knockout js .net load page with and without model - asp.net-mvc

I am trying to reuse the same form for adding and editing employee information. I am using knockout js and on my view I make the knockout model:
var koModel = new EmployeeModel(div);
and if I want to populate the fields from the server I want to do something like this:
var koModel = new EmployeeModel(unserializedModelFromController, div);
I was wondering what is the best way to distinguish if the request is for a new employee or if it is to edit an existing employee.

If you turn your parameters around you can write a single constructor function.
var EmployeeModel = function(div, model) {
if (model) {
// Existing model has been passed, it's an edit request
} else {
// No model has been passed, it's a new request
}
}
This can be called like:
new EmployeeModel(div);
or
new EmployeeModel(div, model);

You can send a parameter with a default value to the view.
If you are editing an employee, you can send the value of id, you're creating not send.
The function that receives a request to store or edit could have a default value.
public void SaveOrEditEmployee(int id=0, ...) //id=0 is a default value
{
if(id==0)
{
//SaveEmployee
}else
{
//EditEmployee
Employee empl = (x => employee.id == id);
...
}
}
Or you can do likewise, receive full model and assess whether the property 'id' already exists in your database

Related

how to set value from database in Zend Framework 2 in add form element

i new to zenframework 2. i have correctly set up zendframework 2,doctrine and zfcUser.All work correctly.
my issue now is now regarding how to prepoulated a form if a member is already logged in.
this is where i extend zfcUser to obtain the Id of a loggged in member:
public function setid( $id)
{
$this->id = $id;
}
public function getId()
{
if (!$this->id) {
$this->setid($this->zfcUserAuthentication()->getAuthService()->getIdentity()->getId());
}
return $this->id;
}
i know want to use that Id to obtain the values from the database and then populate the form with those values.
this is my form:
public function aboutYouAction()
{
$id = $this->getId() ;
$form = new CreateAboutYouForm($this->getEntityManager());
$aboutYou = new AboutYou();
$form->setInputFilter($aboutYou->getInputFilter());
$form->bind($aboutYou);
if ($this->request->isPost())
{
$form->setData($this->request->getPost());
if ($form->isValid())
{
$post = $this->request->getPost();
$this->getEntityManager()->persist($aboutYou);
$this->getEntityManager()->flush();
return $this->redirect()->toRoute('worker', array('action' => 'aboutYou'));
}
}
$messages='';
// return array('form' => $form);
return new ViewModel(array('form' => $form, 'messages' => $messages));
}
To set the values on the form all you need to do is $form->bind($aboutYou)
The bind() method is designed to take the passed entity instance and map it to the forms elements; This process being referred to as form hydration.
Depending on the hydrator attached to the form or fieldset (With doctrine this would normally be the DoctrineModule\Stdlib\Hydrator\DoctrineObject) this should be able to evaluate the AboutYou fields, including any entity references/associations, and set the corresponding form elements values. I'm assuming that one of these fields is user.
In you specific case it seems you are binding a new entity (which therefore will not have any properties set, such as your user)
$aboutYou = new AboutYou(); // Brand new entity
$form->bind($aboutYou); // Binding to the form without any data
What this means is that the form is trying to set the values of the elements but the provided AboutYou class has no data to set (as its new and was not loaded via doctrine) and/or the properties of the AboutYou class to not correctly map to the form's elements.
If you wish to bind the user you will need to fetch the populated instance. This can be done using doctrine ($objectManager->find('AboutYou', $aboutYouId)) or if you need to set the current logged in user call the controller plugin ZfcUser\Controller\Plugin\ZfcUserAuthentication from within the controller and no where else.
You workflow should be similar to this (illustration purposes only)
// Controller
public function aboutYouAction()
{
// Get the id via posted/query/route params
$aboutYouId = $this->params('id', false);
// get the object manager
$objectManager = $this->getServiceLocator()->get('ObjectManager');
// Fetch the populated instance
$aboutYou = $objectManager->find('AboutYou', $aboutYouId);
// here the about you entity should be populated with a user object
// so that if you were to call $aboutYou->getUser() it would return an user object
// Get the form from the service manager (rather than creating it in the controller)
// meaning you should create a factory service for this
$form = $this->getServiceLocator()->get('MyForm');
// Bind the populated object to the form
$form->bind($aboutYou);
//... rest of the action such as handle edits etc
}

Is there an equivalent of Rails ActiveRecord::Callbacks in ASP MVC?

Is there an equivalent of Rails ActiveRecord::Callbacks in ASP MVC?
http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/Callbacks.html
I'm in a situation where we are not using identities for our primary key. We do this for reasons specific to our DB sharding design. Because of this we have a lookup table to find the next ID for a specific table. I'd like to automatically get this value and set it in an abstract class whenever a model is created/updated and before it is saved. I also need to update the lookup table with an incremented 'nextID' after the save is successful.
I'm open to other solutions on how to do this without callbacks as well.
So you need the callback just to increment ID in the lookup table? AFAIK there is no equivalent in ASP.NET, may be you could try with Async Controllers (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee728598%28v=vs.100%29.aspx) and wait for a state change from the successful save, but I would prefer use a service specifically for this like Snowflake (https://github.com/twitter/snowflake/).
I found a solution using overrides as opposed to callbacks. It's my hope that ASP mvc adds support for callbacks as the framework continues to mature because callbacks allow for cleaner code by allowing the OnSave event to exist in the model[s] that the event is concerned with rather than the centralized DbContext class (separation of concerns).
Solution:
The SaveChanges method can be overridden in the Context Class (Entity Framework Power Tools creates the Context class is the 'Models' directory).
public override int SaveChanges()
{
// create a cache for id values in case their are multiple added entries in the dbcontext for the same entitytype
Dictionary<string, UniqueID> idCache = new Dictionary<string, UniqueID>();
IEnumerable<DbEntityEntry> changes = this.ChangeTracker.Entries();
foreach (var entry in changes)
{
//check if this is a new row (do nothing if its only a row update because there is no id change)
if (entry.State == System.Data.EntityState.Added)
{
//determine the table name and ID field (by convention)
string tableName = entry.Entity.GetType().Name;
string idField = entry.Entity.GetType().Name + "ID";
UniqueID id = null;
//if we've already looked this up, then use the cache
if (idCache.ContainsKey(tableName))
{
id = idCache[tableName];
}
//if we havn't looked this up before get it and add it to the cache
else
{
id = this.UniqueIDs.Find(tableName, idField);
//if it doesn't already exist in the lookup table create a new row
if (id == null)
{
id = new UniqueID(tableName, idField, 1);
// since this is a new entry add it
this.UniqueIDs.Add(id);
}
else
{
// set the state to modified
this.Entry(id).State = System.Data.EntityState.Modified;
}
}
entry.CurrentValues[tableName + "ID"] = id.NextID;
id.NextID = id.NextID + 1;
}
}
return base.SaveChanges();
}

InvalidOperationException when using updatemodel with EF4.3.1

When I update my model I get an error on a child relation which I also try to update.
My model, say Order has a releationship with OrderItem. In my view I have the details of the order together with an editortemplate for the orderitems. When I update the data the link to Order is null but the orderid is filled, so it should be able to link it, TryUpdateModel returns true, the save however fails with:
InvalidOperationException: The operation failed: The relationship could not be changed because one or more of the foreign-key properties is non-nullable. When a change is made to a relationship, the related foreign-key property is set to a null value. If the foreign-key does not support null values, a new relationship must be defined, the foreign-key property must be assigned another non-null value, or the unrelated object must be deleted.]
My update method:
public ActionResult ChangeOrder(Order model)
{
var order = this.orderRepository.GetOrder(model.OrderId);
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
var success = this.TryUpdateModel(order);
}
this.orderRepository.Save();
return this.View(order);
}
I tried all solutions I saw on SO and other sources, none succeeded.
I use .Net MVC 3, EF 4.3.1 together with DBContext.
There are a number of code smells here, which I'll try to be elegant with when correcting :)
I can only assume that "Order" is your EF entity? If so, I would highly recommend keeping it separate from the view by creating a view model for your form and copying the data in to it. Your view model should really only contain properties that your form will be using or manipulating.
I also presume orderRepository.GetOrder() is a data layer call that retrieves an order from a data store?
You are also declaring potentially unused variables. "var order =" will be loaded even if your model is invalid, and "var success =" is never used.
TryUpdateModel and UpdateModel aren't very robust for real-world programming. I'm not entirely convinced they should be there at all, if I'm honest. I generally use a more abstracted approach, such as the service / factory pattern. It's more work, but gives you a lot more control.
In your case, I would recommend the following pattern. There's minimal abstraction, but it still gives you more control than using TryUpdateModel / UpdateModel:
public ActionResult ChangeOrder(OrderViewModel model) {
if(ModelState.IsValid) {
// Retrieve original order
var order = orderRepository.GetOrder(model.OrderId);
// Update primitive properties
order.Property1 = model.Property1;
order.Property2 = model.Property2;
order.Property3 = model.Property3;
order.Property4 = model.Property4;
// Update collections manually
order.Collection1 = model.Collection1.Select(x => new Collection1Item {
Prop1 = x.Prop1,
Prop2 = x.Prop2
});
try {
// Save to repository
orderRepository.SaveOrder(order);
} catch (Exception ex) {
ModelState.AddModelError("", ex.Message);
return View(model);
}
return RedirectToAction("SuccessAction");
}
return View(model);
}
Not ideal, but it should serve you a bit better...
I refer you to this post, which is similar.
I assume that the user can perform the following actions in your view:
Modify order (header) data
Delete an existing order item
Modify order item data
Add a new order item
To do a correct update of the changed object graph (order + list of order items) you need to deal with all four cases. TryUpdateModel won't be able to perform a correct update of the object graph in the database.
I write the following code directly using a context. You can abstract the use of the context away into your repository. Make sure that you use the same context instance in every repository that is involved in the following code.
public ActionResult ChangeOrder(Order model)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
// load the order from DB INCLUDING the current order items in the DB
var orderInDB = context.Orders.Include(o => o.OrderItems)
.Single(o => o.OrderId == model.OrderId);
// (1) Update modified order header properties
context.Entry(orderInDB).CurrentValues.SetValues(model);
// (2) Delete the order items from the DB
// that have been removed in the view
foreach (var item in orderInDB.OrderItems.ToList())
{
if (!model.OrderItems.Any(oi => oi.OrderItemId == item.OrderItemId))
context.OrderItems.Remove(item);
// Omitting this call "Remove from context/DB" causes
// the exception you are having
}
foreach (var item in model.OrderItems)
{
var orderItem = orderInDB.OrderItems
.SingleOrDefault(oi => oi.OrderItemId == item.OrderItemId);
if (orderItem != null)
{
// (3) Existing order item: Update modified item properties
context.Entry(orderItem).CurrentValues.SetValues(item);
}
else
{
// (4) New order item: Add it
orderInDB.OrderItems.Add(item);
}
}
context.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index"); // or some other view
}
return View(model);
}

Passing values from action class to model class in symfony

I have a action class for saving some data to a database.In action class iam getting a id through url.I have to save the id in table.
I am getting the id by $request->getParameter('id')
I used this code for saving
$this->form->bind($request->getParameter('question_answers'));
if ($this->form->isValid())
{
$this->form->save();
$this->redirect('#homepage');
}
in model class i used a override save method to save extra field
public function save(Doctrine_Connection $conn = null)
{
if ($this->isNew())
{
$now=date('Y-m-d H:i:s', time());
$this->setPostedAt($now);
}
return parent::save($conn);
so i want to get the id value here .
So how can i pass id value from action class to model class
is any-other way to save the id in action class itself
Thanks in advance
Just use
$this->form->getObject()->setQuestionId($request->getParameter('id'));
$this->form->save();
QuestionId=field name
$request->getParameter('id')= is the default value
Most probably not the best solution but you can save that id value in a session variable and use it later anywhere you need. something like:
$this->getUser()->setAttribute('id', $request->getParameter('id')); // in action class
and
sfContext::getInstance()->getUser()->getAttribute('id'); // in model class
If your model has a field for this ID already (eg in your example posted_id), then you can do one of 2 things:
1: Pass the ID to your form when you create it, as an option:
$this->form = new MyForm(array(), array("posted_id" => $id));
and then you can override your form's doSave() method to set the field:
// ...
$this->getObject()->posted_id = $this->getOption("posted_id");
// ...
or similar
2: Add a widget to your form in the configure() method with a corresponding validator, and pass in the ID when you get the values from the request:
$values = $request->getParameter('question_answers');
$values["posted_id"] = $request->getParameter("id");
$this->form->bind($values);
If you're rendering your form manually, just don't render this new field in your view template.
Either way, saving the model as a result of the form saving it will include this new field I believe. The second one is from memory, but it should technically work... :-)
Best practice I'm using consists of 2 steps:
Pass additional data to forms' options (2nd constructor's parameter or just $form->setOption('name', 'value'));
override protected method doUpdateObject in way like this:
protected function doUpdateObject($values)
{
$this->getObject()->setFoo($this->getOption('foo'));
parent::doUpdateObject($values);
}
Enjoy!
You could use (sfUser)->setFlash and (sfUser)->getFlash instead of setAttribute, it's more secure...

ASP.NET MVC: How do I keep a field byte[]

I've got a field which its type is byte[]. This field will hold my entity's RecordVersion property (timestamp in the database). How do I keep this field so that when I save my entity it is available?
I've tried two different things and haven't succeeded so far:
This renders "System.Byte[]":
<%= Html.Hidden("RecordVersion", Model.RecordVersion.ToString()) %>
This throws a ModelStateError where the type couldn't be converted:
ViewData["RecordVersion"] = entity.RecordVersion
Apparently the default MVC's mechanism that does the bind/unbind doesn't like much byte[] fields .....
You need to make a modelbinder and register it.
This article shows how to use a timestamp from a linq database in a hidden field much like what you are doing.
ModelBinders.Binders.Add(typeof(Binary), new LinqBinaryModelBinder());
In global.asax to register it.
That LinqBinaryModelBinder is in the futures assembly. If you want to user byte[] you'll have to write one yourself.
Have you tried.
<%= Html.Hidden("RecordVersion", System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetString(Model.RecordVersion)) %>
I wouldn't put the timestamp on the form. If you want to keep the object around I'd cache it server side and retrieve it from the cache using the id. Otherwise, you can re-retrieve the object from the database and apply the changes from your form data. The latter is what I do, using TryUpdateModel.
public ActionResult Update( int id )
{
using (var context = new DataContext())
{
var model = context.Models.Where( m => m.ID == id ).Single();
if (TryUpdateModel( model ))
{
...
context.SubmitChanges(); // wrapped in try/catch
...
}
else
{
...
}
}
return RedirectToAction( "Show", new { id = id } );
}

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