I'm migrating from SubSonic to EF4. In SubSonic models had a function called Save, if the key of the model was 0 an insert was done, otherwise an update.
Is there a way to make a generic Save function like in SubSonic? For exmaple using an extension method?
Yes but you have to do it yourselves. Try something like this:
public interface IEntity
{
int Id { get; set; }
}
...
public void SaveOrUpdate<T>(T entity) where T : IEntity
{
using (var context = new MyContext())
{
if (entity.Id == 0)
{
context.AddObject(entity);
}
else
{
context.Attach(entity);
context.ObjectStateManager.ChangeObjectState(entity, EntityState.Modified);
}
context.SaveChanges();
}
}
I think a little bit better version will be
public static void SaveOrUpdate(this T entity) where T : IEntity
Related
I try to learn repository.I created a class below,
public class Repository<T> where T : class
{
ObjectContext _context;
IObjectSet<T> _objectSet;
DBEntities db = new DBEntities ();
public void Delete(T entity)
{
_objectSet.DeleteObject(entity);
_context.SaveChanges();
}
}
}
I try to use void Delete in my controller below,
public ActionResult Index()
{
var something = new Repository<Department>();
something.Delete(.......); // What i must add to delete method ? How can i delete data from database ?
return View();
}
If i write int value to "something.Delete(2); it does not work, i do not know what to add here,how can i use repository ?
Try this article here:
The Repository Pattern Example in C#
MSDN ObjectContext.DeleteObject Method
I am working on an MVC project where controller actions deal with Assets. Different controllers take in the assetId parameter in different way: Some controllers simply get int assetId, other int id, and other using a complex object AssetDTO dto (which contains a property that holds the assetId)
I am writing an ActionFilter that is added to the action method and is provided with the actionParameter name where I can get the asset value.
Action Method:
[AssetIdFilter("assetId")]
public ActionResult Index(int assetId)
{
...
}
The attribute is defined as:
public class AssetIdFilterAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute
{
public string _assetIdParameterKey { get; set; }
public AssetIdFilterAttribute (string assetIdParameterKey)
{
_assetIdParameterKey = assetIdParameterKey;
}
public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
int assetId;
if (Int32.TryParse(filterContext.ActionParameters[_assetIdParameterKey].ToString(), out assetId))
{
......
}
}
This works as expected, but will only work when the assetId is provided as a primitive. I am not sure what to do when the assetId is provided within a complex object into the action method.
Will I need to parse each object differently depending on the type? I am hoping I can specify some kind of dot-notation in the AssetIdFilter to tell it where the assetId is located: dto.assetId
Any way I can use dynamics? or reflection?? ect.???
and here dynamic comes to the rescue.you can change the actionFilterAttribute to be :
public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
dynamic assetIdHolder = filterContext.ActionParameters[_assetIdParameterKey];
if (assetIdHolder.GetType().IsPrimitive)
{
//do whatever with assetIdHolder
}
else
{
//do whatever with assetIdHolder.assetId
}
}
cheers!
Well, yes, you answered your question. One way would be to use dot notation:
//simple case:
[AssetId("id")]
public ActionResult Index(string id) {
//code here
}
//complex case:
[AssetId("idObj", AssetIdProperty = "SubObj.id")]
public ActionResult index(IdObject idObj) {
//code here
}
And AssetIdAttribute is as follows:
public class AssetIdAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute
{
public string _assetIdParameterKey { get; set; }
public string AssetIdProperty { get; set; }
public AssetIdFilterAttribute(string assetIdParameterKey)
{
_assetIdParameterKey = assetIdParameterKey;
}
public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
int assetId;
var param = filterContext.ActionParameters[_assetIdParameterKey];
int.TryParse(GetPropertyValue(param, this.AssetIdProperty).ToString(), out assetId);
//you code continues here.
}
private static string GetPropertyValue(object souce, string property)
{
var propNames = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(property) || !property.Contains('.') ? new string[] { } : property.Split('.');
var result = souce;
foreach (var prop in propNames)
{
result = result.GetType().GetProperty(prop).GetValue(result);
}
return result.ToString();
}
}
The code does not have null checks when calling ToString and when calling GetProperty though. Also, it does not check the success of TryParse. Please apply these corrections when used.
Maybe this code could be written using dynamic, but at the end dynamic usage is compiled into object using reflection (something like what I have done here), thus no big difference to me.
Also, maybe it would be more clear to have a parameter like "idObj.SubObj.id", but that again depends on the preference, and the code will become a little bit more complex.
I'm working on a generic repository using Entity Framework/MVC3/Ninject.MVC3. The interface looks like this.
public interface IRepository<TEntity> where TEntity : class
{
IQueryable<TEntity> Query { get; }
void Add(TEntity entity);
void Edit(TEntity entity);
void Delete(TEntity entity);
}
My Concrete implementation looks like this.
public class EFRepository<T> : IRepository<T> where T : class
{
private EFDbContext context = new EFDbContext();
public IQueryable<T> Query
{
get { return context.Set<T>().AsQueryable(); }
}
public void Add(T entity)
{
context.Set<T>().Add(entity);
context.SaveChanges();
}
public void Edit(T entity)
{
context.Entry<T>(entity).State = System.Data.EntityState.Modified;
context.SaveChanges();
}
public void Delete(T entity)
{
context.Set<T>().Remove(entity);
context.SaveChanges();
}
}
Ninject has the binding
kernel.Bind(typeof(IRepository<>)).To(typeof(EFRepository<>));
What I need to do is get the last insert ID in the concrete implementation. I have a transaction table that will get an insert based on the last table and insert ID. I could call the transaction from the controller, but I'd rather just get it all done in the Data Access Layer, so I can easily write the transaction after the last insert/update.
First, is the above example the proper way to implement the generic repository. Second is there a way to get the data I want through this method?
When you call Add on an entity, and the table has an identity column (auto increment) then you can just check the entity after the SaveChanges() and it will contain the generated ID.
While in search of trying to implement unique key validations for my db using EF CodeFirst/Mvc3 I came upon this post http://blogs.msdn.com/b/adonet/archive/2011/05/27/ef-4-1-validation.aspx which gave an example on how to do it by using IValidateObject for my object model:
public class Category : IValidatableObject
{
public int CategoryID { get; set; }
public string CategoryName { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<ValidationResult> Validate(ValidationContext validationContext)
{
var testContext = (TestContext)validationContext.Items["Context"];
if (testContext.Categories.Any(
c => c.CategoryName == CategoryName && c.CategoryID != CategoryID))
{
yield return new ValidationResult("A category with the same name already exists!", new[] { "CategoryName" });
}
yield break;
}
}
and overriding DbEntityValidationResult ValidateEntity:
public class TestContext : DbContext
{
public DbSet<Test.Models.Category> Categories { get; set; }
protected override DbEntityValidationResult ValidateEntity( DbEntityEntry entityEntry, IDictionary<object, object> items)
{
var myItems = new Dictionary<object, object>();
myItems.Add("Context", this);
return base.ValidateEntity(entityEntry, myItems);
}
}
And the action on the controller
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create(Category category)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid) {
categoryRepository.InsertOrUpdate(category);
categoryRepository.Save();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
} else {
return View();
}
}
But I get the error: "The given key was not present in the dictionary." for the line
var testContext = (TestContext)validationContext.Items["Context"];
It seems like Validate on the object is getting called which accesses "Context" before its set in the override ValidateEntity code.
At first I thought it could have been ModelState.Isvalid triggering validate too early but it wasn't.
Anyone know what I'm missing here or what I'm doing wrong? Thanks in advance.
Model.IsValid definitely triggers it too early and perhaps something else. IValidatableObject is global interface used by both MVC and EF but your method in DbContext is called only when you call SaveChanges on the context so any usage of IValidatableObject prior to calling SaveChanges will result in the exception. You must use another approach if you want to validate your entity this way. For example store context in HttpContext.Items - you can create custom action filter and instantiate and store the context before the operation call and dispose it after operation call - hopefully it will cover all problems.
I was facing the same problem... Then after a lot of Googling I finally found this:
Exercise 3: Using IValidatableObject Custom Validation
public IEnumerable<ValidationResult> Validate(ValidationContext validationContext)
{
MusicStoreEntities storeDB = new MusicStoreEntities();
if (storeDB.Albums.Any(
a => a.Title.Trim().ToUpper() == this.Title.Trim().ToUpper() &&
a.ArtistId == (int)this.ArtistId))
{
yield return new ValidationResult("Existing Album", new string[] { "Title" });
}
}
As you see in their example, they instantiate a new Context and as such there's no need for validationContext.Items["Context"];. Doing so we won't get this error anymore.
I am fairly new to MVC, but after playing with it (MVC 3/Razor), I am hooked.
I have a few questions:
1) What is the best, or most widely used pattern to develop MVC apps in? Repository, DDD, UOW?
2) I am using the Entity Framework 4, so could some please explain to me or point me to a good source that will explain the Repository Pattern w/EF4? Doesn't EF4 take place as the business layer and the data access layer? Does the Repository Pattern even provide a benefit?
3) Also, one last question, could someone explain the whole relationship between the Controller, the Model and the View? I get the basics, but maybe a little more in depth of the correct way to use it. View Models - Say I have a view that displays customer info, and one that edits it, should I have a view model and an edit model, or can the be passed around?
4) Examples??
Thanks for the help up front,
$("Sam")
** EDIT **
Am I on the right track here:
Public Class HomeController
Inherits System.Web.Mvc.Controller
Function Index(ByVal id As Integer) As ActionResult
Return View(New HomeModel)
End Function
<HttpPost()> _
Function Index(ByVal Model As HomeModel) As ActionResult
Return View(Model)
End Function
End Class
Public Class HomeModel
Private _Repository As IRepository(Of Customer)
Public Property Customer As Customer
Public Sub New()
End Sub
Public Sub New(ByVal ID As Integer)
_Repository = New CustomerRepository
Customer = _Repository.GetByID(ID)
End Sub
End Class
Public Interface IRepository(Of T)
Function GetByID(ByVal ID As Integer) As T
Sub Add(ByVal Entity As T)
Sub Delete(ByVal Entity As T)
End Interface
Public Class CustomerRepository
Implements IRepository(Of Customer)
Public Sub Add(ByVal Entity As Customer) Implements IRepository(Of Customer).Add
End Sub
Public Sub Delete(ByVal Entity As Customer) Implements IRepository(Of Customer).Delete
End Sub
Public Function GetByID(ByVal ID As Integer) As Customer Implements IRepository(Of Customer).GetByID
Return New Customer With {.ID = ID, .FirstName = "Sam", .LastName = "Striano"}
End Function
End Class
Public Class Customer
Public Property ID As Integer
Public Property FirstName As String
Public Property LastName As String
End Class
I use generic repositories that get instantiated in a service class (using Dependency Injection with Ninject).
The service class essentially performs two functions:
It provides all the methods that the controller will consume.
It has a property called ViewModel, that essentially maps the data that the views need into a MyViewModel class.
The Controller consumes the service class. With this "pattern", your controllers look like:
namespace ES.eLearningFE.Areas.Courses.Controllers
{
public partial class CourseController : Controller
{
ICourseDisplayService service;
public CourseController(ICourseDisplayService service)
{
this.service = service;
}
public virtual ActionResult Display(int CourseId, int StepOrder, string PupilName, string TutorName)
{
service.CourseId = CourseId;
service.StepOrder = StepOrder;
service.PupilName = PupilName;
service.TutorName = TutorName;
if (Request.IsAjaxRequest())
{
return PartialView(service.ViewModel);
}
else
{
return View(service.ViewModel);
}
}
}
}
The ViewModel class only hold display data and no methods (except the odd really simple method to retrieve data from another property that is, for example a List<> object).
Works really well. An example of a service class:
namespace ES.eLearning.Domain.Services.Courses
{
public class SqlCourseDisplayService : ICourseDisplayService
{
DataContext db;
public SqlCourseDisplayService(DbDataContextFactory contextFactory)
{
db = contextFactory.Make();
CoursesRepository = new SqlRepository<Course>(db);
StepsRepository = new SqlRepository<CourseStep>(db);
StepLinksRepository = new SqlRepository<StepLink>(db);
UserCoursesRepository = new SqlRepository<UserCourse>(db);
CourseTutorsRepository = new SqlRepository<CourseTutor>(db);
UsersRepository = new SqlRepository<User>(db);
}
#region ICourseDisplayService Members
public ViewModels.CourseDisplayVM ViewModel
{
get
{
return new ViewModels.CourseDisplayVM
{
CourseId = this.CourseId,
CourseName = this.Course.Name,
Steps = this.Steps,
ActiveStepIndex = this.ActiveStepIndex,
CurrentStepIndex = this.CurrentStepIndex,
Pupil = new UserDto { UserId = this.PupilId, UserName = this.PupilName },
Tutors = this.GetTutors(this.CourseId),
Tutor = tutorName == null ? null : new UserDto { UserName = this.TutorName, UserId = this.TutorId}
};
}
}
#region Entities
int courseId;
public int CourseId
{
get
{
if (courseId == 0) throw new ApplicationException("Invalid Course Id!");
return courseId;
}
set
{
if (value == 0) throw new ApplicationException("Invalid Course Id!");
try
{
Course = (from c in CoursesRepository.Query where c.CourseId == value select c).First();
Steps = Course.CourseSteps.ToList();
courseId = value;
}
catch {throw new ApplicationException("No Course found for Course Id: " + value);}
}
}
public Data.Course Course { get; private set; }
public int StepOrder { get; set; }
public List<Data.CourseStep> Steps { get; private set; }
public int ActiveStepIndex
{
get
{
if (PupilName == null)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Pupil not set!");
}
if (CourseId == 0)
{
throw new ApplicationException("Course not set!");
}
try
{
var x = (from uc in UserCoursesRepository.Query where (uc.IdCourse == CourseId) && (uc.UserName == PupilName) select uc).First();
return x.ActiveStepIndex;
}
catch { throw new ApplicationException("Could not get Active Step!"); }
}
}
#endregion
#region Users
string tutorName;
public string TutorName
{
get
{
if (tutorName == null) throw new ApplicationException("Invalid call to get Tutor Name [Null Tutor Name]!");
return tutorName;
}
set
{
tutorName = value;
TutorId = (Guid)Membership.GetUser(tutorName).ProviderUserKey;
}
}
public Guid TutorId { get; set; }
string pupilName;
public string PupilName
{
get { return pupilName; }
set
{
pupilName = value;
PupilId = (Guid)Membership.GetUser(pupilName).ProviderUserKey;
}
}
public Guid PupilId { get; set; }
#endregion
#region Utility Properties
public int CurrentStepIndex { get; set; }
public int StepCount
{
get
{
return Steps == null ? 0 : Steps.Count();
}
}
#endregion
#region Private Utilities
private List<UserDto> GetTutors(int CourseId)
{
return (from ct in CourseTutorsRepository.Query join u in UsersRepository.Query
on ct.TutorName equals u.UserName
where (ct.CourseId == courseId)
select new UserDto { UserName = ct.TutorName, UserId = u.UserId }).ToList();
}
#endregion
#region Repositories
private IRepository<Course> CoursesRepository
{
get;
set;
}
private IRepository<CourseStep> StepsRepository
{
get;
set;
}
private IRepository<StepLink> StepLinksRepository
{
get;
set;
}
private IRepository<UserCourse> UserCoursesRepository
{
get;
set;
}
private IRepository<CourseTutor> CourseTutorsRepository
{
get;
set;
}
private IRepository<User> UsersRepository
{
get;
set;
}
#endregion
#endregion
}
}
May not be everyone's choice, but hey, it works for me... AND (more importantly) my clients and their users.
Edit
As requested in the comment below, the Repository that I use:
namespace ES.eLearning.Domain
{
public class SqlRepository<T> : IRepository<T> where T : class
{
DataContext db;
public SqlRepository(DataContext db)
{
this.db = db;
}
#region IRepository<T> Members
public IQueryable<T> Query
{
get { return db.GetTable<T>(); }
}
public List<T> FetchAll()
{
return Query.ToList();
}
public void Add(T entity)
{
db.GetTable<T>().InsertOnSubmit(entity);
}
public void Delete(T entity)
{
db.GetTable<T>().DeleteOnSubmit(entity);
}
public void Attach(T entity)
{
db.GetTable<T>().Attach(entity);
}
public void Save()
{
db.SubmitChanges();
}
#endregion
}
}
And the IRepository Interface:
namespace Wingspan.Web.Mvc
{
public interface IRepository<TEntity> where TEntity : class
{
List<TEntity> FetchAll();
IQueryable<TEntity> Query {get;}
void Add(TEntity entity);
void Delete(TEntity entity);
void Attach(TEntity entity);
void Save();
}
}
This should help you getting started. There are a lot of tutorials and videos available; for example:
Understanding Models, Views and Controllers
The ASP.NET MVC 2.0 basics and excellent introduction by Scott Hanselman. Personally one of my favorite speakers.
And also at www.asp.net; there are a few tutorials/examples to help you getting started. For example the Music Store sample
Unfortunately, I'm not so familiar with EF4/Repository pattern. But here's a blogpost about this pattern.
1) I would say that the repository pattern is the most widely used, then there is inversion of controll too.
2) I can't really point out the benefits with using a repository for entity framework other than that the controller should not know about how to acces data other then asking a repository. This makes it easy to switch it out sometime.
You can also eager load the data to make sure that the view don't call the database in every iteration of a foreach, for example a collection of users to display data from a child entity. You can probly do this anyway, but I feel that the repository is the right place to do it.
3) I can't tell you about the concept in a more in depth way, but I can tell some about viewmodels. In my opinion you should only use viewmodels if there is anything more then one entity you want to send to the view, for example a list of countries. You can alo use a viewmodel to "flatten" out very complex objects.
I would defiantly say the repository pattern is used a lot. This pattern can be used with Dependency Injection. Using Dependency Injection makes Unit Testing a breeze because you can snap different repositories to an abstract repoistory. Check out http://ninject.org/ for a simple to use Dependecy injector for .NET.
View Models should hold display data and transfer that data from the controller to the view. If you want to edit and display customer info, take a look at this