I cannot for the life of me get this to work with my existing code, but I am trying to save my enum selections as strings in NHibernate. Basically, I have a UI check box and if the user selects multiple check boxes I want to store those selections. Now, I can get NHibernate to store ONE selection (e.g., from a drop down or radio button list, where the user is limited to one choice only).
This is the jist of what I have for an enum:
public enum IncomeType
{
[Display(Name = "Full-Time Employment")]
FullTime,
[Display(Name = "Part-Time Employment")]
PartTime,
[Display(Name = "Self-Employment")]
SelfEmployed,
[Display(Name = "Rental")]
Rental,
[Display(Name = "Social Security Payments")]
SocialSecurity,
[Display(Name = "Retirement / Pension Payments")]
Retirement,
[Display(Name = "Child Support Payments")]
ChildSupport,
[Display(Name = "Spousal Maintenance")]
Maintenance,
[Display(Name = "Other")]
Other
}
I use a method to "select" whether a checkbox list is shown (if my BulkItemThreshold equals the number of options, a checkbox list is displayed). Here is that method:
public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> GetItemsFromEnumString<T>
(T selectedValue = default(T)) where T : struct
{
return from name in Enum.GetNames(typeof(T))
let enumValue = Convert.ToString((T)Enum.Parse(typeof(T), name, true))
select new SelectListItem
{
Text = GetEnumDescription(name, typeof(T)),
Value = enumValue,
Selected = enumValue.Equals(selectedValue)
};
}
(Note: some items in there are helpers, but I don't believe they are relevant; also, the selected input is displayed using a template .cshtml file - again, not sure if that's relevant)
Now, I call this thusly:
public class IncomeTypeSelectorAttribute : SelectorAttribute
{
public override IEnumerable<SelectListItem> GetItems()
{
return Selector.GetItemsFromEnumString<IncomeType>();
}
}
And finally, we get to the virtual property (using a proxy) but this is where NHibernate throws a wrench (Note: this was working fine for me before NHibernate, and now I am trying to get many lines of code working with it WITHOUT having to re-do everything; if I re-do everything I will probably triple the code I already have to get it to work):
Property (record):
[IncomeTypeSelector(BulkSelectionThreshold = 9)]
public virtual List<string> IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox { get; set; }
proxy (part):
public List<string> IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox
{
get { return Record.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox; }
set { Record.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox = value; }
}
Again, this is how I was doing things and it was working great before NHibernate. But now I have to use NHibernate. No getting around it.
I am using a service class that it tying the two together in a Create method to save in the DB with NHibernate, and for the above it would ordinarily look like this:
part.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox = record.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox;
This would work if it were just one selection.
Well, I've spent a good two (2) months trying to get this to work. It's tough because I have lots of code where the user can make only one selection (such as with a radiobutton list) and it works GREAT - even with NHibernate. Let me give you an example:
public virtual IncomeType? IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox { get; set; }
If I do the above, it will display a drop down list, and NHibernate will store the ONE allowable option selected by the user in the DB no problem. But more than one option with List<string> does not work.
Now, I have tried everything I could find here or elsewhere and nothing works. Yes, I know it should be IList<IncomeType> or some other variant. But if I use this then NHibernate requires that IncomeType be another table in the DB. This is too much code to write for such a simple thing I believe. We are not talking a many-to-many relation in the sense that this is not a User with Multiple addresses (wherein addresses would have street, city, state, zip, etc.).
I have tried different types of proxy get and set code, but nothing works. I have tried [Flags] and other things working with string only, but to no avail. Those last solutions would "work" but ONLY to save the first item selected out of multiple (i.e., in my scenario, if the user selected "FullTime" and "Rental" as Income Types, then only "FullTime" (string) would be saved or "1" ([Flags]/int), not both items selected.
I have a situation where I re-display the choices using a ReadOnly attribute like this:
[IncomeTypeSelector]
[ReadOnly(true)]
public List<string> IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBoxPost
{
get { return IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox; }
}
This would display on the UI, but I tried doing something like this with NHibernate and it wouldn't work.
Could anyone please show me, using the above, how I can go about getting NHibernate to store more than one enum in this checkbox list scenario?
UPDATE:
More poking around here and on the web, and I came up with the following (which still does not work).
Property (record):
[IncomeTypeSelector(BulkSelectionThreshold = 9)]
public virtual IList<IncomeTypeRecord> IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox
{
get { return incomeType; }
set { incomeType= value; }
}
private IList<IncomeTypeRecord> incomeType =
new List<IncomeTypeRecord>();
Proxy (part):
public IList<IncomeTypeRecord> IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox
{
get { return Record.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox; }
set { Record.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox= value; }
}
And a change to the enum:
public enum IncomeType : int // removing int & value still gives validate error
{
[Display(Name = "Full-Time Employment")]
FullTime = 1,
[Display(Name = "Part-Time Employment")]
PartTime,
....
}
And I added this class to support IncomeTypeRecord
public class IncomeTypeRecord
{
public virtual int Id { get; set; }
public virtual IncomeType Value { get; set; }
}
HOWEVER, when I get to the UI screen and pick one or more options I get a validation error (value not valid). For example, say I pick FullTime alone, or pick FullTime and Retirement, then the UI will display the following error:
The value 'FullTime' is invalid.
The value 'FullTime,Retirement' is invalid.
(respectively)
Even if I remove the int declaration for the enum and get rid of the value I started with "1", I still get this validation error. I tried messing around with and adding different model binders (which now has me stumped as to whether my original problem still exists and now I have a different problem - but you still get bounty points :) ).
Pulling my hair out. If I could offer more bounty I would. I need a definitive solution. I appreciate any help.
UPDATE
This is what I have so far:
Record:
public virtual string IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox{ get; set; }
Part:
//If I do IEnumberable<string> my .Select throws a cast error
public IEnumerable<IncomeType> IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox
{
get
{
return Record
.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox
.Split(',')
.Select(r => (IncomeType)Enum.Parse(typeof(IncomeType), r));
}
set { Record.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox= value
== null ? null : String.Join(",", value); }
}
Service Class:
public SimplePart CreateSimple(SimplePartRecord record)
{
SimplePart simple = Services.ContentManager.Create<SimplePart>("Simple");
...
//How I would save a FirstName property (example Part / PartRecord below)
//public virtual string FirstName { get; set; } - PartRecord
//public string FirstName - Part
//{
// get { return Record.FirstName ; }
// set { Record.FirstName= value; }
//}
simple.FirstName = record.FristName;
...
//I obviously cannot do the following with the above IncomeType
//Getting cannot convert string to IEnumerable error
//How would I write this:
simple.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox = record.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox;
...
}
And this is how it's called in a controller (this persists to DB): (Updating Controller code)
public ActionResult Confirm(string backButton, string nextButton)
{
if (backButton != null)
return RedirectToAction("WrapUp");
else if ((nextButton != null) && ModelState.IsValid)
{
_myService.CreateSimple(myData.SimplePartRecord);
return RedirectToAction("Submitted");
}
else
return View(myData);
}
Updating with additional code (serialization and view model):
"myData" is defined in the controller (using Serialization) as:
private MyViewModel myData;
protected override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
var serialized = Request.Form["myData"];
if (serialized != null)
{
myData = (MyViewModel)new MvcSerializer().Deserialize
(serialized, SerializationMode.Signed);
TryUpdateModel(myData);
}
else
myData = (MyViewModel)TempData["myData"] ?? new MyViewModel();
TempData.Keep();
}
protected override void OnResultExecuted(ResultExecutedContext filterContext)
{
if (filterContext.Result is RedirectToRouteResult)
TempData["myData"] = myData;
}
I use Serialization because I set up a multi-step wizard (as seen in the controller action "backButton" "nextButton) on the front-end. I am not using a driver (which can only display Admin or on the front-end but then only on .cshtml files directly under the ~/Views folder (not in a structured folder list like I am using)). No driver = no update view model type code = no mechanism to "create" the data in the DB. If I do not use some "create" type method, the form will submit but all the data will be "NULL".
When you say that the data should be persisted automatically, I am sorry but I do not see how. All the stuff I read or code I review has SOME method of updating the DB with whatever is entered in a form. If I am missing something, my apologies.
"MyViewModel" is pretty straightforward:
[Serializabel]
public class MyViewModel
{
public SimplePartRecord SimplePartRecord { get; set; }
}
And, just in case, here is the relevant portion of the migration (return 1 is a completely separate and unrelated table):
public int UpdateFrom1()
{
SchemaBuilder.CreateTable("SimplePartRecord",
table => table
.ContentPartRecord()
...
.Column("IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox", DbType.String)
...
);
ContentDefinitionManager.AlterPartDefinition("SimplePart",
part => part
.Attachable(false));
return 2;
}
The error I am getting is
Cannot implicitly convert type 'string' to 'System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable'"
when I do the following in the "Create" method of my service class:
simple.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox = record.IndividualIncomeTypeCheckBox;
One additional thought: I tried using the n-n Relation sample to handle this scenario. Aside from it being a lot of extra code for what I thought should be straightforward and simple, because of the way I am using Serialization I had a lot of object reference errors and could not figure out how to properly code my controller to handle it.
There's a lot of info to wade through here so hopefully I haven't missed the point. It appears to me that the goals are:
The business class has a collection property of IList<IncomeType> without requiring an additional table
The values in that collection should be persisted as a delimited string of the enum names
The best approach is to use a custom user type (an implementation of NHibernate.UserTypes.IUserType) to map the property. Below is a generic IUserType that will map an enum of type T from an IList<T> property to a comma delimited string in the database and back again. There's no easy way to restrict T to an enum but the code will only work with enums.
Mapping a property using the custom type is simple with Fluent NHibernate:
public class Person
{
public Person()
{
IncomeTypes = new List<IncomeType>();
}
public virtual int PersonId { get; protected set; }
public virtual string FirstName { get; set; }
public virtual string LastName { get; set; }
public virtual IList<IncomeType> IncomeTypes { get; protected set; }
}
public class PersonMap : ClassMap<Person>
{
public PersonMap()
{
Table("Person");
Id(x => x.PersonId).GeneratedBy.Identity();
Map(x => x.FirstName);
Map(x => x.LastName);
Map(x => x.IncomeTypes).CustomType<EnumAsDelimitedStringType<IncomeType>>();
}
}
And here's the code for the user type:
public class EnumAsDelimitedStringType<T> : IUserType
{
public new bool Equals(object x, object y)
{
if (ReferenceEquals(x, y))
{
return true;
}
var xList = x as IList<T>;
var yList = y as IList<T>;
if (xList == null || yList == null)
{
return false;
}
// compare set contents
return xList.OrderBy(xValue => xValue).SequenceEqual(yList.OrderBy(yValue => yValue));
}
public int GetHashCode(object x)
{
return x.GetHashCode();
}
public object NullSafeGet(IDataReader rs, string[] names, object owner)
{
var outValue = NHibernateUtil.AnsiString.NullSafeGet(rs, names[0]) as string;
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(outValue))
{
return new List<T>();
}
var getValueArray = outValue.Split(new[] {','}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
return Array.ConvertAll(getValueArray, s => (T)Enum.Parse(typeof(T), s)).ToList();
}
public void NullSafeSet(IDbCommand cmd, object value, int index)
{
var inValue = value as IList<T>;
// set to string.Empty if you prefer to store that instead of null when the collection is null or empty
object setValue = null;
if (inValue != null && inValue.Any())
{
var setValueArray = Array.ConvertAll(inValue.ToArray(), v => Enum.GetName(typeof(T), v));
setValue = string.Join(",", setValueArray);
}
NHibernateUtil.AnsiString.NullSafeSet(cmd, setValue, index);
}
public object DeepCopy(object value)
{
return value;
}
public object Replace(object original, object target, object owner)
{
return original;
}
public object Assemble(object cached, object owner)
{
return cached;
}
public object Disassemble(object value)
{
return value;
}
public SqlType[] SqlTypes
{
get { return new[] {new SqlType(DbType.AnsiString)}; }
}
public Type ReturnedType
{
get { return typeof(IList<T>); }
}
public bool IsMutable
{
get { return false; }
}
}
I think you're on the right track pursuing a [Flags] enum. You may have done this, but just in case -- making an enum flags-worthy is more than adding the attribute. You also have to specify the value for the items in a binary-friendly manner. I've found the easiest way to do this is as follows:
[Flags]
public enum IncomeType : long // you'll need the room with several options
{
FullTime = 1,
PartTime = 1 << 1,
SelfEmployed = 1 << 2
// And so on
}
If you don't do this, then you'll get sequential integer values, which breaks the bitwise comparison that allows you to do multiple values in a single integer.
Your code to create the SelectList looks fine. Your options should construct form values that get posted back with the same name. If you want to use the default modelbinder, that means the associated property on your view model would need to be List<int>. If you're not using a view model (you probably should) you can pull it out of the forms collection.
Once you have this set up, then translating from your view model to your NHibernate entity is simple if a little annoying. You basically have to cycle through the values in the list and |= them onto your NHibernate entity's single enum property.
So let's assume you have a view model like this:
public class MyEditViewModel
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public List<int> IncomeSelections { get; set; }
// You'll probably have this to populate the initial view rendering
public SelectList AllIncomeOptions { get; set; }
}
You'll build your view using your helpers and all that, then build the checkboxes using the SelectList but making sure the input name is IncomeSelections, then when it's posted back you will push the view model data into your NHibernate entity something like this:
var myNHEntity = new NHEntity();
// If you're editing an existing entity, then be sure to reset the enum
// value to 0 before going into the following foreach loop...
foreach (var incomeSelection in viewModel.IncomeSelections)
{
myNHEntity.IncomeSelection |= incomeSelection;
}
There's probably a more clever way to do this, and you might have to cast the int to your enum type, but you'll figure that out (I'd do it for you, but it is Friday and I already have a beer open).
NHibernate should persist it without you having to do anything funky on the NH side.
In summary...
It seems like this is more a problem of how you handle the posted data than the NHibernate side. If you implement something like this, then be sure to use Fiddler or FireBug to inspect the posted values to make sure 1) they're integers and 2) the names are the same so they'll be added to the list.
Good luck!
The problem is simply that it won't be able to map a List without building a full relationship with an intermediate association table. It is way simpler to have the record store the values as a comma-separated string (so your record property is a string, not a list of string) and your part can map back and forth between string and List.
You can find an example of something very close here:
https://bitbucket.org/bleroy/nwazet.commerce/src/d722cbebea525203b22c445905c9f28d2af7db46/Models/ProductAttributesPartRecord.cs?at=default
https://bitbucket.org/bleroy/nwazet.commerce/src/d722cbebea525203b22c445905c9f28d2af7db46/Models/ProductAttributesPart.cs?at=default
It's not using enum values, instead it's a list of ids, but that should give you a good idea about how to make this work fairly simply: parsing enums you already know how to do.
Let me know if you need more details, but I think that's what you needed to get unblocked.
I wish to give a Person as defined below, the ability to print a vCard out of my system. To provide the user with privacy options, the user can select whether to show/hide certain properties. In it's simplest form, I need to have a separate table that would hold the user's choices.
I was wondering if it was possible to build this configurator table using reflection. As shown in the Person model below, I could decorate properties with a custom attribute, and then using those properties, construct and persist a model that would have a bool property for every decorated Person property.
public class Person
{
public string UserName { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
[DisplayOnVCard]
public string LastName { get; set; }
[DisplayOnVCard]
public string Email { get; set; }
[DisplayOnVCard]
public string MobilePhone { get; set; }
}
** where [DisplayOnVCard] is a custom attribute.*
At the end of this, I expect a table in the db that would correspond to this:
public class VCardConfigurator
{
public bool LastName { get; set; }
public bool Email { get; set; }
public bool MobilePhone { get; set; }
}
This is just a sample representation of what is actually a huge entity. Which is why I hope to avoid manually mapping a bool field to each optional property.
I believe this problem domain is quite similar to how, for instance, privacy settings work on social networking sites, yes?
While I was typing this, I did ponder upon the possibility that if down the line I was to remove the attribute from one of the properties, what implications that might have. Needs some thought!
Further reading for self:
Programmatically adding properties to an MVC model at runtime
There is a huge possibility that I am galloping down a totally wrong path! If that is the case, please advice so!
#1 Update
I am not sure its possible to add or remove attributes for an instance since attributes are at the class level, but their property values can be changed (Since they are instances).
My suggested solusion
I am not sure what you mean in "I expect a table in the db that would correspond to this",
since you can't have a table in the database that contains only the columns of the non-privacy properties for each user.
You will need a dedicated table for this mapping (Lets say 'PrivacyMappings' table), with these columns:
UserId, PropertyName, IsPrivate.
When a user is added, all the properties will be added to this table with a default privacy settings (for instance, all properties are non-private by default).
You can add the properties by iterating over them and insert them as you said.
You can use the following class in entity framework:
public class PrivacyMapping
{
public int UserId {get;set;}
public string PropertyName {get;set;}
public bool IsPrivate {get;set;}
}
Adding the default privacy settings when a user being added:
// retrieve user model properties.
foreach (property in properties)
{
//iterrate over the user Properties.
context.PrivacyMapping.Add(new PrivacyMapping(user.userId, propertyName, isPrivate);
}
context.SaveChanges()
Now you can take all the user non-private properties by
context.PrivacyMapping.Where(p=>p.UserId == user.id && !IsPrivate).Select(p=>p.PropertyName);
And now you can deal with information any way you want.
For example, you can have a VCardItems class, that receive an user id/object in its c'tor and stores a dictionary of the allowed properties by their names.
public class VCardItems{
private Dictionary<string, object> properties{get;set;}
public VCardItems(User user)
{
// initiate values..
}
public object this[string name] {
get
{
if (properties.ContainsKey(name))
{
return properties[name];
}
// A private property.
return null;
}
set
{
properties[name] = value;
}
}
}
There is other options of how to use the data, for example with ActionFilter that in this case sets the private properties to null or storing the non-private data in the HttpContext.Items dictionary,
but it really up to you.
First message
Before we get into details, I wonder how you expect to use this class.
If a view (or whatever going to handle it), going to receive have a runtime-generated class for example, how you gonna handle it?
How you gonna know what properties this model has?
My situation is slightly different than from other posts and I was not able to solve it with the other trhreads. So that why I ask.
I have a class that is obtained from deserializing an XML like:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<node>
<leaf>
<name>node 1</name>
<text>text 1</text>
<url>url 1</url>
</leaf>
<leaf>
<name>node 2</name>
<text>text 2</text>
<url>url 2</url>
</leaf>
</node>
so the class is:
[XmlRoot("node")]
public class csNodeList
{
public csNodeList()
{
Leaf = new csLeafCollection();
}
[XmlElement("leaf")]
public csLeafCollection Leaf
{
get;
set;
}
}
public class csLeaf
{
public csLeaf()
{
Name ="";
Description = "";
Address = "";
}
[XmlElement("name")]
public string Name
{
get;
set;
}
[XmlElement("text")]
public string Description
{
get;
set;
}
[XmlElement("url")]
public string Address
{
get;
set;
}
}
public class csLeafCollection : System.Collections.ObjectModel.ObservableCollection<csLeaf>
{
}
Then I have 2 Views, one to show all the leafs and one to edit one leaf. I've implemented commit and rollback so I use messaging back and forth to pass the new values and I store the old ones.
To do so I copy the objects a a backup variable and then I modify the ones associated via binding to the XAML view, in this way (in theory) any change to the ViewModel data should be reflected.
Also is better because if I commit the changes I just discard the backup variables (this is 90% of the times) and if I need to roll back I copy back from the backup variables.
MainView:
public const string listPropertyName = "list";
private csNodeList _list = new csNodeList();
public csNodeList list
{
get
{
return _list;
}
set
{
Set(listPropertyName, ref _list, value, false);
}
}
Using the message I send back the new values of a node and I put them in the correct position:
private void DoSomething(csMessage message)
{
csMessage rmessage;
if (message != null)
{
switch (message.destination)
{
case csMessage.e2MessageDest.updateNode:
//_editP should be fine.
list.Leaf[list.Leaf.IndexOf(_editP)].Name = ((csLeaf)message.payload).Name;
list.Leaf[list.Leaf.IndexOf(_editP)].Text= ((csLeaf)message.payload).Text;
list.Leaf[list.Leaf.IndexOf(_editP)].Address = ((csLeaf)message.payload).Address;
RaisePropertyChanged(listPropertyName , null, _list, true);
break;
}
}
}
The code is executed correctly and the item is changed.
BUT the RaisePropertyChanged is ignored. I've tried even just the one with the listPropertyName without any change.
If I save the changes exit from the app and get back I see the new value correctly stored
Can you please help me?
Thanks,
Massimo
The reason why your RaisePropertyChanged is ignored is hat yor Leaf class des not implement INotifyOropertyChanged. Commonly the model is wrapped into a view model which then implements INotifyPropertyChanged to notify the view hat something has happened.
However, you also can implement INotifyPropertyChanged on the model class directly. To implement INotifyPropertyChanged each property has to raise the propty changed event.
public string Property {
get { ... }
set {
if (_propertyField == value)
return;
_propertyField = value;
RaisePropertyChanged("Property");
}
}
The code assumes hat there is a method RaisePropertyChanged which actually taises the PropertyChangedEvent.
Thank you everyone for the help.
Investigating your suggestion I've found a slightly different solution; as you correctly said the issue is that the leaf fields are not "observable" so they do not generate a notification event.
I've noticed that if I add or Delete a profile the binding is updated.
So what I've decided to do is not to edit directly the leafs but to replace the node.
What I do not like is that I have to create a node to replace the old one and this allocates a little bit more memory... but for small data like the one I have it can work without any major impact on the app performance/memory foot print.
Here is what I do:
csLeaf _leaf = new slLeaf();
_leaf.Name = ((csLeaf)message.payload).Name;
_leaf.Text= ((csLeaf)message.payload).Text;
_leaf.URL = ((csLeaf)message.payload).Address;
list.Leaf[list.Leaf.IndexOf(_editP)] = _leaf;
To optimized readabilty of code I've enhanced it adding a constructor with 3 parameters so that the code can be:
csLeaf _leaf = new slLeaf(((csLeaf)message.payload).Name, ((csLeaf)message.payload).Text, ((csLeaf)message.payload).Address);
list.Leaf[list.Leaf.IndexOf(_editP)] = _leaf;
The constructor is:
public csLeaf(string _name, string _description, string _address)
{
Name = _name;
Description = _description;
Address = _address;
}
I see lots of posts for waiting on the return value of various activities, but in this case, I'd like to kick off an activity and then not wait. I just want to copy a directory over a (very) slow network, so I'd prefer not to create another activity or use a batch script for this. Anyone done this? Is there a clean way? I could cobble something together, but I'm trying to keep this as vanilla as possible.
I don't think that something out of the box is available for you to use. One way to proceed is to organize an "Invoke Process" that invokes another service that does the actual copying. So from within Build you advance and let the invoked entity (that is out of scope in terms of TFS build) do the actual activity. This does come with certain deficiencies, the more important being that you won't ever know in your build-logs if this succeeded or failed.Another option is to use the Parallel activity (it's in the Toolbox under "Control Flow" - System.Activities.Statements.Parallel). This is not quite like what you need (kick & forget), still it could allow you to do other stuff while your copy happens.
Here is simple custom activity that will create new process:
[BuildActivity (HostEnvironmentOption.All)]
public sealed class InvokeProcessAsync : CodeActivity
{
[RequiredArgument]
public InArgument<string> FileName { get; set; }
public InArgument<string> Arguments { get; set; }
public InArgument<string> WorkingDirectory { get; set; }
public InArgument<IDictionary<string, string>> EnvironmentVariables { get; set; }
protected override void Execute (CodeActivityContext context)
{
context.DublicateOperationsLogsToBuildOutput ();
var psi = new ProcessStartInfo
{
FileName = context.GetValue (this.FileName),
Arguments = context.GetValue (this.Arguments),
WorkingDirectory = context.GetValue (this.WorkingDirectory)
};
var env_vars = context.GetValue (this.EnvironmentVariables);
if (env_vars != null)
{
foreach (var v in env_vars)
psi.EnvironmentVariables.Add (v.Key, v.Value);
}
Process.Start (psi);
}
}
CopyDirectory activity from the Build.Workflow assembly is what you need.
This is the problem that we're facing in .NET MVC 2.
We're trying to use DataAnnotations to take care of the Model Validation for us, like it's supposed to. The only problem that we're having is that we don't want the standard error messages (because we have multiple languages on our website).
We want to localize this, but the way the site is setup, is that all text comes from a database. So we'd like to have our error messages in the database as well.
So we wrote a custom RequiredAttribute, like this:
public class LocalizedRequiredAttribute : RequiredAttribute
{
public string LocalizedErrorMessage
{
get
{
return ErrorMessage;
}
set
{
ErrorMessage = value.Translate();
}
}
}
We wrote an extension to the String class to add the "Translate()" method, which does the necessary database lookup for the correct localized version.
We use our attribute like this:
[LocalizedRequired(LocalizedErrorMessage = "Naam is required")]
public string Name {get; set; }
This works, but only once.
If you visit the site in French first, you'll see the French error message stating that you're supposed to enter a value. If you visit the English site later, you'll still see the French error on the English page. The Setter seems to be called only once.
What can we do to prevent this behavior and refresh the error message every time the validation is run / the model is populated with values?
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Couldn't you fix this by moving your .Translate() from your setter to your getter? It makes sense that your setter is called only once.
Edit:
I assumed ErrorMessage was a virtual message, which is not the case.
Your only option might be to create Resource class (you don't need a resource file) that retrieves your values from the database.
[Required(ErrorMesageResourceName="FirstName", ErrorMessageResourceType=typeof(ABCResourceClass))]
public string Name {get; set; }
class ABCResourceClass{
public static String FirstName{
get{
return Translate("FirstName");
}
}
}
As you can infer from the example, the annotations framework calls the property with the name that matches the string you provide to ErrorMessageResourceName.
You could resort to some kindof code generation technique to create the ABCResourceClass if you have a lot of properties.
Just use method FormatErrorMessage() (whis is called everytime) to set ErrorMessage property
But it's hackish
public class ErrorLocalizedRequiredAttribute : RequiredAttribute
{
public ErrorLocalizedRequiredAttribute(string name)
{
Name = name;
}
public string Name
{ get; set; }
public override string FormatErrorMessage(string name)
{
//get translation from DB by Name
ErrorMessage = Localization.Translate(Name);
return base.FormatErrorMessage(name);
}
}
.
.
.
[ErrorLocalizedRequiredAttribute("EmailIsRequired")]
public string Email
{
get; set;
}