Singleton State vs. Singleton Event - asp.net

I have a Blazor Server App. This app is connected to a SQL DB and is at this time relatively complex. Since the main focus is usability, we ran into some problems when we access the database directly (components not updated correctly, etc.).
Therefore, I am trying to create a StateService which basically acts as some sort of "Cache". Data is stored in it and components can access it, without any loading times. During my research, I had some questions, which the documentation couldn't answer to me.
The Problem
It should be possible that all components always have the latest state of the data. This means that clients need to be automatically notified of any changes and automatically refresh their states. It also should be possible to have the power to provide the service to ~1.000 concurrent users, without the necessity to upgrade to a high-end server (I know, that this is very vague).
Possible Solutions
Singleton State
I basically have a service, which holds the data as a property in it and has an OnChange-event. Whenever any data property gets set, the event gets triggered. This service is then used by components to display data. When I add data to the database, the data will then be automatically loaded back into the state. I added this service as a singleton, so there is only one object during the server runtime.
public class SharedStateService
{
public event Action OnChange;
private ICollection<MyData>? myData;
public ICollection<MyData>? MyData
{
get => this.myData;
set
{
this.myData= value;
this.OnChange?.Invoke();
}
}
}
public class MyDataService
{
private readonly SharedStateService sharedStateService;
private readonly TestDbContext context;
public MyDataService(TestDbContext context, SharedStateService sharedService)
{
this.context = context;
this.sharedStateService = sharedService;
}
public async Task<bool> DeleteData(MyData data)
{
try
{
this.context.Set<MyData>().Remove(data);
await this.context.SaveChangesAsync();
}
catch (Exception)
{
return false;
}
await this.ReloadData();
return true;
}
public async Task ReloadData()
{
this.sharedStateService.MyData =
await this.context.Set<MyData>().ToListAsync();
}
}
In my views, it is now possible to subscribe to the OnChange event and freely use the MyData property.
<table class="table">
<thead>
<tr>
<!-- ... -->
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
#foreach (var data in SharedStateService.MyData)
{
<tr>
<!-- ... -->
</tr>
}
</tbody>
</table>
#code {
public void Dispose()
{
SharedStateService.OnChange -= Refresh;
}
protected override void OnInitialized()
{
SharedStateService.OnChange += Refresh;
}
private async void Refresh()
{
await InvokeAsync(this.StateHasChanged);
}
}
The problem I see with this case is that the entire data is constantly stored on the server. Might there be any problems? Am I overthinking it too much? What could possible risks of such an approach be?
Singleton Event
It is similar to the singleton state, but I do not store the data anywhere. Instead of the state, I have a service, which only provides an event, which can be subscribed to. This service is, again, added as a singleton.
public class RefreshService
{
public event Action OnChange;
public void Refresh()
{
OnChange?.Invoke();
}
}
This service is then injected into the data providers and called, when a change occur.
I extend the MyDataService by a new method.
public async Task<ICollection<MyData>> GetAll()
{
return await this.context.Set<MyData>().ToListAsync();
}
Afterwards, in my view, I add a property and adjust the Refresh method, to load the data into this local property.
private async void Refresh()
{
this.MyData= await MyDataService.GetAll();
await InvokeAsync(this.StateHasChanged);
}
This approach is very similar to the first one, but I don't need to store the data constantly. Is this approach easier to handle for the server? Could this lead to wrong data displayed, since the data is stored redundantly?
I know that this is a long read, but maybe someone knows which approach is generally preferable over the other.

Listen to data change it's not a bad idea, the only think i would get focus on it's the way you delete and change. First i will improve on use EFCoreBulkExtensions just for performance, if you will be updating / deleting data everytime, it's not a bad idea to perform that (principally because your database will grow as time goes by).
And what i think it's the proper solution it's the second one, Singleton Event , that way allow's you to prevent the possible error that could make the first one. Think in this scenario: you have 1000 users, it's probably that most of your users where interacting with the data at same time. If you delete, and then refresh the data could make data inconsistency, but if you get the event change state, you could use it as a flag, that data needs to be updated before user interacts with it.
Finally, i think you could use BulkInsertOrUpdateOrDelete method, so if data doesn't exists (with their id), you insert it, if any changes, it get's updates, and if it doesn't exists (an existing id) you delete it, all with one optimized method of bulk extensions. And in case you can't add another library, you should make your own add/update/delete method!

Related

Blazor .Net server side where to load LocalStorage data

I use Blazor Preview 9 server side on .NET Core 3.0 and also the nuget package Blazored.LocalStorage for loading and saving data in Local Storage of the browser.
Now I want to load it ONCE time when required when loading the application.
For this I need to use OnFirstRenderer because it has to be on client side completely to access it's browser cache. Right now I use the page "/" (Index.razor) for it but I'm not pretty sure if this is the correct anchor or way for doing this:
[Parameter]
public string Test { get; set; }
protected async override Task OnAfterRenderAsync(bool firstRender)
{
try
{
if (firstRender)
{
await localStorage.SetItemAsync("TEST", "Hallo Welt");
}
if (Test == null)
{
Test = await localStorage.GetItemAsync<string>("TEST");
StateHasChanged();
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw;
}
}
Also I don't know how to make this available for all components:
is it best way to make a service with global variables and inject it into each component or doing it via CascadingValue method?
Thx!
OnAfterRender is now only called when the component is initialized and you can perform JS interop (it will be called every time the component is re-rendered after that - but firstRender will be false). So if you only want to load a value once from local storage you can do it during the firstRender as per the example below.
[Parameter]
public string Test { get; set; }
protected async override Task OnAfterRenderAsync(bool firstRender)
{
if (firstRender)
{
Test = await localStorage.GetItemAsync<string>("TEST");
}
}
In terms of making the value available to all components, you can either use a global state class or provide it via a cascading parameter. Either option will work and I don't really see one as better than the other, all I'd say is if you need other bits kept in state then use a state class, if you don't then probably go with a cascading parameter.
As per Mister Magoo's comment - it would be best to do this in the App.razor component so it would be loaded even in deep linking scenarios.

Re-instantiate a singleton with Prism in Xamarin Forms

How can I dispose and re-instantiate a singleton with Prism/DryIoC in Xamarin Forms?
I'm working with Azure Mobile Apps for offline data. Occasionally, I need to delete the local sqlite database and re-initialize it. Unfortunately the MobileServiceClient occasionally holds the db connection open and there's no method exposed to close it. The suggested solution (https://github.com/Azure/azure-mobile-apps-net-client/issues/379) is to dispose of MobileServiceClient. Only problem is that is registered with DryIoC as a singleton.
I'm not overly familiar with DryIoC, or Prism and Forms for that matter... But for the life of me, I can't see a way to do this.
I did cook up a pretty elaborate scheme that almost worked.
In my ViewModel method, when I needed the db freed up, I fired off an event -
_eventAggregator.GetEvent<RegisterDatabaseEvent>().Publish(false);
Then in App.xaml.cs, I wired up a listener and a handler like so -
_eventAggregator.GetEvent<RegisterDatabaseEvent>().Subscribe(OnRegisterDatabaseEventPublished);
private void OnRegisterDatabaseEventPublished()
{
Container.GetContainer().Unregister<IAppMobileClient>();
Container.GetContainer().Unregister<IMobileServiceClient>();
Container.GetContainer().Register<IMobileServiceClient, AppMobileClient>(new SingletonReuse());
Container.GetContainer().Register<IAppMobileClient, AppMobileClient>(new SingletonReuse());
_eventAggregator.GetEvent<RegisterDatabaseCompletedEvent>().Publish(register);
}
Lastly, back in the ViewModel constructor, I had a final listener that handled the event coming back from App.xaml and finished processing.
_eventAggregator.GetEvent<RegisterDatabaseCompletedEvent>().Subscribe(OnRegisterDatabaseCompletedEventPublished);
So the amazing thing is that this worked. The database was able to be deleted and all was good. But then I navigated to a different page and BOOM. DryIoC said it couldn't wire up the ViewModel for that page. I assume the unregister/register jacked up DryIoC for all injection... So how can I accomplish what needs to be done?
FINAL SOLUTION
Thanks so much to dadhi for taking the time to help. You are certainly a class act and I'm now considering using DryIoC elsewhere.
For anyone who stumbles on this, I'm posting the final solution below. I'll be as verbose as I can to avoid any confusion.
First, in my App.xaml.cs, I added a method for registering my database.
public void RegisterDatabase(IContainer container)
{
container.RegisterMany<AppMobileClient>(Reuse.Singleton,
setup: Setup.With(asResolutionCall: true),
ifAlreadyRegistered: IfAlreadyRegistered.Replace,
serviceTypeCondition: type =>
type == typeof(IMobileServiceClient) || type == typeof(IAppMobileClient));
}
I simply add a call to that method in RegisterTypes in place of registering the types in there directly.
protected override void RegisterTypes(IContainerRegistry containerRegistry)
{
containerRegistry.GetContainer().Rules.WithoutEagerCachingSingletonForFasterAccess();
...
RegisterDatabase(containerRegistry.GetContainer());
...
}
Note also the added rule for eager caching, per dadhi.
Later on when I need to release the database in the ViewModel... I kick things off by resetting my local db variable and sending an event to App.xaml.cs
_client = null;
_eventAggregator.GetEvent<RegisterDatabaseEvent>().Publish(true);
In App.xaml.cs, I have subscribed to that event and tied it to the following method.
private void OnRegisterDatabaseEventPublished()
{
RegisterDatabase(Container.GetContainer());
_eventAggregator.GetEvent<RegisterDatabaseCompletedEvent>().Publish(register);
}
Here I just call RegisterMany again, exactly the same as I do when the app starts up. No need to unregister anything. With the setup and ifAlreadyRegistered arguments (thanks, dadhi!), DryIoC allows the object to be replaced. Then I raise an event back to the VM letting it know the database has been released.
Finally, back in the ViewModel, I'm listening for the completed event. The handler for that event updates the local copy of the object like so.
_client = ((PrismApplication)App.Current).Container.Resolve<IAppMobileClient>();
And then I can work with the new object, as needed. This is key. Without setting _client to null above and resolving it again here, I actually ended up with 2 copies of the object and calls to methods were being hit 2x.
Hope that helps someone else looking to release their Azure Mobile Apps database!
I am not sure how exactly XF handles these things.
But in DryIoc in order for service to be fully deleted or replaced it need to be registered with setup: Setup.With(asResolutionCall: true). Read here for more details: https://bitbucket.org/dadhi/dryioc/wiki/UnregisterAndResolutionCache#markdown-header-unregister-and-resolution-cache
Update
Here are two options and considerations that work in pure DryIoc and may not work XF. But it probably may help with solution.
public class Foo
{
public IBar Bar { get; private set; }
public Foo(IBar bar) { Bar = bar; }
}
public interface IBar {}
public class Bar : IBar {}
public class Bar2 : IBar { }
[Test]
public void Replace_singleton_dependency_with_asResolutionCall()
{
var c = new Container(rules => rules.WithoutEagerCachingSingletonForFasterAccess());
c.Register<Foo>();
//c.Register<Foo>(Reuse.Singleton); // !!! If the consumer of replaced dependency is singleton, it won't work
// cause the consumer singleton should be replaced too
c.Register<IBar, Bar>(Reuse.Singleton,
setup: Setup.With(asResolutionCall: true)); // required
var foo = c.Resolve<Foo>();
Assert.IsInstanceOf<Bar>(foo.Bar);
c.Register<IBar, Bar2>(Reuse.Singleton,
setup: Setup.With(asResolutionCall: true), // required
ifAlreadyRegistered: IfAlreadyRegistered.Replace); // required
var foo2 = c.Resolve<Foo>();
Assert.IsInstanceOf<Bar2>(foo2.Bar);
}
[Test]
public void Replace_singleton_dependency_with_UseInstance()
{
var c = new Container();
c.Register<Foo>();
//c.Register<Foo>(Reuse.Singleton); // !!! If the consumer of replaced dependency is singleton, it won't work
// cause the consumer singleton should be replaced too
c.UseInstance<IBar>(new Bar());
var foo = c.Resolve<Foo>();
Assert.IsInstanceOf<Bar>(foo.Bar);
c.UseInstance<IBar>(new Bar2());
var foo2 = c.Resolve<Foo>();
Assert.IsInstanceOf<Bar2>(foo2.Bar);
}

Linq DataContext - Where does it go in a class?

I'm still new to LINQ and am having some issues in knowing where to put a DataContext in a Class.
Here's what I've tried:
public class Student
{
private static LinqClassesDataContext db = new LinqClassesDataContext();
public static Profile GetProfile(int uID)
{
var profile = (from p in db.Profiles
where p.uID == uID
select p).FirstOrDefault();
return profile;
}
}
But I'm having issues of the result caching(?) - see this issue: Weird caching issue with ASP.net/Linq
Then, I tried putting the DataContext in each of the methods in the class:
public class Student
{
public static Profile GetProfile(int uID)
{
using (LinqClassesDataContext db = new LinqClassesDataContext())
{
var profile = (from p in db.Profiles
where p.uID == uID
select p).FirstOrDefault();
return profile;
}
}
}
But then I was getting a “DataContext accessed after Dispose” error in my application.
So, the only other way that I've seen this done is this way:
public class Student
{
public static Profile GetProfile(int uID)
{
LinqClassesDataContext db = new LinqClassesDataContext();
{
var profile = (from p in db.Profiles
where p.uID == uID
select p).FirstOrDefault();
return profile;
}
}
}
But it seems that this isn't the most efficient way. Perhaps I'm using Linq incorrectly (I'm a self taught ASP.net'er), but can someone enlighten me on what the best way to move forward?
Objects are attached to the context, so as soon as you dispose it, if you try to navigate it's relationships, you will get these kinds of errors as you got with option #2.
Since ASP.NET is stateless, you need to either load the profile object every time it's needed, and not cache the object statically, or load the object and all of it's related data using the DataLoadOptions object of LINQ to SQL (see this). That way, you shouldn't need the context when accessing related data sets.
As far as where to put it, I always put it in HttpContext.Current.Items collection, which can store the instance per request, and then share it from here across all requests. I wrap some code around it so my application doesn't know that it's getting it from here. However, you have to be careful, because if a process outside of ASP.NET uses the same code, this approach blows up because there is no HTTP context. In that case, instantiate the context every time.

What Exactly Does HttpApplicationState.Lock Do?

My application stores two related bits of data in application state. Each time I read these two values, I may (depending on their values) need to update both of them.
So to prevent updating them while another thread is in the middle of reading them, I'm locking application state.
But the documentation for HttpApplicationState.Lock Method really doesn't tell me exactly what it does.
For example:
How does it lock? Does it block any other thread from writing the data?
Does it also block read access? If not, then this exercise is pointless because the two values could be updated after another thread has read the first value but before it has read the second.
In addition to preventing multiple threads from writing the data at the same time, it is helpful to also prevent a thread from reading while another thread is writing; otherwise, the first thread could think it needs to refresh the data when it's not necessary. I want to limit the number of times I perform the refresh.
Looking at the code is locking only the write, not the read.
public void Lock()
{
this._lock.AcquireWrite();
}
public void UnLock()
{
this._lock.ReleaseWrite();
}
public object this[string name]
{
get
{
return this.Get(name);
}
set
{
// here is the effect on the lock
this.Set(name, value);
}
}
public void Set(string name, object value)
{
this._lock.AcquireWrite();
try
{
base.BaseSet(name, value);
}
finally
{
this._lock.ReleaseWrite();
}
}
public object Get(string name)
{
object obj2 = null;
this._lock.AcquireRead();
try
{
obj2 = base.BaseGet(name);
}
finally
{
this._lock.ReleaseRead();
}
return obj2;
}
The write and the read is thread safe, meaning have all ready the lock mechanism. So if you going on a loop that you read data, you can lock it outside to prevent other break the list.
Its also good to read this answer: Using static variables instead of Application state in ASP.NET
Its better to avoid use the Application to store data, and direct use a static member with your lock mechanism, because first of all MS suggest it, and second because the read/write to application static data is call the locking on every access of the data.

ASP.net how to long polling with PokeIn?

I want to make a service that notify the user in case there are some new messages sent to him. Thus I want to use some Comet framework that provide the server push ability. So I have looked into PokeIn.
Just wondering a thing. I have checked on the samples that they have on the website. None of them look into the database to retrieve new entries if there are some. But it is just a matter of modification to it I guess.
One of the sample implement this long polling by using a sleep on the server side. So if I use the same approach I can check the database, if there are any new entries, every 5 seconds. However this approach doesn't seem to be much different from when using polling on the client side with javascript.
This part is from a sample. As can be seen they put a sleep there for to update current time for everybody.
static void UpdateClients()
{
while (true)
{
//.. code to check database
if (CometWorker.ActiveClientCount > 0)
{
CometWorker.SendToAll(JSON.Method("UpdateTime", DateTime.Now));
}
Thread.Sleep(500);
}
}
So I wonder is this how I should implement the message notifier? It seems that the above approach is still going to push a huge load demand on the server side. The message notifier is intend to work same way as the one found Facebook.
You shouldn't implement this way, that sample is only implemented like that because the keep PokeIn related part is clear. You should implement SQL part as mentioned http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/12335/Using-SqlDependency-for-data-change-events
in order to track changes on database.
So, when you have something to send, call one of the PokeIn methods for the client side delivery. I don't know, how much your application is time critical because in addition to reverse ajax, PokeIn's internal websocket feature is very easy to activate and delivers messages to client quite fast.
You can do this with database as #Zuuum said, but I implemented it in a different way.
I'm using ASP.NET MVC with PokeIn and EF in a Windows Azure environment:
I have domain events similar to this approach: Strengthening your domain: Domain Events
When someone invokes an action, that's a Unit of Work
If that UOW succeeds then I raise a domain event (e.g. ChatMessageSent)
I have subscribers for these domain events so they can receive the event and forward the message to the PokeIn listeners
I use this pattern for all my real-time needs on my game site (making moves, actions etc in a game), I don't want to advertise it here, you can find it through me if you want.
I always use this pattern as a duplex communication solution so everybody gets their update via PokeIn, even the user who invoked the action so every client will behave the same. So when someone calls an action it won't return anything except the success signal.
The next examples are won't work because they are only snippets to demonstrate the flow
Here is an action snippet from my code:
[HttpPost]
[UnitOfWork]
[RestrictToAjax]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public JsonResult Post(SendMessageViewModel msg)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
var chatMessage = new ChatMessage
{
ContainerType = msg.ContainerType,
ContainerID = msg.ContainerID,
Message = _xssEncoder.Encode(msg.Message),
User = _profileService.CurrentUser
};
_chatRepository.AddMessage(chatMessage);
OnSuccessfulUoW = () => EventBroker.Current.Send(this, new ChatMessageSentPayload(chatMessage));
}
return Json(Constants.AjaxOk);
}
And the (simplified) EventBroker implementation:
public class UnityEventBroker : EventBroker
{
private readonly IUnityContainer _container;
public UnityEventBroker(IUnityContainer container)
{
_container = container;
}
public override void Send<TPayload>(object sender, TPayload payload)
{
var subscribers = _container.ResolveAll<IEventSubscriber<TPayload>>();
if (subscribers == null) return;
foreach (var subscriber in subscribers)
{
subscriber.Receive(sender, payload);
}
}
}
And the even more simplified subscriber:
public class ChatMessageSentSubscriber : IEventSubscriber<ChatMessageSentPayload>
{
public void Receive(object sender, ChatMessageSentPayload payload)
{
var message = payload.Message;
var content = SiteContent.Global;
var clients = Client.GetClients(c => c.ContentID == message.ContainerID && c.Content == content)
.Select(c => c.ClientID)
.ToArray();
var dto = ObjectMapper.Current.Map<ChatMessage, ChatMessageSentDto>(message);
var json = PokeIn.JSON.Method("pokein", dto);
CometWorker.SendToClients(clients, json);
}
}

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