When do we need data classes? - asp.net

Im using asp.net core. Here is the basic way to use model with controller.
public class BookController : Controller
{
private readonly ApplicationDbContext _context { get; set; }
public BookController(ApplicationDbContext context)
{
_context = context;
}
public IActionResult Create(Book model)
{
// adding new model
}
public IActionResult Edit(Book model)
{
// modifying the model
}
public IActionResult Delete(Book model)
{
// removing the model
}
}
My question: when shall/should I implement the code inside the controller? When shall/should I implement it in another class?
Something like this:
public interface IBook
{
int Add(Book book);
int Update(Book book);
int Remove(Book book);
}
public class BookData : IBook
{
private readonly ApplicationDbContext _context { get; set; }
BookData(ApplicationDbContext context)
{
_context = context
}
public int Add(Book model)
{
// ...
return _context.SaveChanges();
}
// other implements...
}
Then, calling it inside controller:
public IActionResult Create(Book model)
{
var bookData = new BookData(_context);
int result = bookData.Add(model);
// ...
}
For the interface, I think it may be useful for the case: I have many controllers that require same action/method names.
Example: MessageController requires 3 actions/methods at least (Create/Add, Edit/Update, Delete/Remove). It's same to NotificationController class, CommentController class...
So, the interface can be improved to:
public interface IMyService<T> where T : class
{
int Add(T model);
int Update(T model);
int Remove(T model);
}
public class MyService<T> : IMyService<T> where T : class
{
private readonly ApplicationDbContext _context { get; set; }
public MyService(ApplicationDbContext context)
{
_context = context;
}
public int Add(T model)
{
Type type = typeof(model);
if (type == typeof(Book))
{
// adding new book model
}
else if (type == typeof(Comment))
{
// adding new comment model
}
// ...
return -1;
}
// other implements...
}
Do I misunderstand something?

If I read it correctly with data classes you actually means repository (which is an abstraction over the persistence layer). You should always encapsulate persistence logic behind a class (be it via repository pattern, command/query pattern or request handler) and use it instead of directly using the context in your service classes.
That being said, you can directly inject your BookData to your controller instead of the ApplicationDbContext. One thing you should consider you lose in your current implementation is the Unit of Work pattern. Right now, every add will instantly persist the data.
This may not be what you want, so you should move the _context.SaveChanges(); outside of the Add/Remove/Update methods and call it explicitly. This allows you to insert i.e. 10 records and if one of them fails, nothing will be persisted to the database.
But if you call _context.SaveChanges(); after each insert and you get an error in the 8th (of 10) records, then 7 get persisted and 3 will be missing and you get inconsistent data.
Controller shouldn't contain any logic at all, only do short validation of the input model (ModelState.IsValid check) and if its okay, call the services which do all the logic and report the result back to the user. Only in very simple tutorials and guides logic is put into the controller action for reasons of simplicity. In real world applications you should never do that. Controllers are much harder to unit test than service classes.

Related

Is there a way to get the current controller instance in ASP.NET 5?

Is there a way to do this using DI? I tried IScopedInstance<Controller> but this gives me null. Poked around aspnet's source code but didn't win. Any ideas?
I have a controller that accepts different IPaymentMethods. The IPaymentMethod can be a ViewComponent that can render Views. If the IPaymentMethod is a ViewComponent, I want it to use MVC's built-in model binding on post back.
public class XController : Controller
{
// ctor, props, ...
public IActionResult Checkout()
{
return View(new Model
{
PaymentMethodId = 1,
PaymentMethodType = typeof(MyPaymentMethod) // The razor file will use this type to render it as a ViewComponent
});
}
[HttpPost]
public IActionResult Checkout(Model model)
{
var paymentMethod = _paymentService.GetPaymentMethodById(model.PaymentMethodId);
paymentMethod.ProcessPayment();
// ..
}
}
This is where I need the controller to be injected. I wanted to make use of the built-in MVC validation and model binding.
public class MyPaymentMethod : IPaymentMethod
{
private Controller _currentController;
public MyPaymentMethod(IScopedInstance<Controller> controller)
{
_currentController = controller.Value;
}
public void ProcessPayment()
{
var model = new PaymentModel();
_currentController.TryUpdateModel(model, typeof(PaymentModel), null);
if (!_currentController.ModelState.IsValid)
{
return; // or exception
}
// Process Payment using model
}
public Task<IViewComponentResult> InvokeAsync()
{
// returns View
}
}
public interface IPaymentMethod
{
void ProcessPayment();
}
Since the model instance is required in the ProcessPayment method, why not simply pass it as a parameter?
[HttpPost]
public IActionResult Checkout(PaymentModel model)
{
var paymentMethod = _paymentService.GetPaymentMethodById(model.PaymentMethodId);
if (!ModelState.IsValid)
{
return; // or exception
}
paymentMethod.ProcessPayment(model);
// ..
}
public void ProcessPayment(PaymentModel model)
{
// Process Payment using model
}
Your service is taking on responsibilities that belong to the controller - namely checking ModelState.IsValid.
public interface IPaymentMethod
{
void ProcessPayment(PaymentModel model);
}
You may wish to also pass just the properties that are needed from the payment model, or you may wish to make an IPaymentModel interface to decouple your model from your PaymentService. In that case, your IPaymentModel would go into a shared layer.
public interface IPaymentMethod
{
void ProcessPayment(IPaymentModel model);
}
This no longer works with beta7
At this time of writing (beta6), this probably isn't supported and there is a good reason for it: Controllers in ASP.NET 5 does not need to inherit from the Controller class. I have, however, found a way for this to work using ActionFilters.
public class ScopeControllerActionFilterAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute
{
private readonly IScopedInstance<Controller> _controller;
public ScopeControllerActionFilterAttribute(IScopedInstance<Controller> controller)
{
_controller = controller;
}
public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext context)
{
if (_controller.Value == null)
{
_controller.Value = context.Controller as Controller;
}
}
}
Note that depending on the stage of the http request lifecycle, the Value of IScopedInstance<Controller> may still be empty.

ASP.NET MVC 5 Common actions for more controllers

I have some controllers (and will be more) which share some actions like those:
public ActionResult DeleteConfirmed(int id)
{
Supplier s = db.Suppliers.Find(id);
s.Deleted = true;
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
public ActionResult RestoreConfirmed(int id)
{
Supplier s = db.Suppliers.Find(id);
s.Deleted = false;
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
Those action are part of SuppliersController. What this does is that when I delete or restore an object, it marks the object in the database as true for deleted field (and false when it is restored).
The same behavior is shared by many other controllers like CurrenciesController, ProductsController, etc...
In the code I showed you should see that my database entity is clearly specified (Supplier) and also the repository (Suppliers).
I want to find a way to this in a generic way. I want to create a custom controller and all other controllers that shares the same behavior will extended it. In this case ProductsController will extend my DeleteRestoreController.
How can I do this in a "generic" way?
db is a DbContext
public partial class LE: DbContext
{
public LE()
: base("name=LE")
{
}
protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
{
throw new UnintentionalCodeFirstException();
}
public virtual DbSet<Category> Categories { get; set; }
public virtual DbSet<CategoryText> CategoryTexts { get; set; }
...
}
Categories also share the same behavior.
To go one step further
public abstract class DeleteRestoreController<T> : Controller
{
public virtual Action DeleteConfirmed(int id)
{
var dbset = db.Set<T>();
var s = dbset.Find(id);
s.Deleted = true;
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
}
then when defining your controller add the entity type
public class ProductsController : DeleteRestoreController<Supplier>
{
////blah
}
You can implement your DeleteRestoreController as an abstract class.
public abstract class DeleteRestoreController : Controller
{
private IRepository : Repository;
public DeleteRestoreController() { ... }
public DeleteRestoreController(IRepository Repository) { ... }
public virtual Action DeleteConfirmed(int id)
{
Supplier s = db.Suppliers.Find(id);
s.Deleted = true;
db.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
}
If you need to differ from that behaviour in your ProductsController you can simply override that method.
public class ProductsController : DeleteRestoreController
{
public override void DeleteConfirmed()
{
//override the logic
}
}
You could always go one step further and implement a generic repository as well, but I've never gone beyond 6-8 controllers in my applications and didn't create one once.
EDIT I've just read in the comments, that the entities would change from Suppliers in the controllers, so implementing a base controller wouldn't make much sense, if you do not implement a generic interface as well. Robert Harvey has made a great point in stating the complexity has to go somewhere.

Entity framework, consuming context in webform app

Rather simple question regarding entity framework and how to consume the objectcontext.
In a asp.net webform application I am implementing most of data getters in a data class and trying to determine if its better (in a generic sense of better) to have a private context for the entire class or declare a context in each of the methods.
Example 1:
public class Data
{
private MyEntity context = new MyEntity();
public Customer GetCustomer()
{
return context.Customer.Single();
}
public Order GetOrder()
{
return context.Order.Single();
}
}
Or Example 2:
public class Data
{
public Customer GetCustomer()
{
using (MyEntity ctx = new MyEntity())
{
return context.Customer.Single();
}
}
public Order GetOrder()
{
using (MyEntity ctx = new MyEntity())
{
return context.Order.Single();
}
}
}
Personally im a big fan of using a shared context across your whole post back, however neither of these scenarios really achieve this. My personal preference is to use a dependency injection container such as ninject to manage the lifecycle of your EF context. This means that you can make your whole postback transactional.
in terms of implementation I would go for soemthing like the following:
public class Data
{
private MyContext _context;
public Data(MyContext context)
{
_context = context;
}
public Customer GetCustomer()
{
return _context.Customer.Single();
}
public Order GetOrder()
{
return _context.Order.Single();
}
}
with a binding similar to:
Bind<MyContext>().ToSelf().InRequestScope();

What are best practices for managing DataContext?

In an effort to make my entities persistent ignorant and make my repositories testable, I've implemented a repository pattern like so:
public interface IJobRepository : IRepository<Job>
{
Job GetJobById(int jobId); //Special case where I'm eager loading other entities
void SaveJob(Job job, Job originalJob);
}
public class JobRepository : IJobRepository
{
private readonly IContext _context;
public JobRepository()
{
_context = new CustomObjectContext();
}
public JobRepository(UnitOfWork unitOfWork)
{
_context = unitOfWork.Context;
}
//Basic GetAll, GetById, Add and Delete methods from IRepository<T> Interface here
//omitted for brevity
public Job GetJobById(int jobId)
{
var job = _context.Jobs.Include("Company").Include("Location").
Include("PlantInfo").Where(j => j.Jobid == jobId).SingleOrDefault();
_context.DisposeContext();
return job;
}
public void SaveJob(Job job, Job originalJob)
{
if (job.Jobid > 0)
{
// Update
_context.Jobs.Attach(originalJob);
_context.PlantInfoes.Attach(originalJob.PlantInfo);
_context.Jobs.ApplyCurrentValues(job);
_context.PlantInfoes.ApplyCurrentValues(job.PlantInfo);
Note: ApplyCurrentValues is an extension method I'm using on the ObjectSet
}
else
{
// Create
_context.Jobs.AddObject(job);
}
_context.Save();
}
}
public class UnitOfWork
{
private readonly IContext _context;
public UnitOfWork()
{
_context = new CustomObjectContext();
}
public UnitOfWork(IContext context)
{
_context = context;
}
public string Save()
{
return _context.Save();
}
internal IContext Context
{
get { return _context; }
}
}
public interface IContext
{
IObjectSet<Job> Jobs { get; }
IObjectSet<Company> Companies { get; }
IObjectSet<Location> Locations { get; }
IObjectSet<PlantInfo> PlantInfoes { get; }
string Save();
}
My ObjectContext inherits from IContext...So my understanding is that I will only use the overloaded constructor on the repository to facilitate unit tests or to use it in the case that I want to use the same context (not desirable based on this post I found on SO "Entity Framework and Connection Pooling" -- Is this right?
Also, assuming the context only gets disposed when the repository is garbage collected, I have to dispose the context explicitly to avoid the "An entity object cannot be referenced by multiple instances of IEntityChangeTracker." exception when attaching the entity prior to a save.
That said, what is the best practice for managing the DataContext in a manner that keeps your entities persistent ignorant and repositories testable?
Note: This is an asp.net webapplication; UnitOfWork and IContext implementation was based on examples from "Programming Entity Framework", Second Edition by Julia Lerman Ch24.
Thanks in advance!
Firstly, I would ensure that whatever my "consumable" object is (either repository or unit of work, depending on your setup) implements IDisposable. When your consumbed object is disposed of, then you would dispose your underlying context.
For instance, if you're using your UnitOfWork as the consumable object (the one that gets created and called in your application), it would look something like:
public class UnitOfWork : IDisposable
{
// All the other stuff you had before plus:
public void Dispose ()
{
if (_context != null)
{
_context.Dispose ();
}
}
}
(Note: This can also be done on your repositories if they're the ones being consumed directly)
And then, you have a few options in your application. If you are going to use the UnitOfWork directly, you can use it like:
public void SomeMethodThatAccessesYourData ()
{
using (var unitOfWork = new UnitOfWork (/*Load in the context*/))
{
// Access your data here.
}
}
Or, in your Web Forms or MVC object you can use constructor injection and dispose of it when the Web Forms or MVC object is disposed of:
// If you're using MVC:
public class MyController : Controller
{
private UnitOfWork _unitOfWork;
public MyController (UnitOfWork unitOfWork)
{
_unitOfWork = unitOfWork;
}
public override Dispose (bool Disposing)
{
if (Disposing && _unitOfWork != null)
{
_unitOfWork.Dispose ();
}
}
}
The same idea stands for a web forms Page.
The main reason for using the constructor overload is for Inversion of Control (IOC). It helps with both unit testing and with production code when used with an IoC Container. WebForms doesn't lend itself well to IoC, but it is really easy with MVC.
Edit
I don't really see the connection with your repositories and the unit of work. Usually you access the repositories from a unit of work or, in other implementations, you request a unit of work from your target repository. In your implementation (which I understand is not your own) there seems to be no need for both.
Edit 2
If the UoW is overkill for your application, and you know you can use IoC to inject your IContext, and you don't have very many repositories, you can do something like:
public IRepository<T> : IDisposable { }
public IJobRepository : IRepository<Job> { /* All the stuff you put here */ }
public JobRepository : IJobRepository
{
private IContext _context;
...
public void Dispose ()
{
if (_context != null)
{
_context.Dispose ();
}
}
public JobRepository (IContext context)
{
_context = context;
}
}
Then, how you use it depends on your specific task. I'm not a fan of this direct use of IRepository, but this answer is getting too long.

Design a class to be Unit testable

I am going though the Apress ASP.NET MVC 3 book and trying to ensure I create Unit Tests for everything possible but after spending a good part of a day trying to work out why edit's wouldn't save (see this SO question) I wanted to create a unit test for this.
I have worked out that I need to create a unit test for the following class:
public class EFProductRepository : IProductRepository {
private EFDbContext context = new EFDbContext();
public IQueryable<Product> Products {
get { return context.Products; }
}
public void SaveProduct(Product product) {
if (product.ProductID == 0) {
context.Products.Add(product);
}
context.SaveChanges();
}
public void DeleteProduct(Product product) {
context.Products.Remove(product);
context.SaveChanges();
}
}
public class EFDbContext : DbContext {
public DbSet<Product> Products { get; set; }
}
I am using Ninject.MVC3 and Moq and have created several unit tests before (while working though the previously mentioned book) so am slowly getting my head around it. I have already (hopefully correctly) created a constructor method to enable me to pass in _context:
public class EFProductRepository : IProductRepository {
private EFDbContext _context;
// constructor
public EFProductRepository(EFDbContext context) {
_context = context;
}
public IQueryable<Product> Products {
get { return _context.Products; }
}
public void SaveProduct(Product product) {
if (product.ProductID == 0) {
_context.Products.Add(product);
} else {
_context.Entry(product).State = EntityState.Modified;
}
_context.SaveChanges();
}
public void DeleteProduct(Product product) {
_context.Products.Remove(product);
_context.SaveChanges();
}
}
BUT this is where I start to have trouble... I believe I need to create an Interface for EFDbContext (see below) so I can replace it with a mock repo for the tests BUT it is built on the class DbContext:
public class EFDbContext : DbContext {
public DbSet<Product> Products { get; set; }
}
from System.Data.Entity and I can't for the life of me work out how to create an interface for it... If I create the following interface I get errors due to lack of the method .SaveChanges() which is from the DbContext class and I can't build the interface using "DbContext" like the `EFDbContext is as it's a class not an interface...
using System;
using System.Data.Entity;
using SportsStore.Domain.Entities;
namespace SportsStore.Domain.Concrete {
interface IEFDbContext {
DbSet<Product> Products { get; set; }
}
}
The original Source can be got from the "Source Code/Downloads" on this page encase I have missed something in the above code fragments (or just ask and I will add it).
I have hit the limit of what I understand and no mater what I search for or read I can't seem to work out how I get past this. Please help!
The problem here is that you have not abstracted enough. The point of abstractions/interfaces is to define a contract that exposes behavior in a technology-agnostic way.
In other words, it is a good first step that you created an interface for the EFDbContext, but that interface is still tied to the concrete implementation - DbSet (DbSet).
The quick fix for this is to expose this property as IDbSet instead of DbSet. Ideally you expose something even more abstract like IQueryable (though this doesn't give you the Add() methods, etc.). The more abstract, the easier it is to mock.
Then, you're left with fulfilling the rest of the "contract" that you rely on - namely the SaveChanges() method.
Your updated code would look like this:
public class EFProductRepository : IProductRepository {
private IEFDbContext context;
public EFProductRepository(IEFDbContext context) {
this.context = context;
}
...
}
public interface IEFDbContext {
IDbSet<Product> Products { get; set; }
void SaveChanges();
}
BUT... the main question you have to ask is: what are you trying to test (conversely, what are you trying to mock out/avoid testing)? In other words: are you trying to validate how your application works when something is saved, or are you testing the actual saving.
If you're just testing how your application works and don't care about actually saving to the database, I'd consider mocking at a higher level - the IProductRepository. Then you're not hitting the database at all.
If you want to make sure that your objects actually get persisted to the database, then you should be hitting the DbContext and don't want to mock that part after all.
Personally, I consider both of those scenarios to be different - and equally important - and I write separate tests for each of them: one to test that my application does what it's supposed to do, and another to test that the database interaction works.
I guess your current code looks something like this (I put in the interface):
public class EFProductRepository : IProductRepository {
private IEFDbContext _context;
// constructor
public EFProductRepository(IEFDbContext context) {
_context = context;
}
public IQueryable<Product> Products {
get { return _context.Products; }
}
public void SaveProduct(Product product) {
if (product.ProductID == 0) {
_context.Products.Add(product);
} else {
_context.Entry(product).State = EntityState.Modified;
}
**_context.SaveChanges();**
}
public void DeleteProduct(Product product) {
_context.Products.Remove(product);
**_context.SaveChanges();**
}
}
public class EFDbContext : DbContext, IEFDbContext {
public DbSet<Product> Products { get; set; }
}
public interface IEFDbContext {
DbSet<Product> Products { get; set; }
}
The problem is EFProductRepository now expects an object implementing the IEFDbContext interface, but this interface does not define the SaveChanges method used at the lines I put between the asteriskes so the compiler starts complaining.
Defining the SaveChanges method on the IEFDbContext interface solves your problem:
public interface IEFDbContext {
DbSet<Product> Products { get; set; }
void SaveChanges();
}

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