ASP.NET Custom Localization - asp.net-mvc

I've done quite a bit of research and I'm not sure how I should proceed with this.
Usual localization would change only when the language changes, so Hello for french would be Bonjour but my application needs to have special keywords for for certain users so UserX might say "Hello" needs to be "Allo".
I would like to have resource key with IdentityName_resourceKey and if this key is present take it otherwize fall back to resourceKey.
I'm thinking I need a custom ResourceProvider but my implementation is a simple if statement so I would not want to write a complete resource provider.
I wrote a extension of DisplayName attribute which works fine but this is not very good as I will need one of those for every data annotation attributes and this would not work if I use resources directly in pages or controllers...
public class LocalizedDisplayNameAttribute : DisplayNameAttribute
{
private readonly PropertyInfo _propertyInfo;
public LocalizedDisplayNameAttribute(string resourceKey, Type resourceType) : base(resourceKey)
{
var clientName = CustomMembership.Instance.CurrentUser.Client.Name;
_propertyInfo = resourceType.GetProperty(clientName + "_" + base.DisplayName, BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Public)
?? resourceType.GetProperty(base.DisplayName, BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Public);
}
public override string DisplayName
{
get
{
if (_propertyInfo == null)
{
return base.DisplayName;
}
return (string) _propertyInfo.GetValue(_propertyInfo.DeclaringType, null);
}
}
}
I'm looking for the best way to implement this with the least amount of code..
Thank you!

There is a better way, Data Annotations is your answer!
this is just a sample, you need go more deeper with System.Globalization.CultureInfo and Data Annotations (System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations)
you can define your model class like this (assuming we have a resource file named CustomResourceValues with a value "strHello")
public class SomeObject(){
<Display(Name:="strHello", ResourceType:=GetType(My.Resources.CustomResourceValues))>
public string HelloMessage{ get; set; }
}
so, in our view the work must do it by the htmlhelper (assuming razor like render engine and the model is type of "SomeObject")
#Html.LabelFor(Function(x) x.HelloMessage)
basic info http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.componentmodel.dataannotations.displayattribute.resourcetype(v=vs.95).aspx

Related

Default output for DisplayTemplate of a class

We are building a class library that provides certain structured types for the view model, e.g. InlineImage.
I need to be able to define default HTML output for such instance when used with #Html.DisplayFor(...), basically ...
When /Views/DisplayTemplates/InlineImage.cshtml is available, then use that template
When not available, it should output the default
However ...
When I override just ToString() of that class, it gives me the correct output, but it gets HTML encoded
I found out analyzing MVC source code that I am able to disable encoding by adding [DisplayFormat(HtmlEncode = false)] to the CLASS
BUT ... the attribute does not target class, so I hack it by wrapping it to another attribute which I add to the class. It is nasty, but at least works :)
My code currently looks like this:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class)]
class DisableHtmlEncodeAttribute : DisplayFormatAttribute
{
public DisableHtmlEncodeAttribute()
{
HtmlEncode = false;
}
}
[DisableHtmlEncode]
internal class InlineImage : IInlineImage
{
public string AltText { get; set; }
public string Src { get; set; }
public override string ToString()
{
return $"<figure><img src=\"{Src}\" alt=\"{AltText}\"></figure>";
}
}
It works for the default display, but when display template is provided in file system, it is not used. Probably because something along the way cuts it of because of that data annotation.
I have already tried several other approaches similar to this:
Using first property with Html data annotation
Using display property with Html data annotation
Implementing IHtmlString
But the framework seems to check the metadata only for the class itself, but not for its properties in this case. And IHtmlString is completely ignored.
I am looking for any hints how to provide default display template for the given class from a class library, that could be overriden just by placing standard display template to views folder.
So it turned out that I was closer than I thought and with the last trial I made it working.
The trick is similar to what I did with the DisableHtmlEncode attribute, but with UIHint attribute. This way you can apparently tell the engine to apply display template to a class, and it is stronger than the Format attribute.
Here is the final code that provides the ability for default HTML markup, and when display template is provided in FS, it uses that template:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class)]
class DisableHtmlEncodeAttribute : DisplayFormatAttribute
{
public DisableHtmlEncodeAttribute()
{
HtmlEncode = false;
}
}
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class)]
class UseDisplayTemplateAttribute : UIHintAttribute
{
public UseDisplayTemplateAttribute(string uiHint)
: base(uiHint)
{
}
}
[DisableHtmlEncode]
[UseDisplayTemplate("InlineImage")]
internal class InlineImage : IInlineImage
{
public string AltText { get; set; }
public string Src { get; set; }
public override string ToString()
{
return $"<figure><img src=\"{Src}\" alt=\"{AltText}\"></figure>";
}
}
I am not particularly proud about the hacks, but as they say "it ain't stupid if it works".
If anyone has got a better idea, please share ...

How to bind view model property with different name

Is there a way to make a reflection for a view model property as an element with different name and id values on the html side.
That is the main question of what I want to achieve. So the basic introduction for the question is like:
1- I have a view model (as an example) which created for a filter operation in view side.
public class FilterViewModel
{
public string FilterParameter { get; set; }
}
2- I have a controller action which is created for GETting form values(here it is filter)
public ActionResult Index(FilterViewModel filter)
{
return View();
}
3- I have a view that a user can filter on some data and sends parameters via querystring over form submit.
#using (Html.BeginForm("Index", "Demo", FormMethod.Get))
{
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.FilterParameter)
#Html.EditorFor(model => model.FilterParameter)
<input type="submit" value="Do Filter" />
}
4- And what I want to see in rendered view output is
<form action="/Demo" method="get">
<label for="fp">FilterParameter</label>
<input id="fp" name="fp" type="text" />
<input type="submit" value="Do Filter" />
</form>
5- And as a solution I want to modify my view model like this:
public class FilterViewModel
{
[BindParameter("fp")]
[BindParameter("filter")] // this one extra alias
[BindParameter("param")] //this one extra alias
public string FilterParameter { get; set; }
}
So the basic question is about BindAttribute but the usage of complex type properties. But also if there is a built in way of doing this is much better.
Built-in pros:
1- Usage with TextBoxFor, EditorFor, LabelFor and other strongly typed view model helpers can understand and communicate better with each other.
2- Url routing support
3- No framework by desing problems :
In general, we recommend folks don’t write custom model binders
because they’re difficult to get right and they’re rarely needed. The
issue I’m discussing in this post might be one of those cases where
it’s warranted.
Link of quote
And also after some research I found these useful works:
Binding model property with different name
One step upgrade of first link
Here some informative guide
Result: But none of them give me my problems exact solution. I am looking for a strongly typed solution for this problem. Of course if you know any other way to go, please share.
Update
The underlying reasons why I want to do this are basically:
1- Everytime I want to change the html control name then I have to change PropertyName at compile time. (There is a difference Changing a property name between changing a string in code)
2- I want to hide (camouflage) real property names from end users. Most of times View Model property names same as mapped Entity Objects property names. (For developer readability reasons)
3- I don't want to remove the readability for developer. Think about lots of properties with like 2-3 character long and with mo meanings.
4- There are lots of view models written. So changing their names are going to take more time than this solution.
5- This is going to be better solution (in my POV) than others which are described in other questions until now.
Actually, there is a way to do it.
In ASP.NET binding metadata gathered by TypeDescriptor, not by reflection directly. To be more precious, AssociatedMetadataTypeTypeDescriptionProvider is used, which, in turn, simply calls TypeDescriptor.GetProvider with our model type as parameter:
public AssociatedMetadataTypeTypeDescriptionProvider(Type type)
: base(TypeDescriptor.GetProvider(type))
{
}
So, everything we need is to set our custom TypeDescriptionProvider for our model.
Let's implement our custom provider. First of all, let's define attribute for custom property name:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
public class CustomBindingNameAttribute : Attribute
{
public CustomBindingNameAttribute(string propertyName)
{
this.PropertyName = propertyName;
}
public string PropertyName { get; private set; }
}
If you already have attribute with desired name, you can reuse it. Attribute defined above is just an example. I prefer to use JsonPropertyAttribute because in most cases I work with json and Newtonsoft's library and want to define custom name only once.
The next step is to define custom type descriptor. We will not implement whole type descriptor logic and use default implementation. Only property accessing will be overridden:
public class MyTypeDescription : CustomTypeDescriptor
{
public MyTypeDescription(ICustomTypeDescriptor parent)
: base(parent)
{
}
public override PropertyDescriptorCollection GetProperties()
{
return Wrap(base.GetProperties());
}
public override PropertyDescriptorCollection GetProperties(Attribute[] attributes)
{
return Wrap(base.GetProperties(attributes));
}
private static PropertyDescriptorCollection Wrap(PropertyDescriptorCollection src)
{
var wrapped = src.Cast<PropertyDescriptor>()
.Select(pd => (PropertyDescriptor)new MyPropertyDescriptor(pd))
.ToArray();
return new PropertyDescriptorCollection(wrapped);
}
}
Also custom property descriptor need to be implemented. Again, everything except property name will be handled by default descriptor. Note, NameHashCode for some reason is a separate property. As name changed, so it's hash code need to be changed too:
public class MyPropertyDescriptor : PropertyDescriptor
{
private readonly PropertyDescriptor _descr;
private readonly string _name;
public MyPropertyDescriptor(PropertyDescriptor descr)
: base(descr)
{
this._descr = descr;
var customBindingName = this._descr.Attributes[typeof(CustomBindingNameAttribute)] as CustomBindingNameAttribute;
this._name = customBindingName != null ? customBindingName.PropertyName : this._descr.Name;
}
public override string Name
{
get { return this._name; }
}
protected override int NameHashCode
{
get { return this.Name.GetHashCode(); }
}
public override bool CanResetValue(object component)
{
return this._descr.CanResetValue(component);
}
public override object GetValue(object component)
{
return this._descr.GetValue(component);
}
public override void ResetValue(object component)
{
this._descr.ResetValue(component);
}
public override void SetValue(object component, object value)
{
this._descr.SetValue(component, value);
}
public override bool ShouldSerializeValue(object component)
{
return this._descr.ShouldSerializeValue(component);
}
public override Type ComponentType
{
get { return this._descr.ComponentType; }
}
public override bool IsReadOnly
{
get { return this._descr.IsReadOnly; }
}
public override Type PropertyType
{
get { return this._descr.PropertyType; }
}
}
Finally, we need our custom TypeDescriptionProvider and way to bind it to our model type. By default, TypeDescriptionProviderAttribute is designed to perform that binding. But in this case we will not able to get default provider that we want to use internally. In most cases, default provider will be ReflectTypeDescriptionProvider. But this is not guaranteed and this provider is inaccessible due to it's protection level - it's internal. But we do still want to fallback to default provider.
TypeDescriptor also allow to explicitly add provider for our type via AddProvider method. That what we will use. But firstly, let's define our custom provider itself:
public class MyTypeDescriptionProvider : TypeDescriptionProvider
{
private readonly TypeDescriptionProvider _defaultProvider;
public MyTypeDescriptionProvider(TypeDescriptionProvider defaultProvider)
{
this._defaultProvider = defaultProvider;
}
public override ICustomTypeDescriptor GetTypeDescriptor(Type objectType, object instance)
{
return new MyTypeDescription(this._defaultProvider.GetTypeDescriptor(objectType, instance));
}
}
The last step is to bind our provider to our model types. We can implement it in any way we want. For example, let's define some simple class, such as:
public static class TypeDescriptorsConfig
{
public static void InitializeCustomTypeDescriptorProvider()
{
// Assume, this code and all models are in one assembly
var types = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetTypes()
.Where(t => t.GetProperties().Any(p => p.IsDefined(typeof(CustomBindingNameAttribute))));
foreach (var type in types)
{
var defaultProvider = TypeDescriptor.GetProvider(type);
TypeDescriptor.AddProvider(new MyTypeDescriptionProvider(defaultProvider), type);
}
}
}
And either invoke that code via web activation:
[assembly: PreApplicationStartMethod(typeof(TypeDescriptorsConfig), "InitializeCustomTypeDescriptorProvider")]
Or simply call it in Application_Start method:
public class MvcApplication : HttpApplication
{
protected void Application_Start()
{
TypeDescriptorsConfig.InitializeCustomTypeDescriptorProvider();
// rest of init code ...
}
}
But this is not the end of the story. :(
Consider following model:
public class TestModel
{
[CustomBindingName("actual_name")]
[DisplayName("Yay!")]
public string TestProperty { get; set; }
}
If we try to write in .cshtml view something like:
#model Some.Namespace.TestModel
#Html.DisplayNameFor(x => x.TestProperty) #* fail *#
We will get ArgumentException:
An exception of type 'System.ArgumentException' occurred in System.Web.Mvc.dll but was not handled in user code
Additional information: The property Some.Namespace.TestModel.TestProperty could not be found.
That because all helpers soon or later invoke ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression method. And this method take expression we provided (x => x.TestProperty) and takes member name directly from member info and have no clue about any of our attributes, metadata (who cares, huh?):
internal static ModelMetadata FromLambdaExpression<TParameter, TValue>(/* ... */)
{
// ...
case ExpressionType.MemberAccess:
MemberExpression memberExpression = (MemberExpression) expression.Body;
propertyName = memberExpression.Member is PropertyInfo ? memberExpression.Member.Name : (string) null;
// I want to cry here - ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
// ...
}
For x => x.TestProperty (where x is TestModel) this method will return TestProperty, not actual_name, but model metadata contains actual_name property, have no TestProperty. That is why the property could not be found error thrown.
This is a design failure.
However despite this little inconvenience there are several workarounds, such as:
The easiest way is to access our members by theirs redefined names:
#model Some.Namespace.TestModel
#Html.DisplayName("actual_name") #* this will render "Yay!" *#
This is not good. No intellisense at all and as our model change we will have no any compilation errors. On any change anything can be broken and there is no easy way to detect that.
Another way is a bit more complex - we can create our own version of that helpers and forbid anybody from calling default helpers or ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression for model classes with renamed properties.
Finally, combination of previous two would be preferred: write own analogue to get property name with redefinition support, then pass that into default helper. Something like this:
#model Some.Namespace.TestModel
#Html.DisplayName(Html.For(x => x.TestProperty))
Compilation-time and intellisense support and no need to spend a lot of time for complete set of helpers. Profit!
Also everything described above work like a charm for model binding. During model binding process default binder also use metadata, gathered by TypeDescriptor.
But I guess binding json data is the best use case. You know, lots of web software and standards use lowercase_separated_by_underscores naming convention. Unfortunately this is not usual convention for C#. Having classes with members named in different convention looks ugly and can end up in troubles. Especially when you have tools that whining every time about naming violation.
ASP.NET MVC default model binder does not bind json to model the same way as it happens when you call newtonsoft's JsonConverter.DeserializeObject method. Instead, json parsed into dictionary. For example:
{
complex: {
text: "blabla",
value: 12.34
},
num: 1
}
will be translated into following dictionary:
{ "complex.text", "blabla" }
{ "complex.value", "12.34" }
{ "num", "1" }
And later these values along with others values from query string, route data and so on, collected by different implementations of IValueProvider, will be used by default binder to bind a model with help of metadata, gathered by TypeDescriptor.
So we came full circle from creating model, rendering, binding it back and use it.
The short answer is NO and long answer still NO. There is no built-in helper, attribute, model binder, whatever is it (Nothing out of box).
But what I did in before answer (I deleted it) was an awful solution that I realized yesterday. I am going to put it in github for who still wants to see (maybe it solves somebody problem) (I don't suggest it also!)
Now I searched it for again and I couldn't find anything helpful. If you are using something like AutoMapper or ValueInjecter like tool for mapping your ViewModel objects to Business objects and if you want to obfuscate that View Model parameters also, probably you are in some trouble. Of course you can do it but strongly typed html helpers are not going to help you alot. I even not talking about the if other developers taking branch and working over common view models.
Luckily my project (4 people working on it, and its commercial use for) not that big for now, so I decided to change View Model property names! (It is still lot work to do. Hundreds of view models to obfuscate their properties!!!) Thank you Asp.Net MVC !
There some ways in the links which I gave in question. But also if you still want to use the BindAlias attribute, I can only suggest you to use the following extension methods. At least you dont have to write same alias string which you write in BindAlias attribute.
Here it is:
public static string AliasNameFor<TModel, TProperty>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper,
Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression)
{
var memberExpression = ExpressionHelpers.GetMemberExpression(expression);
if (memberExpression == null)
throw new InvalidOperationException("Expression must be a member expression");
var aliasAttr = memberExpression.Member.GetAttribute<BindAliasAttribute>();
if (aliasAttr != null)
{
return MvcHtmlString.Create(aliasAttr.Alias).ToHtmlString();
}
return htmlHelper.NameFor(expression).ToHtmlString();
}
public static string AliasIdFor<TModel, TProperty>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper,
Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression)
{
var memberExpression = ExpressionHelpers.GetMemberExpression(expression);
if (memberExpression == null)
throw new InvalidOperationException("Expression must be a member expression");
var aliasAttr = memberExpression.Member.GetAttribute<BindAliasAttribute>();
if (aliasAttr != null)
{
return MvcHtmlString.Create(TagBuilder.CreateSanitizedId(aliasAttr.Alias)).ToHtmlString();
}
return htmlHelper.IdFor(expression).ToHtmlString();
}
public static T GetAttribute<T>(this ICustomAttributeProvider provider)
where T : Attribute
{
var attributes = provider.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(T), true);
return attributes.Length > 0 ? attributes[0] as T : null;
}
public static MemberExpression GetMemberExpression<TModel, TProperty>(Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression)
{
MemberExpression memberExpression;
if (expression.Body is UnaryExpression)
{
var unaryExpression = (UnaryExpression)expression.Body;
memberExpression = (MemberExpression)unaryExpression.Operand;
}
else
{
memberExpression = (MemberExpression)expression.Body;
}
return memberExpression;
}
When you want to use it:
[ModelBinder(typeof(AliasModelBinder))]
public class FilterViewModel
{
[BindAlias("someText")]
public string FilterParameter { get; set; }
}
In html:
#* at least you dont write "someText" here again *#
#Html.Editor(Html.AliasNameFor(model => model.FilterParameter))
#Html.ValidationMessage(Html.AliasNameFor(model => model.FilterParameter))
So I am leaving this answer here like this. This is even not an answer (and there is no answer for MVC 5) but who searching in google for same problem might find useful this experience.
And here is the github repo: https://github.com/yusufuzun/so-view-model-bind-20869735

ASP.NET MVC Validation Help

I'm doing some simple validation inside my Controller I know this would better placed inside something like a service layer but for this I want to keep it inside the Controller
The idea is to check that a valid url is being entered into a url field to display an image, e.g. http://domain.com/myawesomeimage.png would be valid and http://domain.com/ would not be valid.
// ValidateInt has a default value of 0
int ValidateInt = 0;
// If the url entered (if one at all) does not have correct extension then increment the ValidateInt
if (!ArticleToEdit.image.Contains(".jpg"))
ValidateInt++;
if (!ArticleToEdit.image.Contains(".jpeg"))
ValidateInt++;
if (!ArticleToEdit.image.Contains(".png"))
ValidateInt++;
if (!ArticleToEdit.image.Contains(".gif"))
ValidateInt++;
if (!ArticleToEdit.image.Contains(".bmp"))
ValidateInt++;
// if ValidateInt is bigger than 0 then the url is invalid
if (ValidateInt > 0)
ModelState.AddModelError("Image", "Please enter a valid URL.");
EDITED CODE
The problem with your code
Your code is invalid, because your model state will always have at least 4 errors. Even though the URL would be correct. Your code requires that your URL must have all extensions which is of course incorrect. It can only have one. At most.
The solution
Use DataAnnotations instead and use regular expression validator. You're obviously already using some application model class called ArticleToCreate. You'll have to put data annotations attribute on the image property (one more observation: keey property names with Pascal casing so it's the same as .net):
public class ArticleToCreate
{
[RegularExpression(#"...")] // add regular expression that fulfils your requirements
public string Image { get; set; }
...
}
Then it all depends how complicated your regular expression is. The easiest one for your needs could be just that it starts with an http:// and end with the correct extension:
^http:\/\/.+\.(?:png|jpe?g|gif|bmp)$
And if you're directly providing your class instance to controller action it will get automatically validated for you without any additional code. This way you won't be able to forget to validate your objects manually.
Consider this controller action that automatically validates your model class object instance by validators defined on it (as per validator definition I've written above):
public ActionResult Create(ArticleToCreate data)
{
if (!this.ModelState.IsValid)
{
// handle invalid object
}
// handle valid object
}
This way your actions will focus on the processing part which is their main objective instead of focusing on too many aspects of your business process like validation for instance.
Shorter code = simpler code = easier to maintain = less bugs = less work = happy clients
Why not create custom ValidationAttributes (from DataAnnotations) and allow the Validation Engine do the work for you rather than worrying about where to put your logic?
I'm guessing it would look something like:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property |
AttributeTargets.Field, AllowMultiple = false)]
public class ValidImageUrlAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
public string ErrorMessage { get; set; }
public override bool IsValid(object value)
{
var url = value as string;
if(!url.Contains(".jpg") || !url.Contains(".jpeg")
|| !url.Contains(".gif") || !url.Contains(".bmp")
|| !url.Contains(".png"))
{
return false;
}
return true;
}
public override string FormatErrorMessage(string name)
{
return ErrorMessage ?? base.FormatErrorMessage(name);
}
}
And then you could decorate your Model:
[Required(ErrorMessage = "Image URL is required.")]
[ValidImageUrl(ErrorMessage = "Valid Image URL is required.")]
public string ImageUrl { get; set; }
changed if (validate1 > 0) and it works fine :)

ASP.NET MVC: Connection Controller with Model

I'm still learning, but with the stackoverflow commnuties help, I've been able to get closer and closer.
What I have right now is a View "Index.aspx":
System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<Data.Models.GetDealsModel>
The Model:
public class GetDealsModel
{
// set up the model
public string DealId { get; set; }
public string StreetAddress { get; set; }
public string City { get; set; }
public string State { get; set; }
public string ZipCode { get; set; }
public string Logo { get; set; }
public string Website { get; set; }
public string TotalRows { get; set; }
}
And the controller:
public ActionResult Index()
{
LinqToDealsDataContext db = new LinqToDealsDataContext();
XElement xmlTree = XElement.Parse("<Request><ZipCode>92612</ZipCode></Request>");
var deals = db.spSearchDeals(xmlTree);
return View(deals);
}
And with this configuration I'm now getting this error:
The model item passed into the dictionary is of type 'System.Data.Linq.SqlClient.SqlProvider+SingleResult`1[Data.Models.spSearchDealsResult]', but this dictionary requires a model item of type 'Data.Models.GetDealsModel'.
I'm guessing that there's an issue connecting my Controller to my Model... I'm not sure why. PLEASE help me connect this final peice.
NOTE: I do understand that eventually I should separate my logic in the controller into a Repository Pattern, but for now, this will do.
You need to translate the data coming back from this call:
var deals = db.spSearchDeals(xmlTree);
into a GetDealsModel type. So something like:
GetDealsModel dealsModel = new GetDealsModel()
{
DealId = deals.DealId,
StreetAddress = deals.StreetAddress,
....
};
return View(dealsModel);
The reason being that your View is strongly typed to take a GetDealsModel, but your deals variable is not of that type and it gives you that exception when you pass it to the View.
You should create object of type GetDealsModel, but your DB Query returns object of type Data.Models.spSearchDealsResult. Try something like:
return new GetDealsModel
{
DealId = deals.Id,
// other fields here
}
Add to your learning curve list the following items:
Repository Pattern
Ask yourself the following question: Why do I need a service layer?
Read Steven Sanderson's book. It teaches you to think in MVC.
The above applies to your problems because your issues are clearly related to having code in your Controllers that should be in your Model (ie, data access code should be in a repository class). Ie, you are not thinking in MVC.
Your model should include the necessary repository classes, eg, DealRepository.
You need a Service class to map the objects your repository digs out of your database to your model class: that way conversion problems are encapsulated into the Service Layer code.
If you do this, you can then write in your controller:
public ActionResult Index()
{
return(DealService.GetByZipcode(92612));
}
Where DealService.GetByZipcode basically just maps DealRepository.GetByZipcode(92612) to your model class and returns the mapping result.
The DealRepository.GetByZipcode method would be roughly:
public static DealEntity GetByZipcode(string zip)
{
LinqToDealsDataContext db = new LinqToDealsDataContext();
XElement xmlTree = XElement.Parse("<Request><ZipCode>" + zip + "</ZipCode></Request>");
var deals = db.spSearchDeals(xmlTree);
return deals;
}
The DealEntity class is just whatever Linq gives you for your table.
The reason WHY for all this:
The reason for this structure is as follows:
a. All you data access code is in one place: DealRepository. You can test and debug that independently of everything else.
b. The mapping code is all in one place: DealService. You can test and debug that independently of everything else.
c. In other words, you need to properly separate your concerns.
The problem with your existing code is precisely that you have NOT separated concerns. Ie, you have taken a dash of MVC and put it in a food processor and ended up with mush full of problems that are way more difficult to deal with than they need be.
Your model is mixed into your controller, there is no repository, no service layer.
So hold your horses just a while and take the time to read Steve Sanderson's book.
I would also try modelling a simpler problem. That xml parsing makes my head hurt even on a good day.
NOTE:
You could seriously improve your naming conventions. LinqToDealsDataContext? You're kidding, right?

ASP.NET MVC ViewModel mapping with custom formatting

The project I'm working on has a large number of currency properties in the domain model and I'm needing for format these as $#,###.## for transmitting to and from the view. I've had a view thoughts as to different approaches which could be used. One approach could be to format the values explicitly inside the view, as in "Pattern 1" from Steve Michelotti :
<%= string.Format("{0:c}",
Model.CurrencyProperty) %>
...but this starts violating DRY principle very quickly.
The preferred approach appears to be to do the formatting during the mapping between DomainModel and a ViewModel (as per ASP.NET MVC in Action section 4.4.1 and "Pattern 3"). Using AutoMapper, this will result in some code like the following:
[TestFixture]
public class ViewModelTests
{
[Test]
public void DomainModelMapsToViewModel()
{
var domainModel = new DomainModel {CurrencyProperty = 19.95m};
var viewModel = new ViewModel(domainModel);
Assert.That(viewModel.CurrencyProperty, Is.EqualTo("$19.95"));
}
}
public class DomainModel
{
public decimal CurrencyProperty { get; set; }
}
public class ViewModel
{
///<summary>Currency Property - formatted as $#,###.##</summary>
public string CurrencyProperty { get; set; }
///<summary>Setup mapping between domain and view model</summary>
static ViewModel()
{
// map dm to vm
Mapper.CreateMap<DomainModel, ViewModel>()
.ForMember(vm => vm.CurrencyProperty, mc => mc.AddFormatter<CurrencyFormatter>());
}
/// <summary> Creates the view model from the domain model.</summary>
public ViewModel(DomainModel domainModel)
{
Mapper.Map(domainModel, this);
}
public ViewModel() { }
}
public class CurrencyFormatter : IValueFormatter
{
///<summary>Formats source value as currency</summary>
public string FormatValue(ResolutionContext context)
{
return string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, "{0:c}", context.SourceValue);
}
}
Using IValueFormatter this way works great. Now, how to map it back from the DomainModel to ViewModel? I've tried using a custom class CurrencyResolver : ValueResolver<string,decimal>
public class CurrencyResolver : ValueResolver<string, decimal>
{
///<summary>Parses source value as currency</summary>
protected override decimal ResolveCore(string source)
{
return decimal.Parse(source, NumberStyles.Currency, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture);
}
}
And then mapped it with:
// from vm to dm
Mapper.CreateMap<ViewModel, DomainModel>()
.ForMember(dm => dm.CurrencyProperty,
mc => mc
.ResolveUsing<CurrencyResolver>()
.FromMember(vm => vm.CurrencyProperty));
Which will satisfy this test:
///<summary>DomainModel maps to ViewModel</summary>
[Test]
public void ViewModelMapsToDomainModel()
{
var viewModel = new ViewModel {CurrencyProperty = "$19.95"};
var domainModel = new DomainModel();
Mapper.Map(viewModel, domainModel);
Assert.That(domainModel.CurrencyProperty, Is.EqualTo(19.95m));
}
... But I'm feeling that I shouldn't need to explicitly define which property it is being mapped from with FromMember after doing ResolveUsing since the properties have the same name - is there a better way to define this mapping? As I mentioned, there are a good number of properties with currency values that will need to be mapped in this fashion.
That being said - is there a way I could have these mappings automatically resolved by defining some rule globally? The ViewModel properties are already decorated with DataAnnotation attributes [DataType(DataType.Currency)] for validation, so I was hoping that I could define some rule that does:
if (destinationProperty.PropertyInfo.Attributes.Has(DataType(DataType.Currency))
then Mapper.Use<CurrencyFormatter>()
if (sourceProperty.PropertyInfo.Attributes.Has(DataType(DataType.Currency))
then Mapper.Use<CurrencyResolver>()
... so that I can minimize the amount of boilerplate setup for each of the object types.
I'm also interested in hearing of any alternate strategies for accomplishing custom formatting to-and-from the View.
From ASP.NET MVC in Action:
At first we might be tempted to pass
this simple object straight to the
view, but the DateTime? properties
[in the Model] will cause problems.
For instance, we need to choose a
formatting for them such as
ToShortDateString() or ToString(). The
view would be forced to do null
checking to keep the screen from
blowing up when the properties are
null. Views are difficult to unit
test, so we want to keep them as thin
as possible. Because the output of a
view is a string passed to the
response stream, we’ll only use
objects that are stringfriendly; that
is, objects that will never fail when
ToString() is called on them. The
ConferenceForm view model object is an
example of this. Notice in listing
4.14 that all of the properties are strings. We’ll have the dates properly
formatted before this view model
object is placed in view data. This
way, the view need not consider the
object, and it can format the
information properly.
Have you considered using an extension method to format money?
public static string ToMoney( this decimal source )
{
return string.Format( "{0:c}", source );
}
<%= Model.CurrencyProperty.ToMoney() %>
Since this is clearly a view-related (not model-related) issue, I'd try to keep it in the view if at all possible. This basically moves it to an extension method on decimal, but the usage is in the view. You could also do an HtmlHelper extension:
public static string FormatMoney( this HtmlHelper helper, decimal amount )
{
return string.Format( "{0:c}", amount );
}
<%= Html.FormatMoney( Model.CurrencyProperty ) %>
If you liked that style better. It is somewhat more View-related as it's an HtmlHelper extension.
Have you considered putting a DisplayFormat on your ViewModel? That is what I use and it's quick and simple.
ViewModel :
[DisplayFormat(DataFormatString = "{0:c}", ApplyFormatInEditMode = true)]
public decimal CurrencyProperty { get; set; }
View :
#Html.DisplayFor(m => m.CurrencyProperty)
A custom TypeConverter is what you're looking for:
Mapper.CreateMap<string, decimal>().ConvertUsing<MoneyToDecimalConverter>();
Then create the converter:
public class MoneyToDecimalConverter : TypeConverter<string, decimal>
{
protected override decimal ConvertCore(string source)
{
// magic here to convert from string to decimal
}
}

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