work... the above EditorFor line inserts editors for the whole class (e.g. a textbox for Group.Description as well)... instead of inserting a DropDownList with my groups listed
I have the above template in a file called Group.cshtml under Views/Shared/EditorTemplates
If this worked, then whenever a class has a property of type Group, this DropDownList editor would be used by default (or at least if specified by some attribute)
Thanks in advance for any advice provided...
You can create a drop down list user control to handle this. Under your Shared folder create a folder called EditorTemplates and place your user control there. MVC, by convention, looks in the Shared/EditorTemplates for any editor templates. You can override where it looks for the editor templates but I won't go in to that here.
Once you have your user control created, you'll need to decorate the appropriate property with the "UIHint" attribute to tell the engine what editor it should use for that property.
Following would be a sample implementation.
In the Shared/EditorTemplates folder your user control (_GroupsDropDown.cshtml in this case) would look like:
#model Group
#Html.DropDownListFor(o => o.ID, (ViewData["groups"] as SelectList))
Modify the Group property in the Person to add the UIHint attribute as follows:
**[UIHint("_GroupsDropDown")]**
public Group Group { get; set; }
In your controller you would need
ViewData["groups"] = new SelectList(<YourGroupList>, "ID", "Name");
Once you have the above code you can use the EditorFor syntax like you desire.
Hope this helps.