How to create Repository Classes in MVC3 (Entity Framework)? - asp.net-mvc

Question

I created a project using MVC3 - Entity Framework. I like to use Repository Pattern together with it. I am new to repository pattern. Do I need to create ONE EACH Repository for each Model Class (classes which represent each table in the database) and within each repository do I have to write all the functions which will Insert, Update, Delete and Fetch record?

Answer 1

No you don't. You can implement a GenericRepository for all your classes and then override it if you need to add functions. First i am gonna show you the unit of work. Through this class you can access all the repositories. I have added to this example one generic and one overrided:
public class UnitOfWork
{
FBDbContext context = new FBDbContext();
public FBDbContext Context { get { return context; } }
private BlockRepository BlockRepository;
private GenericRepository<Category> CategoryRepository;
#region RepositoryClasses
public IBlockRepository blockRepository
{
get
{
if (this.BlockRepository == null)
this.BlockRepository = new BlockRepository(context);
return BlockRepository;
}
}
public IGenericRepository<Category> categoryRepository
{
get
{
if (this.CategoryRepository == null)
this.CategoryRepository = new GenericRepository<Category>(context);
return CategoryRepository;
}
}
#endregion
public void Save()
{
context.SaveChanges();
}
}
Then you have the generic repository:
public class GenericRepository<TEntity>
{
internal FBDbContext context;
internal DbSet<TEntity> dbSet;
public GenericRepository(FBDbContext context)
{
this.context = context;
this.dbSet = context.Set<TEntity>();
}
public virtual TEntity Create()
{
return Activator.CreateInstance<TEntity>();
}
public IQueryable<TEntity> GetAll()
{
return dbSet;
}
//And all the functions you want in all your model classes...
}
and an example when you want to override the generic repository:
public class BlockRepository : GenericRepository<Block>
{
public BlockRepository(FBDbContext context) : base(context) { }
public IEnumerable<Block> GetByCategory(Category category)
{
return context.Blocks.Where(r => r.CategoryId == category.Id);
}
}

Answer 2

You can create common repository which will have common methods, all other repositories will be it's children:
public class MyModelRepository : GenericRepository<MyModel>
{
// extend
}
var MyModelRepository = new MyModelRepository();
See this, or google for "Generic Repository" :). If your don't need extended functionality for some model repository, then you can even not create repository class, instead do something like this:
var MyModelRepository = new GenericRepository<MyModel>();

Answer 3

Have an interface that represents the common operations between each repository. I.e. Insert, Update, Delete and Fetch:
public interface IRepository<T>
{
void Insert(T entity);
void Delete(T entity);
void Update(T entity);
void Fetch(T entity);
}
public class Repository<T> : IRepository<T>
/// your implementation
}
Then in each model you could define the repository to suit the context, for instance:
var repository1 = new Repository<ModelType>(dataContext);
repository1.Insert(obj);
var repository2 = new Repository<DifferentModelType>(dataContext);
repository2.Fetch(objects);
http://www.remondo.net/repository-pattern-example-csharp/