Friday, 25 April 2014

Passing Objects in JSON through ViewBag

Below is an example of how to pass a collection of objects in JSON format through ViewBag.
List<Student> studentsList = new List<Student>();
studentsList = GetStudents();
ViewBag.Students = System.Web.Helpers.Json.Encode(studentsList);
We use System.Web.Helpers.Json.Encode() function to do the formatting and on the view, we just need to render the passed content like this:
@Html.Raw((String)ViewBag.Students)

A different way to do this is by passing the collection directly through ViewBag
ViewBag.Students = studentsList;
then we do the formatting on the view
@Html.Raw(Json.Encode((IList<Student>)ViewBag.Students))
However this way is less efficient than the earlier one.

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Building Single Page Application with AngularJS and Web API - Part 2

On this post, we will continue building our single page application with AngularJS and Web API. For the first part of this topic, please see my previous post.

Update Functionality
Now we want to add update user functionality. First, we add a new route in our AngularJS routing configuration:
. . .
.when('/edit/:userId', {
 templateUrl: 'Partials/create-edit.html',
 controller: 'UserCtrl'
}).
. . .
Note that we use a parameter ':userId' in the path. This is used to get a value from the url and will be stored into $routeParams object. A new property called 'userId' will be created in $routeParams object (i.e. $routeParams.userId).

Other types of parameter can be used as well in a routing path:
- ':name*' is used to store all values from the path of the parameter up to the next matching string path. For example; if we set a route like '/edit/:user*/end' then when we have a url '/edit/1/type/admin/end', :user will have value '1/type/admin'
- 'name?', we can use '?' to specify that this is an optional parameter

Then add logic for updating user in our WebAPI controller:
// PUT api/UserRegistration/5
public async Task<IHttpActionResult> PutUser(int id, User user)
{
 if (!ModelState.IsValid)
 {
  return BadRequest(ModelState);
 }

 if (id != user.UserId)
 {
  return BadRequest();
 }

 db.Entry(user).State = EntityState.Modified;

 try
 {
  await db.SaveChangesAsync();
 }
 catch (DbUpdateConcurrencyException)
 {
  if (!UserExists(id))
  {
   return NotFound();
  }
  else
  {
   throw;
  }
 }

 return StatusCode(HttpStatusCode.NoContent);
}

Also add this in our AngularJS user service:
. . .
getById: function (id) {
 //return $resource('/api/UserRegistration/' + id).get();
 return $resource('/api/UserRegistration/:userId', { userId: '@userId' }).get({ userId: id });   // this is another way to build the string to be passed
},
updateUser: function (user) {
 return $resource('/api/UserRegistration/' + user.UserId, {},
  {
  customUpdate: { method: 'PUT', isArray:false }
  }
 ).customUpdate(user);
},
. . .
Notice that in updateUser function, we need to specify a custom action to invoke our Web API method. By default AngularJS $resource service has these default methods:
{ 'get': {method:'GET'},
'save': {method:'POST'},
'query': {method:'GET', isArray:true},
'remove': {method:'DELETE'},
'delete': {method:'DELETE'} };
Each method will invoke a call with the specified HTTP method. We need to specify an additional one with HTTP PUT method to invoke the Web API method. isArray is true if we expect the call to return an array of objects.

Then in our AngularJS user controller:
. . .
userService.getById($routeParams.userId).$promise.then(
//success
function (data) {
 $scope.user = data;
},
//error
function (response) {
 //console.log(response.status)
 $scope.error = true;
})
. . .
userService.updateUser(user).$promise.then(
 //success
 function () { $location.url('/'); },
 //error
 function () { $scope.error = true }
);
. . .

Finally, we add this link to the view:
<td><a data-ng-href="#edit/{{user.UserId}}">Edit</a></td>


Delete Functionality

Our delete function does not require a routing because it does not have its on view. The delete function will be executed on the main view.

We specify our Web API method:
// DELETE api/UserRegistration/5
[ResponseType(typeof(User))]
public async Task<IHttpActionResult> DeleteUser(int id)
{
 User user = await db.Users.FindAsync(id);
 if (user == null)
 {
  return NotFound();
 }

 db.Users.Remove(user);
 await db.SaveChangesAsync();

 return Ok(user);
}

Then in our AngularJS user service, we invoke the Web API method with $resource delete method.
. . .
removeUser: function (userId) {
 return $resource('/api/UserRegistration/' + userId).delete();
}
. . .

We add these codes as well to our controller:
. . .
$scope.remove = function (index) {
 if (confirm('Are you sure to delete this user?')) {
  //console.log(index);
  var userId = $scope.users[index].UserId;
  //console.log(userId);
  userService.removeUser(userId).$promise.then(
    //success
    function () { $scope.users.splice(index, 1); },
    //error
    function () { $scope.error = true }
   );
 }
}
. . .

Finally add this delete link to the view:
<td><a href="" data-ng-click="remove($index)">Delete</a></td>
Notice that we use $index property of ng-repeat in the view and pass it to the controller function to be able to know which particular record is being clicked. Then we can get any property's value of the record.

The complete source codes can be downloaded from here.

Monday, 24 March 2014

Building Single Page Application with AngularJS and Web API - Part 1

On this post, we will see the first part of building a simple single page CRUD application using AngularJs and Web API. The application will manage user registrations data. Complete source codes can be downloaded from here.

First we configure AngularJS routing for our views. See this post to learn more about AngularJS routing.
userApp.config(['$routeProvider',
function ($routeProvider) {
    $routeProvider
    .when('/', {
        templateUrl: 'Partials/home.html',   // this is the partial view for listing page
        controller: 'UserCtrl'
    })
    .when('/create', {
        templateUrl: 'Partials/create-edit.html',   // this is the partial view for creating user page
        controller: 'UserCtrl'
    })
    otherwise({
        redirectTo: '/'
    });
}]);

Create Functionality
Create the partial html page for creating a user.
<div>
  <span style="color:red" data-ng-show="error">An error has occured.</span>
</div>
<div>
  <label>First Name</label>
  <input type="text" data-ng-model="user.Firstname" />
</div>
<div>
  <label>Last Name</label>
  <input type="text" data-ng-model="user.Lastname" />
</div>
<div>
  <label>Organisation</label>
  <input type="text" data-ng-model="user.Organisation" />
</div>
<div>
  <label>Position</label>
  <input type="text" data-ng-model="user.Position" />
</div>
<div>
  <label>Email</label>
  <input type="text" data-ng-model="user.Email" />
</div>
<button data-ng-click="submit(user)">Save</button>
Note that there are some ng-model attributes on the input fields to instruct AngularJS to bind the value. The attributes were prefixed with 'data-' to be HTML5 compliant. ng-click attribute is also used to tell AngularJS to execute a function.

Then create our Web API method (this one is scaffoled by Visual Studio when creating a new controller):
// POST api/UserRegistration
[ResponseType(typeof(User))]
public async Task<IHttpActionResult> PostUser(User user)
{
  if (!ModelState.IsValid)
  {
    return BadRequest(ModelState);
  }

  db.Users.Add(user);
  await db.SaveChangesAsync();

  return CreatedAtRoute("DefaultApi", new { id = user.UserId }, user);
}

Now, we create our AngularJS custom service to call the Web API method:
userApp.factory('userService', ['$resource', function ($resource) {
    return {
        createUser: function (user) {
            return $resource('/api/UserRegistration').save(user);
        }
    }
}]);
Here AngularJS $resource service is used to interact with the Web API method. $resource service is useful for interacting with RESTful based services such as Web API. It is simpler to use than $http service. To use this service, ngResource module will need to be included as well in our application. In this JavaScript function, we call the save() method of the $resource service, passing user object as the argument. The service will invoke a HTTP POST call to the specified url.

Finally we create our AngularJS controller:
userApp.controller('UserCtrl', ['$scope', '$location', '$routeParams', 'userService', function ($scope, $location, $routeParams, userService) {
   
    $scope.submit = function (user) {
        $scope.error = false;        
        userService.createUser(user).$promise.then(
          //success
          function (data) { $location.url('/'); },
          //error
          function (response) { 
                         //console.log(response);
                         //console.log(response.status);
                         $scope.error = true }
        );        
    }
}]);
Here we create a submit function that calls the user service that we have just created. The submit function is called by the save button in our partial view through ng-click attribute.

Note that $promise is also used to determine what action to take if the service call is successful and if it has error. $promise is part of $resource service. If it is successful, $promise will return data object (similar to the one we passed to the service call). If it fails, it will return a HTTP response object. It might be useful to see the headers and status properties of the response object.

$scope.error variable is used to show an error message if an error has occurred. This variable is referred to by ng-show in our partial view.


Listing Functionality
We have already implemented the create user functionality, now let us do the listing function.

First, create the partial view.
<div>
    <span style="color:red" data-ng-show="error">An error has occured.</span>
</div>
<table>
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Firstname</th>
            <th>Lastname</th>
            <th>Email</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody ng-repeat="user in users">
        <tr>
            <td>{{ user.Firstname }}</td>
            <td>{{ user.Lastname }}</td>
            <td>{{ user.Email }}</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>

Then the Web API method:
// GET api/UserRegistration
public IQueryable<User> GetUsers()
{
  return db.Users;
}

Add our user service with this method:
getAllUsers: function () {
  return $resource('/api/UserRegistration').query();
}
Here we use the $resource service's query() method that will invoke a HTTP GET call.

Then add the following codes in our controller:
$scope.init = function () {
  // Get all users
  userService.getAllUsers().$promise.then(
    //success
    function (data) {
      $scope.users = data;
    },
    //error
    function (response) {
      //console.log(response);
      //console.log(response.status);
      $scope.error = true;
    }
  );
}

In the coming post, we will see the edit and delete functionality.

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Validating Model with Data Annotations in Unit Test

We could use the classes inside System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations to help us in testing model with data annotations.

First, include the assembly in the test project reference libraries.

Then we can use this method of Validator class to do the validation, along with a ValidationContext instance and a collection of ValidationResult type as parameters.
public static bool TryValidateObject(
 Object instance,
 ValidationContext validationContext,
 ICollection<ValidationResult> validationResults,
 bool validateAllProperties
)
We need to pass a validation context instance, a collection to hold the result of each failed validation and a boolean value to indicate whether to validate all properties that are decorated with data annotations or only properties that are decorated with [Required] attribute only. To create a new instance of validation context, we could simply pass the object to be validated into ValidationContext() constructor method:
ValidationContext context = new ValidationContext(object_to_be_validated);

Below is a full example:
List<ValidationResult> validationResults = null;
var itemSellingDto = new ItemSellingDto() { InvoiceId = 0, ItemId = 1, ItemName = "", ItemSellingId = 0, Price = 0, Quantity = 10 };
var validationContext = new ValidationContext(itemSellingDto);

var isValid = Validator.TryValidateObject(itemSellingDto, validationContext, validationResults, validateAllProperties: true);

isValid.should_be(false);
validationResults.Any(vr => vr.ErrorMessage == "Price must be bigger than 0").should_be(true);


Saturday, 1 March 2014

TransactionScope and SaveChanges in Entity Framework

TransactionScope class in .Net is great but if not used properly can cause table locks for long time and suffer application performance.

When using it with Entity Framework, only use TransactionScope when operation cannot be done within one SaveChanges() method or involves more than one data context.

Let's see the following codes. Imagine for some reasons, two data contexts are used.
using (var scope = new TransactionScope(TransactionScopeOption.Required))
{
    // some codes that do not involve database

    // some queries
	var student = contextOne.Students.Where( . . . );
	var schoolList = contextTwo.Schools;
	
	// more queries and validations
	//		check if student is allowed to move out ...
	//		check if student is allowed to move in ...
	
	// update student
	student.School = newSchool;
	
	// update some data in school context
	. . .
	
	
	contextOne.SaveChanges();
	contextTwo.SaveChanges();
	
    scope.Complete();
}
When we check SQL Profiler with tracing transactions enabled, we can see that Begin Transaction is executed immediately before the first database related operation. In this case is before the first data context querying a student (line #6). The transaction is wrapped up after the two data contexts are updated. This is a long time of locking and far beyond the necessary.

To enable tracing transactions, go to 'Events Selection' tab, click 'Show all events' then scroll to almost the end, expand 'Transactions' and tick the ones starting with 'TM: ...'

What should have been done is like the following:
    // some codes that do not involve database

    // some queries
	var student = contextOne.Students.Where( . . . );
	var schoolList = contextTwo.Schools;
	
	// more queries and validations
	//		check if student is allowed to move out ...
	//		check if student is allowed to move in ...
	
	// update student
	student.School = newSchool;
	
	// update some data in school context
	. . .
	

    using (var scope = new TransactionScope(TransactionScopeOption.Required))
    {	
	    contextOne.SaveChanges();
	    contextTwo.SaveChanges();
	
        scope.Complete();
    }
You can add try catch as well around the codes and discard the changes when there is an error.


Secondly, if there is only one data context needs to be updated, TransactionScope is not needed. Calling SaveChanges() method alone is enough and will create a transaction in database and execute any changes that have been made to the objects within the context.


For more information about TransactionScope, please see my previous article.

Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Routing in AngularJs

On this post we will see the basic of how to create Single Page Application with AngularJs.

First we need to add reference to AngularJs routing library.
<script src="Scripts/angular.min.js"></script>
<script src="Scripts/angular-route.min.js"></script>

Then we add dependency to ngRoute module in our application module.
var myApp = angular.module('myApp', ['ngRoute']);

Next, use $routeProvider service that will be available after we include the new module to configure the routes that we have. The basic syntax is as follow:
$routeProvider.when('desired_path'), {
    templateUrl: 'location_of_the_partial_view_file',
    controller: 'controller_name_for_this_partial_view'
}
The path can contain route parameter(s) which is specified with colon (:) and could end with a star (*). Also we could have an optional parameter with a question mark (?). For more information, please see $routeProvider documentation.

Below is an example of a routes configuration:
myApp.config(['$routeProvider', function ($routeProvider) {
    $routeProvider
    .when('/pageOne', {
        templateUrl: 'partials/page-one.html',
        controller: 'PageOneCtrl'
    })
    .when('/pageTwo', {
        templateUrl: 'partials/page-two.html',
        controller: 'PageTwoCtrl'
    })
    .otherwise({
        redirectTo: '/'
    });
} ]);

Finally we use ng-view directive to apply the configuration in our main view. For example:
<div data-ng-view></div>

Below is an example of the complete main view:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" data-ng-app="myApp">
<head>
    <title></title>
    <script src="http://code.angularjs.org/1.2.9/angular.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <script src="http://code.angularjs.org/1.2.9/angular-route.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <script src="Scripts/app.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <script src="Scripts/Home/page-one-controller.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <script src="Scripts/Home/page-two-controller.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <a href="#">Home</a> | <a href="#pageOne">Page One</a> | <a href="#pageTwo">Page Two</a>
    <div data-ng-view></div>
</body>
</html>

If we want to use HTML5 url mode that is supported by recent browsers, on myApp.config(...) method add a dependency to $locationProvider service then add this line inside the method:
$locationProvider.html5Mode(true)

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

Example of Using SQL Script Directly in Entity Framework

Below is a code example of how to use direct SQL script command and normal entity operation in Entity Framework 5. TransactionScope is used to cover the operations to do all if both are successful or nothing at all:

using (var scope = new TransactionScope(TransactionScopeOption.Required))
{
                context.ExecuteStoreCommand("UPDATE Class Set Number = 20");
                context.Student.Add(new Student{ StudentId = 1, Firstname = "first", Lastname = "last" });
                context.SaveChanges();
                scope.Complete();
}

Friday, 7 February 2014

Getting Started with AngularJS

On this post we will see a simple example of an AngularJS application.

First we need to reference the library on our application. We could copy the files into our project or use the Angular CDN http://code.angularjs.org/

Then create a module. Using module is not required but it is useful to have better code organisation and for reusability.
angular.module('myApp', []);
The square brackets on the second argument is for specifying any dependencies required. At the moment we don't have any.

Next create a controller:
angular.module('myApp').controller('GreetingCtrl', ['$scope', function ($scope) {
    $scope.greeting = 'Hola!';

    $scope.echoThis = function (value) {
        var processedWord = "";
        if (value) {
            processedWord = 'Echo ' + value;
        }
        return processedWord;
    };

    $scope.print = function (value) {
        $scope.result = $scope.word + value + " is printed";
    };
} ]);
Note that we use angular.module('myApp') to retrieve our module that we have created. If we have used angular.module('myApp',[]) instead, this would have recreated 'myApp' module again thus overwrited the previous module declaration. Use angular.module('myApp').controller() to define a controller inside a module.

We have also used an inline dependency injection to provide $scope service to the controller. To inject one or more components using inline annotation, we just need to put square brackets around the function, specify the components before the function and put the referred components in the same order in the function's arguments. For example:
['dep1', 'dep2', 'depN', function(dep1, renamedDep2, depN){ ... }]
Note also that the argument names can be different than the specified component names as long as they have the same order. $scope is a built-in Angular service that in simple term can be said similar to a global container object that has properties and/or functional properties (have methods attached). $scope properties will be available on the views. Line 1 shows a normal property while line 4 and 12 show functional properties.

Then we create our view:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" data-ng-app="myApp">
<head>
    <title></title>
    <script src="http://code.angularjs.org/1.2.9/angular.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <script src="Scripts/app.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <script src="Scripts/Home/greeting-controller.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <span>{{ "Hello" + " World"}}</span>
    <div data-ng-controller="GreetingCtrl">
        {{ greeting }}
        <br /><br />
        <input data-ng-model="word" /> {{ echoThis(word) }}
        <br />
        <br />
        <button data-ng-click="print(' some text ')">Print</button>
        {{ result }}
    </div>
</body>
</html>
We have some attributes (which they called directives) in our view; ng-app is used to bootstrap AngularJs and the value is used to specify the root module to be used in the view, ng-controller to specify which controller to use for that particular section of the view, ng-model to bind input value and ng-click to execute a function when the element is clicked.

If you notice I have put the first code snippet on this post (for creating the application module) inside app.js file and the controller codes inside greeting-controller.js file.


Further reading:
Code Organization in Large AngularJS and JavaScript Applications
AngularJS Dependency Injection

Friday, 17 January 2014

Checking Debug Mode on an MVC View

To check whether our project is in debug/release mode on a particular view, we would not be able to use #if DEBUG #endif on our view because a view is not compiled. To do this, we need to run the logic from the back end. Below is an example of an extension method to check that:
public static bool IsDebug(this HtmlHelper htmlHelper)
{
  #if DEBUG
  return true;
  #else
  return false;
  #endif                  
}

Then on our view, we could call the method:
@if (Html.IsDebug())
{
  @Html.Raw("<span style='color: red'>DEBUGGING MODE IS ON</span>");
}

Friday, 10 January 2014

Some Notes about TransactionScope in .NET

Basic usage of TransactionScope is as follow:
using (var scope = new TransactionScope())
{
    // some codes here . . .

    scope.Complete();
} 

By default, the isolation level used is Serializable and timeout is 1 minute.

According to this post on MSDN Blogs, the default isolation level is likely to introduce deadlock issues. The recommended isolation level is Read Committed.

If our codes are using more than one database (distributed transaction) then they will be much slower compare to only using one database (local transaction).

The maximum timeout of TransactionScope when setting this up via code (Timeout property) is 10 minutes. If we set the property to have a value larger than this, it would fall back to 10 minutes. If we want longer timeout value, we will need to set this in machine.config file. However that will affect other applications on the server.

Below is how to set isolation level and timeout in codes:
var transactionOptions = new TransactionOptions();
transactionOptions.IsolationLevel = IsolationLevel.ReadCommitted;
transactionOptions.Timeout = TransactionManager.MaximumTimeout;
var transactionScope = new TransactionScope(TransactionScopeOption.Required, transactionOptions);

If we want to change the timeout in machine.config:
<system.transactions>
   <machineSettings maxTimeout="00:30:00" />
</system.transactions>

When using SQL server, we also need to concern about the timeout of running query/command or stored procedure. The default timeout is 30 seconds. We can extend the timeout by setting CommandTimeout property.

Tuesday, 24 December 2013

Enabling Automatic Code First Migration

This post is describing how to set automatic Entity Framework Code Fist migration, for the manual migration please see my previous post.

Automatic Code First migration feature is useful during development phase when database has not gone into production environment yet.

If you haven't got an EF migration Configuration.cs file then you can run this command on Package Manager Console:
Enable-Migrations –EnableAutomaticMigrations
This will add a folder called 'Migrations' in the project and a file called Configuration.cs with this setting in the constructor method:
AutomaticMigrationsEnabled = true;

If you have already got the file, make sure that AutomaticMigrationsEnabled property setting is set to true in the constructor.

Secondly, ensure that MigrateDatabaseToLatestVersion initialisation option is set on the project startup file (for example; inside global.asax)
Database.SetInitializer(new MigrateDatabaseToLatestVersion<DatabaseContext, Configuration>());
DatabaseContext: your database context class name
Configuration: this is the Configuration file discussed earlier. You would need to make the class to be public if you put the initialiser inside other project.

Also if we want the automatic migration to allow data loss (for example; allowing column to be removed) then AutomaticMigrationDataLossAllowed property would need to be set to true.

So the constructor will have these settings:
public Configuration()
{
    AutomaticMigrationsEnabled = true;
    AutomaticMigrationDataLossAllowed = true;
}

Monday, 23 December 2013

Code First Migration

Let say we are using Entity Framework Code First for our project and have a class below:
public class Student
{
   public int StudentId { get; set; }
   public string Name { get; set; }
}
When we use the database context for the first time, the database will be created with a table called __MigrationHistory.

The table has one record initially.

To enable the migration feature, type enable-migrations on Package Manager Console. Some messages will be displayed when the command has finished running.
PM> enable-migrations
Checking if the context targets an existing database...
Detected database created with a database initializer. Scaffolded migration '201312050353336_InitialCreate' corresponding to existing database. To use an automatic migration instead, delete the Migrations folder and re-run Enable-Migrations specifying the -EnableAutomaticMigrations parameter.
Code First Migrations enabled for project CodeFirstMigrationTest.
A folder called 'Migrations' with two files are created.

[timestamp]_InitialCreate.cs is created because the database has already exists when the first time we access the database context. If the database was still empty then only Configuration.cs file would be added.

There are two main commands for the migration feature:
- add-migration - add migration codes in the code layer (under 'Migrations' folder)
- update-database - update the database according to the migration codes written in the code layer

Now let's try to change our model to add a new property:
. . .
public DateTime DOB { get; set; }
. . .
Then run add-migration command to add the change:
PM> add-migration addDOB
Scaffolding migration 'addDOB'.
The Designer Code for this migration file includes a snapshot of your current Code First model. This snapshot is used to calculate the changes to your model when you scaffold the next migration. If you make additional changes to your model that you want to include in this migration, then you can re-scaffold it by running 'Add-Migration addDOB' again.
[timestamp]_addDOB.cs file is created.


Now try update-database command to apply the changes to the database:
PM> update-database
Specify the '-Verbose' flag to view the SQL statements being applied to the target database.
Applying explicit migrations: [201312081946270_addDOB].
Applying explicit migration: 201312081946270_addDOB.
Running Seed method.

Then check __MigrationHistory table again. As we can see, a new record is created in the table with Id value the same as the name of the newly generated file.


If necessary, we could customise the codes in the file generated by the add-migration command.

update-database command also has a few parameters that could be useful. We will see briefly TargetMigration, SourceMigration and Script parameters.

To upgrade/downgrade the database to a specific state, use -TargetMigration parameter. For example:
Update-Database –TargetMigration: addDOB
To roll back to empty database, use $InitialDatabase:
Update-Database –TargetMigration: $InitialDatabase

To get the changes in script only without applying those to database, use -Script parameter:
Update-Database -Script -SourceMigration: [initialState] -TargetMigration: [targetState]
If -SourceMigration is not specified then it will use the current database state. If -TargetMigration is not specified then the latest state will be assumed. For example, the command below will generate all migration scripts from empty database up to the addDOB migration state.
Update-Database -Script -SourceMigration: $InitialDatabase -TargetMigration: addDOB

Starting from EF6, we could use the generated scripts to update from any previous state to the one specified as the target. The scripts have logic to check the states based on entries in __MigrationsHistory table.


Reference:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/jj591621.aspx

Friday, 22 November 2013

Using Text Description in Enumeration Type

If we would like to have text description for an enum, we could use Description attribute like below:
public enum MyEnum
{
 [Description("Value One")]
 One,

 [Description("Second Value")]
 Two
};

Then to get the description text we could use something like the codes below. Usually we would put this in a helper class.
public static string GetEnumDescription(Enum value)
{
 FieldInfo fi = value.GetType().GetField(value.ToString());

 DescriptionAttribute[] attributes =
  (DescriptionAttribute[])fi.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DescriptionAttribute), false);

 if (attributes != null && attributes.Length > 0)
  return attributes[0].Description;
 else
  return value.ToString();
}

Finally the usage:
Helper.GetEnumDescription(MyEnum.Two);


Reference:
http://blog.spontaneouspublicity.com/associating-strings-with-enums-in-c

Friday, 15 November 2013

Using Editor Template for Rendering DropDownList

Below is an example of how to have a dropdownlist when editing a model that has an integer type property used for foreign key property. I.e.; I have a model that has this property:
int ItemId { get; set; }
Then I want every time an instance of this model type is being edited, the field is shown as a dropdownlist. To do this, inside 'EditorTemplates' folder under the global 'Views\Shared' or a view's specific folder, I create a partial view named 'Item.cshtml' like below:
@Html.DropDownListFor(model => ViewData.TemplateInfo.FormattedModelValue, ((IEnumerable<Model.Item>)ViewBag.Items).Select(option => new SelectListItem {
                Text = option.Type.Name, 
                Value = option.ItemId.ToString(),
                Selected = (Model != null) && (option.ItemId == (int)ViewData.TemplateInfo.FormattedModelValue)
            }), "Please select")
Note that, I use ViewData.TemplateInfo.FormattedModelValue to get the value. I could also write like this by declaring the model to use:
@model int

@Html.DropDownListFor(model => model, ((IEnumerable<Model.Item>)ViewBag.Items).Select(option => new SelectListItem {
                Text = option.Type.Name, 
                Value = option.ItemId.ToString(),
                Selected = option.ItemId == Model
            }), "Please select")
Then to render the custom template on my edit view page, I do:
@Html.EditorFor(model => model.ItemId, "Item")

For more details about Editor Template or Display Template, you could see my previous post.

Friday, 25 October 2013

Inline SelectList for MVC DropDownList

Below are examples of how to write predefined SelectList items of a DropDownList inline in ASP.NET MVC view.
@Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.IsExist,
         new SelectList(new List<Tuple<bool, string>>
         {
           new Tuple<bool, string>(false, "No"),                    
           new Tuple<bool, string>(true, "Yes"),                    
         }, "Item1", "Item2"))
@Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.IsExist,
         new SelectList(new []
         {
           new {ID=false, Name="No"},
           new {ID=true, Name="Yes"},
         }, "ID", "Name"))

Friday, 18 October 2013

Arranging Extension Methods

I like to arrange my extension methods in categories based on the functionalities and also to design them to be easily tested (mocked) as described on this post.

That way the methods are grouped nicely and also displayed neatly when showed by intellisense. Below is an example of how I do that:
public interface ICategoryOne
{
 string MethodOne();
 int MethodTwo();
 int MethodThree(string value);
}

internal class RealCategoryOne : ICategoryOne
{
 private StringBuilder sb;

 public RealCategoryOne(StringBuilder sb)
 {
  this.sb = sb;
 }

 public string MethodOne()
 {
  return "method one";
 }

 public int MethodTwo()
 {
  return sb.GetHashCode();
 }

 public int MethodThree(string value)
 {
  return value.Count();
 }
}

public static class MyExtensionMethods
{
 public static Func<StringBuilder, ICategoryOne> CategoryOneFactory = sb => new RealCategoryOne(sb);

 public static ICategoryOne CategoryOne(this StringBuilder sb)
 {
  return CategoryOneFactory(sb);
 }
}  

With intellisense, the methods will be shown like:



Then to test these extension methods with Moq:
Mock<ICategoryOne> categoryOne = new Mock<ICategoryOne>();
categoryOne.Setup(c => c.MethodOne()).Returns("Moq method 1");
categoryOne.Setup(c => c.MethodTwo()).Returns(-555);
categoryOne.Setup(c => c.MethodThree(It.IsAny<string>())).Returns(-999);

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

MyExtensionMethods.CategoryOneFactory = prm => categoryOne.Object;

var test = sb.CategoryOne().MethodOne();
Assert.AreEqual(test, "Moq method 1");

Alternatively we can create a fake/dummy class for testing:
public class FakeCategoryOne : ICategoryOne
{
 private StringBuilder sb;

 public FakeCategoryOne(StringBuilder sb)
 {
  this.sb = sb;
 }

 public string MethodOne()
 {
  throw new NotImplementedException();
 }

 public int MethodTwo()
 {
  throw new NotImplementedException();
 }

 public int MethodThree(string value)
 {
  throw new NotImplementedException();
 }
}
Then we change the factory above as:
MyExtensionMethods.CategoryOneFactory = prm => new FakeCategoryOne(prm);


Reference:
http://blogs.clariusconsulting.net/kzu/how-to-mock-extension-methods/

Friday, 27 September 2013

Data Annotations Attributes for Formatting Purpose

There are many attributes that we can use from System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations. A few of them have just been added in the latest framework. Some of those are useful for validation and others for formatting purpose. On this post, I'd like to particularly focus on the attributes that can be used for formatting/displaying data.

However, first I will list down the ones that are useful for validation:
- Compare
- CustomValidation (this is different from creating custom validation class that derives from ValidationAttribute class)
- EmailAddress
- FileExtensions
- MaxLength
- MinLength
- Phone
- Range
- RegularExpression
- Required
- StringLength
- Url

Then the ones that are useful for formatting are below:
- Display
Specify the property name to be displayed. Also can be used to set the display order of the property. The default value is 10,000.
e.g.;
[Display(Name=”First Name”, Order=11000)]

- ScaffoldColumn
Hide the property to be displayed by EditorForModel and DisplayForModel.
e.g.;
[ScaffoldColumn(false)]

- DisplayFormat
Display the property in specific format in EditorFor or DisplayFor helper. Some options are:
ConvertEmptyStringToNull, NullDisplayText, DataFormatString, ApplyFormatInEditMode and HtmlEncode.
e.g.;
[DisplayFormat(ConvertEmptyStringToNull = true, NullDisplayText = "[Null]")]
ConvertEmptyStringToNull will automatically convert passed empty string into null when binding model.
NullDisplayText is used to specify text to be displayed if the property value is null. By default an empty string will be displayed.
[DisplayFormat(ApplyFormatInEditMode=true, DataFormatString=”{0:c}”)]
ApplyFormatInEditMode by default is false because most of the time the input passed from edit form would not be able to be parsed.

- ReadOnly
Tell model binder to not set the property with a new value. EditorForModel will still enable the input to be edited however the model binder will ignore the value passed.

- DataType
Set the property to be displayed in a more specific data type. Some of the data types are; MultilineText, Password and Url. The complete list of data types and their description can be found here.
e.g.;
[DataType(DataType.Password)]

- UIHint
Used to specify custom template name to be used by EditorFor or DisplayFor helper when rendering the property. This attribute is useful when we want to use a custom template for displaying a property. The template is put under DisplayTemplates or EditorTemplates folder under Shared or a specific controller folder.

For example; if we create a new template for displaying hyperlink in a file called Hyperlink.cshtml:
<a href="@Model" target="_blank">@Model</a>
Then we can add this attribute on property that we want to be rendered using the new template. If we have put the template under Shared folder then this can be applied to any property in the project.
[UIHint("Hyperlink")]

- HiddenInput
Set the property to be rendered as an html hidden element.

Friday, 13 September 2013

Not Supported Database Function in IQueryable Query

One of the simplest ways that we could try to fix errors related to non-translatable function from EF query to its similar database function is to take that function out of the query and put in separate line(s). It might help in some cases.

For example; if we have this error "LINQ to Entities does not recognize the method 'Int64 ToInt64(System.String)' method, and this method cannot be translated into a store expression." because of the code below:
query = query.Where(x => x.StudentId.Value == Convert.ToInt64(number));
then we can try to do as below:
long value = Convert.ToInt64(number);
query = query.Where(x => x.StudentId.Value == value);

Friday, 16 August 2013

Using Display Templates or Editor Templates

DisplayTemplates or EditorTemplates is used for providing custom template for a model property whether it is of a single object type or a collection of an object type. DisplayTemplates or EditorTemplates can be used to automatically render an object type in all views in the application or in all views of a particular controller. It can also only be called when needed.

To use that, first create the template (view) for the object type with this name 'object_type.cshtml' under DisplayTemplates or EditorTemplates folder under Views\Shared or a particular controller's views folder (e.g.; Views\Home). By default the framework will search under a controller views folder first then the Shared folder. If we put the template under Shared folder then it will apply to all views. Whenever a particular object type is rendered using EditorFor or DisplayFor, the framework will use the template.

For example, below is a template for a class object type called ItemViewModel:
@model ItemViewModel

@Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.ItemId)
@Html.DisplayFor(model => model.ItemId)

@Html.DisplayNameFor(model => model.ItemName)
@Html.DisplayFor(model => model.ItemName)

Then render the property with EditorFor or DisplayFor helper method on a view.
EditorFor(model => model.Items)

That's all that we need to do. If the property is a collection of an object type then the template will be rendered multiple times for each item.

If we want the new template to be used only when we call it, then we could name the template using other name other than the object type (e.g.; MyCustomTemplate.cshtml). Then to use it we can specify the template name as the second argument on EditorFor or DisplayFor method
EditorFor(model => model.Items, "MyCustomTemplate")
or by using UIHint attribute on the object property
[UIHint("MyCustomTemplate")]
public IList<ItemViewModel> Items { get; set; }

Friday, 9 August 2013

Passing Dynamic Collection Member Manually through Html.BeginForm Method

Let's say we have a model with a collection type member that is populated dynamically on client side and we want to pass them automatically to controller by using Html.BeginForm(). We can manually add html input elements with some conventions to allow the collection to be passed.
The input element must have:
- id attribute like 'CollectionName_IndexNumber__PropertyName'
- and name attribute like 'CollectionName[IndexNumber].PropertyName'

For example, if we have:
public class InvoiceDto
{
 public int InvoiceId { get; set; }
 public string Name { get; set; }    
 public string Description { get; set; }

 public IList<ItemSellingDto> Items { get; set; }
}

public class ItemSellingDto
{
 public int ItemSellingId { get; set; }
 public int ItemId { get; set; }
 public Int16 Quantity { get; set; }     
 public decimal Price { get; set; }
 public int InvoiceId { get; set; }
}
and we would like to add each collection member (ItemSellingDto) to an html table element inside Html.BeginForm() dinamically using JavaScript (see my previous post to see the example layout), then the script would look like something like:
function addRow(response) {
 var tableRows = $('#tblItemSellings tr');
 var tr;
 tr = $('<tr/>');
 tr.append("<td>" + response.ItemName + "</td>");
 tr.append("<td>" + response.Quantity + "</td>");
 tr.append("<td>" + response.Price + "</td>");

    // the first row is for table headers
 tr.append("<td><input type='hidden' id='Items_" + (tableRows.length - 1) + "__ItemId' name='Items[" + (tableRows.length - 1) + "].ItemId' value='" + response.ItemId + "'/></td>");
 tr.append("<td><input type='hidden' id='Items_" + (tableRows.length - 1) + "__Quantity' name='Items[" + (tableRows.length - 1) + "].Quantity' value='" + response.Quantity + "'/></td>");
 tr.append("<td><input type='hidden' id='Items_" + (tableRows.length - 1) + "__Price' name='Items[" + (tableRows.length - 1) + "].Price' value='" + response.Price + "'/></td>");

 $('#tblItemSellings').append(tr);
}