using HTTPContext variable in POCO Model class in asp.net MVC - asp.net-mvc

Question

Controller uses HttpContext request object to get relevant information and passes it along to viewmodel.
string user = HttpContext.Request.Headers["abc"]
Question is how to pass the same information i.e. HttpContext to POCO model where i have to set some parameters. i can't user System.Web.MVC
public class Test
{
public string userA;
public Test()
{
userA = "Here I want to get the user from HttpContext and set it";
}
}
creating HTTPContextBase object using HTTPContext.Current throws error
"Request is not available in current context"
any help would be appreciated.thanks

Answer 1

Consider using a unmapped property (or a function that sets a private variable) in your model to store the value of whatever information you need from the httpcontext.
Your model should not know about the httpcontext. Models should be separated from the environment in which they are being used.
Another idea is that if you need to do business logic using a service layer where the service has context information passed to it by the controller:
http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/older-versions/models-(data)/validating-with-a-service-layer-cs

Answer 2

While it is a very good idea not to bound your Controllers to the HttpContext (as scott.korin mentions) I've found that there's some times no way around it (like when testing Routes).
Here's the code that we use, that is based on Steve Sanderson's book "Pro ASP.NET MVC 3 Framework". Pay close attention to the CreateHttpContext method.
private void TestRouteMatch(string url, string controller, string action, object routeProperties = null, string httpMethod = "GET")
{
// Arrange
RouteCollection routes = new RouteCollection();
MvcApplication.RegisterRoutes(routes);
// Act - process the route
RouteData result = routes.GetRouteData(CreateHttpContext(url, httpMethod));
// Assert
Assert.IsNotNull(result);
Assert.IsTrue(TestIncomingRouteResult(result, controller, action, routeProperties));
}
private bool TestIncomingRouteResult(RouteData routeResult, string controller, string action, object propertySet = null)
{
Func<object, object, bool> valCompare = (v1, v2) =>
{
return StringComparer.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase.Compare(v1, v2) == 0;
};
bool result = valCompare(routeResult.Values["controller"], controller)
&& valCompare(routeResult.Values["action"], action);
if (propertySet != null)
{
PropertyInfo[] propInfo = propertySet.GetType().GetProperties();
foreach (PropertyInfo pi in propInfo)
{
if (!(routeResult.Values.ContainsKey(pi.Name)
&& valCompare(routeResult.Values[pi.Name],
pi.GetValue(propertySet, null))))
{
result = false;
break;
}
}
}
return result;
}
private void TestRouteFail(string url)
{
// Arrange
RouteCollection routes = new RouteCollection();
MvcApplication.RegisterRoutes(routes);
// Act - process the route
RouteData result = routes.GetRouteData(CreateHttpContext(url));
// Assert
Assert.IsTrue(result == null || result.Route == null);
}
private HttpContextBase CreateHttpContext(string targetUrl = null, string httpMethod = "GET")
{
// create the mock request
Mock<HttpRequestBase> mockRequest = new Mock<HttpRequestBase>();
mockRequest.Setup(m => m.AppRelativeCurrentExecutionFilePath).Returns(targetUrl);
mockRequest.Setup(m => m.HttpMethod).Returns(httpMethod);
// create the mock response
Mock<HttpResponseBase> mockResponse = new Mock<HttpResponseBase>();
mockResponse.Setup(m => m.ApplyAppPathModifier(
It.IsAny<string>())).Returns<string>(s => s);
// create the mock context, using the request and response
Mock<HttpContextBase> mockContext = new Mock<HttpContextBase>();
mockContext.Setup(m => m.Request).Returns(mockRequest.Object);
mockContext.Setup(m => m.Response).Returns(mockResponse.Object);
// return the mocked context
return mockContext.Object;
}