Base View Model with Culture/Language via BeginExecuteCore - asp.net-mvc

Question

I was wondering whether any people could help me please? I'm trying to create a site where the user logs in, it retrieves their chosen language from the database, and it uses that when setting the culture. There are also a number of settings about the user that would be retrieved at the same time as the user's language.
The culture/translations are handled via a base controller below (it's still a test version, but you will get the idea).
public abstract class BaseController : Controller
{
//public UserRegistrationInformation UserSession;
//public void GetUserInfo()
//{
// WebUsersEntities db = new WebUsersEntities();
// UserSession = db.UserRegistrationInformations.Where(r => r.uri_UserID == WebSecurity.CurrentUserId).FirstOrDefault();
//}
protected override IAsyncResult BeginExecuteCore(AsyncCallback callback, object state)
{
//GetUserInfo();
string cultureName = null;
// Change this to read from the user settings rather than a cookie
/// Attempt to read the culture cookie from Request
//HttpCookie cultureCookie = Request.Cookies["_culture"];
//if (cultureCookie != null)
// cultureName = cultureCookie.Value;
//else
cultureName = Request.UserLanguages[0]; // obtain it from HTTP header AcceptLanguages
//cultureName = "es-es";
// Validate culture name
cultureName = CultureHelper.GetImplementedCulture(cultureName); // This is safe
// Modify current thread's cultures
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo(cultureName);
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture;
return base.BeginExecuteCore(callback, state);
}
}
This was largely taken from http://afana.me/post/aspnet-mvc-internationalization-part-2.aspx
I've been searching for how to pass the user's settings to the _layout rather than just the view. I found an interesting post here Pass data to layout that are common to all pages that works for me, I've created a base ViewModel, and any other ViewModels are inheriting it.
public abstract class ViewModelBase
{
public string BrandName { get; set; }
public UserRegistrationInformation UserSession;
public void GetUserInfo()
{
WebUsersEntities db = new WebUsersEntities();
UserSession = db.UserRegistrationInformations.Where(r => r.uri_UserID == WebSecurity.CurrentUserId).FirstOrDefault();
}
}
To test with I've altered the existing change password model and control to:
public class LocalPasswordModel : ViewModelBase
{..........}
and
public ActionResult Manage(ManageMessageId? message)
{
//ViewModelAccounts vma = new ViewModelAccounts();
//vma.GetUserInfo();
LocalPasswordModel l = new LocalPasswordModel();
l.GetUserInfo();
l.BrandName = "blue";
ViewBag.StatusMessage =
message == ManageMessageId.ChangePasswordSuccess ? "Your password has been changed."
: message == ManageMessageId.SetPasswordSuccess ? "Your password has been set."
: message == ManageMessageId.RemoveLoginSuccess ? "The external login was removed."
: "";
ViewBag.HasLocalPassword = OAuthWebSecurity.HasLocalAccount(WebSecurity.GetUserId(User.Identity.Name));
ViewBag.ReturnUrl = Url.Action("Manage");
return View(l);
}
Again this works perfectly, however I only want to retrieve the user's information the once. Currently I can do what I want by calling it in the BeginExecuteCore, and then again in the controller as above. How can I call this the once to be used everywhere? i.e. populate the BaseViewModel.
Thanks for any help or pointers you may be able to give!

Answer 1

Ok. I've finally solved this.
I'm, creating a base model that all of my other view-models are going to inherit from. It can also be called directly in case any view doesn't require its own view-model.
public class ViewModelBase
{
public UserSettings ProfileSettings;
// Create a new instance, so we don't need to every time its called.
public ViewModelBase()
{
ProfileSettings = new UserSettings();
}
}
public class UserSettings // UserSettings is only used here and consumed by ViewModelBase, its the name there that is used throughout the application
{
public string BrandName { get; set; }
public UserRegistrationInformation UserSession;
}
This is being generated in the basecontroller.
public abstract class BaseController : Controller
{
public ViewModelBase vmb = new ViewModelBase();
protected override IAsyncResult BeginExecuteCore(AsyncCallback callback, object state)
{
string cultureName = null;
int userid = 0;
if (System.Web.Security.Membership.GetUser() != null)
{
//logged in
userid = (int)System.Web.Security.Membership.GetUser().ProviderUserKey;
WebUsersEntities db = new WebUsersEntities();
vmb.ProfileSettings.UserSession = db.UserRegistrationInformations.Where(r => r.uri_UserID == userid).FirstOrDefault();
vmb.ProfileSettings.BrandName = "test";
cultureName = "es-es";
}
else
{
// not logged in
cultureName = Request.UserLanguages[0]; // obtain it from HTTP header AcceptLanguages
}
// Validate culture name
cultureName = CultureHelper.GetImplementedCulture(cultureName); // This is safe
// Modify current thread's cultures
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo(cultureName);
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture;
return base.BeginExecuteCore(callback, state);
}
}
The other controllers all inherit from this controller. If any screen has a dedicated view-model it can retrieve the information from the model populated in the controller like this:
[AllowAnonymous]
public ActionResult Login(string returnUrl)
{
LoginModel v = new LoginModel();
v.ProfileSettings = vmb.ProfileSettings;
ViewBag.ReturnUrl = returnUrl;
return View(v);
}
I hope that helps someone in the future.