Entity Framework 4: PropertyChanged event is raised too often - entity-framework-4

the generated code from EF for a property of an entity looks like this:
/// <summary>
/// No Metadata Documentation available.
/// </summary>
[EdmScalarPropertyAttribute(EntityKeyProperty=false, IsNullable=false)]
[DataMemberAttribute()]
public global::System.DateTime DateCreated
{
get
{
return _DateCreated;
}
set
{
OnDateCreatedChanging(value);
ReportPropertyChanging("DateCreated");
_DateCreated = StructuralObject.SetValidValue(value);
ReportPropertyChanged("DateCreated");
OnDateCreatedChanged();
}
}
private global::System.DateTime _DateCreated;
partial void OnDateCreatedChanging(global::System.DateTime value);
partial void OnDateCreatedChanged();
This code doesn't check if the value has actually changed (in the setter). Therefore the PropertyChanged event is raised even if you set a value that is equal to the current value. But in this case nothing would have changed, so I wouldn't want this event...
For EntityKey properties they do check this:
/// <summary>
/// No Metadata Documentation available.
/// </summary>
[EdmScalarPropertyAttribute(EntityKeyProperty=true, IsNullable=false)]
[DataMemberAttribute()]
public global::System.Guid Id
{
get
{
return _Id;
}
set
{
if (_Id != value)
{
OnIdChanging(value);
ReportPropertyChanging("Id");
_Id = StructuralObject.SetValidValue(value);
ReportPropertyChanged("Id");
OnIdChanged();
}
}
}
private global::System.Guid _Id;
partial void OnIdChanging(global::System.Guid value);
partial void OnIdChanged();
I would expect this behavior from all properties.
Am I missing a setting in the model designer, or is there another solution?
Thanx!

It is point of T4 templates to allow you modifications you need. It is absolutely wrong approach to say:
But I would rather not use a custom template in my project!
It is like throwing all advantages of T4 templates away and going back to hardcoded custom tools for code generating.

I did, as I knew it was possible and Ladislav also stated, include the T4 template file into the project and made the following changes to the "Write PrimitiveType Properties." part of the template:
if (!Object.Equals(<#=code.FieldName(primitiveProperty)#>, value))
{
<#=ChangingMethodName(primitiveProperty)#>(value);
ReportPropertyChanging("<#=primitiveProperty.Name#>");
<#=code.FieldName(primitiveProperty)#> = StructuralObject.SetValidValue(value<#=OptionalNullableParameterForSetValidValue(primitiveProperty, code)#>);
ReportPropertyChanged("<#=primitiveProperty.Name#>");
<#=ChangedMethodName(primitiveProperty)#>();
}
Hope that will be helpfull to others.

Related

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

InvalidOperationException: The property is part of the object's key information and cannot be modified

I'm getting this error when I try to change column value.
Here is how I got to this problem:
1) I was needed to add this bit column to an Existing table.
ALTER TABLE BooksDB.dbo.Books
ADD edited bit NOT NULL DEFAULT(0),
2) Updated my EF model in project.
3) Now when I try to change 'edited' property of entity object, I'm getting the error from Subject line.
Why is that?
EF object declaration:
/// <summary>
/// No Metadata Documentation available.
/// </summary>
[EdmScalarPropertyAttribute(EntityKeyProperty=true, IsNullable=false)]
[DataMemberAttribute()]
public global::System.Boolean edited
{
get
{
return _edited;
}
set
{
if (_edited != value)
{
OneditedChanging(value);
ReportPropertyChanging("edited");
_edited = StructuralObject.SetValidValue(value);
ReportPropertyChanged("edited");
OneditedChanged();
}
}
}
private global::System.Boolean _edited;
partial void OneditedChanging(global::System.Boolean value);
partial void OneditedChanged();
This problem solved by adding PRIMARY KEY to the table.

In EF4, Is there a way to have unmapped properties make it across the wire?

I have a custom field that I've added to one of my EF entities in a shared.cs file like so:
public partial class Content
{
public int Test = 5;
}
On the client side, the OnCreated handler for that same class looks like this:
partial void OnCreated()
{
this.Test = 42;
}
I've added an event handler to the SavingChanges event for the context on the server like this:
partial void OnContextCreated()
{
this.SavingChanges += (sender, e) =>
{
foreach (object o in GetChangedEntities())
{
if (o is Content)
{
// Break to see what the value of Test is;
}
}
}
}
When I break at the comment (which is not really a comment my code :), the value of Test is always 5. In fact, I can't seem to set it to 42 anywhere on the client and have that value make it to the server.
I have set breakpoints all over the place, and the value is definitely being set to 42 on the client-side. Is there something that I'm doing wrong, or is this behavior just not supported? Incidentally, I've also tried this as a property instead of a field--just in case.
I needed to mark my property/field as a [DataMember] like this:
public partial class Content
{
[DataMember]
public int Test = 5;
}
and then move it out of the shared.cs file to a CustomProperties.cs (or similar) file in the server project to avoid multiple delcarations. Now it crosses the wire just fine.

Using Stored Procedures with Linq To Sql which have Additional Parameters

I have a very big problem and can't seem to find anybody else on the internet that has my problem. I sure hope StackOverflow can help me...
I am writing an ASP.NET MVC application and I'm using the Repository concept with Linq To Sql as my data store. Everything is working great in regards to selecting rows from views. And trapping very basic business rule constraints. However, I'm faced with a problem in my stored procedure mappings for deletes, inserts, and updates. Let me explain:
Our DBA has put a lot of work into putting the business logic into all of our stored procedures so that I don't have to worry about it on my end. Sure, I do basic validation, but he manages data integrity and conflicting date constraints, etc... The problem that I'm faced with is that all of the stored procedures (and I mean all) have 5 additional parameters (6 for inserts) that provide information back to me. The idea is that when something breaks, I can prompt the user with the appropriate information from our database.
For example:
sp_AddCategory(
#userID INT,
#categoryName NVARCHAR(100),
#isActive BIT,
#errNumber INT OUTPUT,
#errMessage NVARCHAR(1000) OUTPUT,
#errDetailLogID INT OUTPUT,
#sqlErrNumber INT OUTPUT,
#sqlErrMessage NVARCHAR(1000) OUTPUT,
#newRowID INT OUTPUT)
From the above stored procedure, the first 3 parameters are the only parameters that are used to "Create" the Category record. The remaining parameters are simply used to tell me what happened inside the method. If a business rule is broken inside the stored procedure, he does NOT use the SQL 'RAISEERROR' keyword when business rules are broken. Instead, he provides information about the error back to me using the OUTPUT parameters. He does this for every single stored procedure in our database even the Updates and Deletes. All of the 'Get' calls are done using custom views. They have all been tested and the idea was to make my job easier since I don't have to add the business logic to trap all of the various scenarios to ensure data quality.
As I said, I'm using Linq To Sql, and I'm now faced with a problem. The problem is that my "Category" model object simply has 4 properties on it: CategoryID, CategoryName, UserId, and IsActive. When I opened up the designer to started mapping my properties for the insert, I realized that there is really no (easy) way for me to account for the additional parameters unless I add them to my Model object.
Theoretically what I would LIKE to do is this:
// note: Repository Methods
public void AddCategory(Category category)
{
_dbContext.Categories.InsertOnSubmit(category);
}
public void Save()
{
_dbContext.SubmitChanges();
}
And then from my CategoryController class I would simply do the following:
[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult Create(FormCollection collection)
{
var category = new Category();
try
{
UpdateModel(category); // simple validation here...
_repository.AddCategory(category);
_repository.Save(); // should get error here!!
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
catch
{
// manage friendly messages here somehow... (??)
// ...
return View(category);
}
}
What is the best way to manage this using Linq to Sql? I (personally) don't feel that it makes sense to have all of these additional properties added to each model object... For example, the 'Get' should NEVER have errors and I don't want my repository methods to return one type of object for Get calls, but accept another type of object for CUD calls.
Update: My Solution! (Dec. 1, 2009)
Here is what I did to fix my problem. I got rid of my 'Save()' method on all of my repositories. Instead, I added an 'Update()' method to each repository and actually commit the data to the database on each CUD (ie. Create / Update / Delete) call.
I knew that each stored procedure had the same parameters, so I created a class to hold them:
public class MySprocArgs
{
private readonly string _methodName;
public int? Number;
public string Message;
public int? ErrorLogId;
public int? SqlErrorNumber;
public string SqlErrorMessage;
public int? NewRowId;
public MySprocArgs(string methodName)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(methodName))
throw new ArgumentNullException("methodName");
_methodName = methodName;
}
public string MethodName
{
get { return _methodName; }
}
}
I also created a MySprocException that accepts the MySprocArgs in it's constructor:
public class MySprocException : ApplicationException
{
private readonly MySprocArgs _args;
public MySprocException(MySprocArgs args) : base(args.Message)
{
_args = args;
}
public int? ErrorNumber
{
get { return _args.Number; }
}
public string ErrorMessage
{
get { return _args.Message; }
}
public int? ErrorLogId
{
get { return _args.ErrorLogId; }
}
public int? SqlErrorNumber
{
get { return _args.SqlErrorNumber; }
}
public string SqlErrorMessage
{
get { return _args.SqlErrorMessage; }
}
}
Now here is where it all comes together... Using the example that I started with in my initial inquiry, here is what the 'AddCategory()' method might look like:
public void AddCategory(Category category)
{
var args = new MySprocArgs("AddCategory");
var result = _dbContext.AddWidgetSproc(
category.CreatedByUserId,
category.Name,
category.IsActive,
ref args.Number, // <-- Notice use of 'args'
ref args.Message,
ref args.ErrorLogId,
ref args.SqlErrorNumber,
ref args.SqlErrorMessage,
ref args.NewRowId);
if (result == -1)
throw new MySprocException(args);
}
Now from my controller, I simply do the following:
[HandleError(ExceptionType = typeof(MySprocException), View = "SprocError")]
public class MyController : Controller
{
[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
public ActionResult Create(Category category)
{
if (!ModelState.IsValid)
{
// manage friendly messages
return View(category);
}
_repository.AddCategory(category);
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
}
The trick to managing the new MySprocException is to simply trap it using the HandleError attribute and redirect the user to a page that understands the MySprocException.
I hope this helps somebody. :)
I don't believe you can add the output parameters to any of your LINQ classes because the parameters do not persist in any table in your database.
But you can handle output parameters in LINQ in the following way.
Add the stored procedure(s) you whish to call to your .dbml using the designer.
Call your stored procedure in your code
using (YourDataContext context = new YourDataContext())
{
Nullable<int> errNumber = null;
String errMessage = null;
Nullable<int> errDetailLogID = null;
Nullable<int> sqlErrNumber = null;
String sqlErrMessage = null;
Nullable<int> newRowID = null;
Nullable<int> userID = 23;
Nullable<bool> isActive=true;
context.YourAddStoredProcedure(userID, "New Category", isActive, ref errNumber, ref errMessage, ref errDetailLogID, ref sqlErrNumber, ref sqlErrMessage, ref newRowID);
}
I haven' tried it yet, but you can look at this article, where he talks about stored procedures that return output parameters.
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/08/16/linq-to-sql-part-6-retrieving-data-using-stored-procedures.aspx
Basically drag the stored procedure into your LINQ to SQL designer then it should do the work for you.
The dbContext.SubmitChanges(); will work only for ENTITY FRAMEWORK.I suggest Save,Update and delete will work by using a Single Stored procedure or using 3 different procedure.

Session variables in ASP.NET MVC

I am writing a web application that will allow a user to browse to multiple web pages within the website making certain requests. All information that the user inputs will be stored in an object that I created. The problem is that I need this object to be accessed from any part of the website and I don't really know the best way to accomplish this. I know that one solution is to use session variables but I don't know how to use them in asp .net MVC. And where would I declare a session variable? Is there any other way?
I would think you'll want to think about if things really belong in a session state. This is something I find myself doing every now and then and it's a nice strongly typed approach to the whole thing but you should be careful when putting things in the session context. Not everything should be there just because it belongs to some user.
in global.asax hook the OnSessionStart event
void OnSessionStart(...)
{
HttpContext.Current.Session.Add("__MySessionObject", new MySessionObject());
}
From anywhere in code where the HttpContext.Current property != null you can retrive that object. I do this with an extension method.
public static MySessionObject GetMySessionObject(this HttpContext current)
{
return current != null ? (MySessionObject)current.Session["__MySessionObject"] : null;
}
This way you can in code
void OnLoad(...)
{
var sessionObj = HttpContext.Current.GetMySessionObject();
// do something with 'sessionObj'
}
The answer here is correct, I however struggled to implement it in an ASP.NET MVC 3 app. I wanted to access a Session object in a controller and couldn't figure out why I kept on getting a "Instance not set to an instance of an Object error". What I noticed is that in a controller when I tried to access the session by doing the following, I kept on getting that error. This is due to the fact that this.HttpContext is part of the Controller object.
this.Session["blah"]
// or
this.HttpContext.Session["blah"]
However, what I wanted was the HttpContext that's part of the System.Web namespace because this is the one the Answer above suggests to use in Global.asax.cs. So I had to explicitly do the following:
System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Session["blah"]
this helped me, not sure if I did anything that isn't M.O. around here, but I hope it helps someone!
Because I dislike seeing "HTTPContext.Current.Session" about the place, I use a singleton pattern to access session variables, it gives you an easy to access strongly typed bag of data.
[Serializable]
public sealed class SessionSingleton
{
#region Singleton
private const string SESSION_SINGLETON_NAME = "Singleton_502E69E5-668B-E011-951F-00155DF26207";
private SessionSingleton()
{
}
public static SessionSingleton Current
{
get
{
if ( HttpContext.Current.Session[SESSION_SINGLETON_NAME] == null )
{
HttpContext.Current.Session[SESSION_SINGLETON_NAME] = new SessionSingleton();
}
return HttpContext.Current.Session[SESSION_SINGLETON_NAME] as SessionSingleton;
}
}
#endregion
public string SessionVariable { get; set; }
public string SessionVariable2 { get; set; }
// ...
then you can access your data from anywhere:
SessionSingleton.Current.SessionVariable = "Hello, World!";
Well, IMHO..
never reference a Session inside your view/master page
minimize your useage of Session. MVC provides TempData obj for this, which is basically a Session that lives for a single trip to the server.
With regards to #1, I have a strongly typed Master View which has a property to access whatever the Session object represents....in my instance the stongly typed Master View is generic which gives me some flexibility with regards to strongly typed View Pages
ViewMasterPage<AdminViewModel>
AdminViewModel
{
SomeImportantObjectThatWasInSession ImportantObject
}
AdminViewModel<TModel> : AdminViewModel where TModel : class
{
TModel Content
}
and then...
ViewPage<AdminViewModel<U>>
If you are using asp.net mvc, here is a simple way to access the session.
From a Controller:
{Controller}.ControllerContext.HttpContext.Session["{name}"]
From a View:
<%=Session["{name}"] %>
This is definitely not the best way to access your session variables, but it is a direct route. So use it with caution (preferably during rapid prototyping), and use a Wrapper/Container and OnSessionStart when it becomes appropriate.
HTH
Although I don't know about asp.net mvc, but this is what we should do in a normal .net website. It should work for asp.net mvc also.
YourSessionClass obj=Session["key"] as YourSessionClass;
if(obj==null){
obj=new YourSessionClass();
Session["key"]=obj;
}
You would put this inside a method for easy access.
HTH
There are 3 ways to do it.
You can directly access HttpContext.Current.Session
You can Mock HttpContextBase
Create a extension method for HttpContextBase
I prefer 3rd way.This link is good reference.
Get/Set HttpContext Session Methods in BaseController vs Mocking HttpContextBase to create Get/Set methods
My way of accessing sessions is to write a helper class which encapsulates the various field names and their types. I hope this example helps:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.SessionState;
namespace dmkp
{
/// <summary>
/// Encapsulates the session state
/// </summary>
public sealed class LoginInfo
{
private HttpSessionState _session;
public LoginInfo(HttpSessionState session)
{
this._session = session;
}
public string Username
{
get { return (this._session["Username"] ?? string.Empty).ToString(); }
set { this._session["Username"] = value; }
}
public string FullName
{
get { return (this._session["FullName"] ?? string.Empty).ToString(); }
set { this._session["FullName"] = value; }
}
public int ID
{
get { return Convert.ToInt32((this._session["UID"] ?? -1)); }
set { this._session["UID"] = value; }
}
public UserAccess AccessLevel
{
get { return (UserAccess)(this._session["AccessLevel"]); }
set { this._session["AccessLevel"] = value; }
}
}
}
Great answers from the guys but I would caution you against always relying on the Session. It is quick and easy to do so, and of course would work but would not be great in all cicrumstances.
For example if you run into a scenario where your hosting doesn't allow session use, or if you are on a web farm, or in the example of a shared SharePoint application.
If you wanted a different solution you could look at using an IOC Container such as Castle Windsor, creating a provider class as a wrapper and then keeping one instance of your class using the per request or session lifestyle depending on your requirements.
The IOC would ensure that the same instance is returned each time.
More complicated yes, if you need a simple solution just use the session.
Here are some implementation examples below out of interest.
Using this method you could create a provider class along the lines of:
public class CustomClassProvider : ICustomClassProvider
{
public CustomClassProvider(CustomClass customClass)
{
CustomClass = customClass;
}
public string CustomClass { get; private set; }
}
And register it something like:
public void Install(IWindsorContainer container, IConfigurationStore store)
{
container.Register(
Component.For<ICustomClassProvider>().UsingFactoryMethod(
() => new CustomClassProvider(new CustomClass())).LifestylePerWebRequest());
}
You can use ViewModelBase as base class for all models , this class will take care of pulling data from session
class ViewModelBase
{
public User CurrentUser
{
get { return System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Session["user"] as User };
set
{
System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Session["user"]=value;
}
}
}
You can write a extention method on HttpContextBase to deal with session data
T FromSession<T>(this HttpContextBase context ,string key,Action<T> getFromSource=null)
{
if(context.Session[key]!=null)
{
return (T) context.Session[key];
}
else if(getFromSource!=null)
{
var value = getFromSource();
context.Session[key]=value;
return value;
}
else
return null;
}
Use this like below in controller
User userData = HttpContext.FromSession<User>("userdata",()=> { return user object from service/db });
The second argument is optional it will be used fill session data for that key when value is not present in session.

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