I'm having some trouble using AutoMapper to map from a data transfer object to a database entity model. The entity has a few properties that are custom array types, derived from IEnumerable. There's no setter for those properties, but there is a method called SetFromString() that is available. I can't seem to configure my map properly to use it though. Does AutoMapper support this kind of thing? If anyone could point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it.
Below is a boiled-down version of the key classes I'm working with. (The mapping works just fine going from entity to DTO, but I need it to work in the reverse direction as well.)
// The database entity
public class ContactEntity
{
public CustomArray<String> CustomerNumbers { get; }
}
// The data transfer object
public class ContactDto
{
public List<String> CustomerNumbers { get; set; }
}
// CustomArray definition
public abstract class CustomArray<DataType> : IEnumerable<DataType>, IDisposable
{
protected CustomArray();
public abstract void SetFromString(string Value);
}
My mapping profile is still pretty vanilla since I couldn't wrap my head around the proper ForMember syntax.
public class ContactMappingProfile : Profile
{
public ContactMappingProfile()
{
// This map works fine
CreateMap<ContactEntity, ContactDto>();
// Map from DTO to Entity
CreateMap<ContactDto, ContactEntity>()
.ForMember(dest => dest.CustomerNumbers,
opt => opt.ResolveUsing(src => src.CustomerNumbers));
}
}
Thanks again for any help you can provide!
You could use either UseDestinationValue or Ignore for destination entity CustomerNumbers member and perform the actual mapping in AfterMap:
cfg.CreateMap<ContactDto, ContactEntity>()
.ForMember(dest => dest.CustomerNumbers, opt => opt.Ignore())
.AfterMap((src, dest) => dest.CustomerNumbers.SetFromString(string.Join(",", src.CustomerNumbers)));
I have the following classes:
public class Entity
{
public string Name { get; set; }
}
public class SomethingDto
{
public string NameChanged { get; set; }
public void Mapping(Entity something)
{
NameChanged = something.Name;
}
}
I want to use the Mapping Method of the DTO to create the map as the following way:
conf.CreateMap<Entity, SomethingDto>().ForMember(t => t.NameChanged, opt => opt.MapFrom(t => t.Name));
There is a way in AutoMapper to create the maps with custom methods, who works with his projection?
You don't want to do it like that, because that makes the DTO aware of the entity and that would throw out the separation you'd get.
Now in this case, the line ForMember(t => t.NameChanged, opt => opt.MapFrom(t => t.Name)) will work because Name and NameChanged are both of type string. Say you'd like to do something along the lines of mapping identifier of type string with value '20180120-00123456' to two properties on the destination: a DateTime property and a ProductId property. You can do this two ways.
Simple
You would write two mapping functions in the class where you make the mapping and do it along the lines of:
ForMember(t => t.Date, opt => opt.MapFrom(t => RetrieveDate(t.Identifier)))
ForMember(t => t.ProductId, opt => opt.MapFrom(t => RetrieveProductId(t.Identifier)))
Complex
You would make a custom class OrderIdentifier (now I'm assuming the identifier is for an order) with only the Id property as string. Then you'd make two custom type converters, like the article describes.
I use Automapper to map from EF entities to view models.
I now have this entity
public class MenuGroup : IEntity
{
public int MenuGroupId { get; set; }
protected ICollection<MenuGroupItem> _menuGroupItems { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<MenuGroupItem> MenuGroupItems { get { return _menuGroupItems; } }
public void AddMenuItem(MenuGroupItem menuGroupItem)
{
_menuGroupItems.Add(menuGroupItem);
}
}
That is an encapsulated collection, I followed instructions here to make this work: http://lostechies.com/jimmybogard/2014/05/09/missing-ef-feature-workarounds-encapsulated-collections/
So I configure it like so this.HasMany(x => x.MenuGroupItems).WithRequired(x => x.BelongsTo).WillCascadeOnDelete(true);
Now the problem I get is when I try to use automapper to map my MenuGroup into a viewmodel.
I run this code: menuGroup = _context.MenuGroups.Project().To<MenuGroupEditModel>().Single(x => x.UniqueUrlFriendlyName == request.UniqueUrlFriendlyName);
and get this error: The specified type member 'MenuGroupItems' is not supported in LINQ to Entities. Only initializers, entity members, and entity navigation properties are supported.
Now I can work with the collection, it saves correctly to the database and all is well there it's only when i want to user automapper here that it fails.
If I replace the protected ICollection and public IEnumerable with simply: public ICollection<MenuGroupItem> MenuGroupItems { get; set; } it works right away so the problem lies in automapping with my encapsulated collection.
Update: I also tried this menuGroup = _context.MenuGroups.Include(x => x.MenuGroupItems).Where(x => x.UniqueUrlFriendlyName == request.UniqueUrlFriendlyName).Project().ToSingleOrDefault<MenuGroupEditModel>(); with no difference other than that it errored in the ToSingleOrDefault instead.
Your problem is that Automapper can't modify MenuGroupItems because there is no public setter.
Your solution is changing it to this:
public IEnumerable<MenuGroupItem> MenuGroupItems { get; set; }
public void AddMenuItem(MenuGroupItem menuGroupItem)
{
MenuGroupItems.Add(menuGroupItem);
}
After some more debugging I figured out the Config file looking like this
public MenuGroupConfiguration()
{
this.HasMany(x => x.MenuGroupAssigments).WithRequired(x => x.BelongTo).WillCascadeOnDelete(true);
this.HasMany(x => x.MenuGroupItems).WithRequired(x => x.BelongsTo).WillCascadeOnDelete(true);
}
had not been included leading to that error that now makes sense.
I can add as a general tip that if you don't use auto-mapper for a query but still use your encapsulated collection remember that you have to call decompile for it to work.
like so
var menuGroupsWithType =
_context.MenuGroups.Include(x => x.MenuGroupItems).Include(x => x.MenuGroupAssigments).Where(x => x.MenuGroupAssigments.Any(y => y.AssignToAll == selectedStructureType))
.OrderBy(x => x.Name).Decompile().ToList();
I am trying to use AutoMapper 3 to project a class with an Integer property to another class with a String property.
When the query is executed then I get the following exception:
System.NotSupportedException: LINQ to Entities does not recognize the method 'System.String ToString()' method, and this method cannot be translated into a store expression.
Here are the relevant parts of the code:
public partial class Lookup
{
public int LookupId { get; set; }
public int LookupTypeId { get; set; }
public string Value { get; set; }
public int SequencialOrder { get; set; }
public virtual LookupType LookupType { get; set; }
}
public class LookupProfile : Profile
{
protected override void Configure()
{
CreateMap<Lookup, SelectListItem>()
.ForMember(dest => dest.Value, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.LookupId.ToString()))
.ForMember(dest => dest.Text, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Value));
}
}
And the query looks like:
Provinces = _db.Lookups.Project().To<SelectListItem>().ToList()
Question:
Is there a way I could configure the LookupProfile to do the proper mapping and still work inside Linq To Entities?
Or is there another way I could make the projection work with Linq to Entities?
The solution was to use the SqlFunctions.StringConvert function.
Here is the modified profile code that made everything work:
public class LookupProfile : Profile
{
protected override void Configure()
{
CreateMap<Lookup, SelectListItem>()
.ForMember(dest => dest.Value, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => SqlFunctions.StringConvert((double)src.LookupId)))
.ForMember(dest => dest.Text, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Value));
}
}
I'll leave this answer here in case anyone else stumbles upon the same issue I had.
One problem with the current accepted answer is that if you're on an ASP.NET MVC project using client-side validation through helpers, you'll get a validation error for the ID field (if it's a number): The field [field] must be a number. That happens because the result from SqlFunctions.StringConvert returns a string with several leading spaces, so the unobtrusive validator doesn't see it as a number.
The way I solved this issue on my own was to create a generic SelectListItem<T> class that inherits from SelectListItem, hides the original Value property and implements its own Value setter:
public class SelectListItem<T> : SelectListItem
{
public new T Value {
set {
base.Value = value.ToString();
}
// Kind of a hack that I had to add
// otherwise the code won't compile
get {
return default(T);
}
}
}
Then on the Automapper profile I would map the items like so:
public class LookupProfile : Profile
{
protected override void Configure()
{
//Use whatever datatype is appropriate: decimal, int, short, etc
CreateMap<Lookup, SelectListItem<int>>()
.ForMember(dest => dest.Value, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.LookupId))
.ForMember(dest => dest.Text, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.Value));
}
}
And finally on the Service layer, I would map the entities to the generic class and return an IEnumerable<SelectListItem>.
public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> GetList() {
return _db.Lookups.Project().To<SelectListItem<int>>().ToList();
}
This way you'll get the right value for the Value property without trailing spaces.
I have been flattening domain objects into DTOs as shown in the example below:
public class Root
{
public string AParentProperty { get; set; }
public Nested TheNestedClass { get; set; }
}
public class Nested
{
public string ANestedProperty { get; set; }
}
public class Flattened
{
public string AParentProperty { get; set; }
public string ANestedProperty { get; set; }
}
// I put the equivalent of the following in a profile, configured at application start
// as suggested by others:
Mapper.CreateMap<Root, Flattened>()
.ForMember
(
dest => dest.ANestedProperty
, opt => opt.MapFrom(src => src.TheNestedClass.ANestedProperty)
);
// This is in my controller:
Flattened myFlattened = Mapper.Map<Root, Flattened>(myRoot);
I have looked at a number of examples, and so far this seems to be the way to flatten a nested hierarchy. If the child object has a number of properties, however, this approach doesn't save much coding.
I found this example:
http://consultingblogs.emc.com/owainwragg/archive/2010/12/22/automapper-mapping-from-multiple-objects.aspx
but it requires instances of the mapped objects, required by the Map() function, which won't work with a profile as I understand it.
I am new to AutoMapper, so I would like to know if there is a better way to do this.
I much prefer avoiding the older Static methods and do it like this.
Place our mapping definitions into a Profile. We map the Root first, and then apply the mappings of the Nested afterwards. Note the use of the Context.
public class MappingProfile : Profile
{
public MappingProfile()
{
CreateMap<Root, Flattened>()
.AfterMap((src, dest, context) => context.Mapper.Map(src.TheNestedClass, dest));
CreateMap<Nested, Flattened>();
}
}
The advantage of defining both the mapping from Root to Flattened and Nested to Flatterned is that you retain full control over the mapping of the properties, such as if the destination property name is different or you want to apply a transformation etc.
An XUnit test:
[Fact]
public void Mapping_root_to_flattened_should_include_nested_properties()
{
// ARRANGE
var myRoot = new Root
{
AParentProperty = "my AParentProperty",
TheNestedClass = new Nested
{
ANestedProperty = "my ANestedProperty"
}
};
// Manually create the mapper using the Profile
var mapper = new MapperConfiguration(cfg => cfg.AddProfile(new MappingProfile())).CreateMapper();
// ACT
var myFlattened = mapper.Map<Root, Flattened>(myRoot);
// ASSERT
Assert.Equal(myRoot.AParentProperty, myFlattened.AParentProperty);
Assert.Equal(myRoot.TheNestedClass.ANestedProperty, myFlattened.ANestedProperty);
}
By adding AutoMapper's serviceCollection.AddAutoMapper() from the AutoMapper.Extensions.Microsoft.DependencyInjection nuget package to your start up, the Profile will be picked up automatically, and you can simply inject IMapper into wherever you are applying the mapping.
In the latest version of AutoMapper, there's a naming convention you can use to avoid multiple .ForMember statements.
In your example, if you update your Flattened class to be:
public class Flattened
{
public string AParentProperty { get; set; }
public string TheNestedClassANestedProperty { get; set; }
}
You can avoid the use of the ForMember statement:
Mapper.CreateMap<Root, Flattened>();
Automapper will (by convention) map Root.TheNestedClass.ANestedProperty to Flattened.TheNestedClassANestedProperty in this case. It looks less ugly when you're using real class names, honest!
2 more possible solutions:
Mapper.CreateMap<Nested, Flattened>()
.ForMember(s=>s.AParentProperty, o=>o.Ignore());
Mapper.CreateMap<Root, Flattened>()
.ForMember(d => d.ANestedProperty, o => o.MapFrom(s => s.TheNestedClass));
An alternative approach would be the below, but it would not pass the Mapper.AssertConfigurationIsValid().
Mapper.CreateMap<Nested, Flattened>()
//.ForMember map your properties here
Mapper.CreateMap<Root, Flattened>()
//.ForMember... map you properties here
.AfterMap((s, d) => Mapper.Map(s.TheNestedClass, d));
Not sure if this adds value to the previous solutions, but you could do it as a two-step mapping. Be careful to map in correct order if there are naming conflicts between the parent and child (last wins).
Mapper.CreateMap<Root, Flattened>();
Mapper.CreateMap<Nested, Flattened>();
var flattened = new Flattened();
Mapper.Map(root, flattened);
Mapper.Map(root.TheNestedClass, flattened);
To improve upon another answer, specify MemberList.Source for both mappings and set the nested property to be ignored. Validation then passes OK.
Mapper.Initialize(cfg =>
{
cfg.CreateMap<SrcNested, DestFlat>(MemberList.Source);
cfg.CreateMap<SrcRoot, DestFlat>(MemberList.Source)
.ForSourceMember(s => s.Nested, x => x.Ignore())
.AfterMap((s, d) => Mapper.Map(s.Nested, d));
});
Mapper.AssertConfigurationIsValid();
var dest = Mapper.Map<SrcRoot, DestFlat>(src);
I wrote extension method to solve similar problem:
public static IMappingExpression<TSource, TDestination> FlattenNested<TSource, TNestedSource, TDestination>(
this IMappingExpression<TSource, TDestination> expression,
Expression<Func<TSource, TNestedSource>> nestedSelector,
IMappingExpression<TNestedSource, TDestination> nestedMappingExpression)
{
var dstProperties = typeof(TDestination).GetProperties().Select(p => p.Name);
var flattenedMappings = nestedMappingExpression.TypeMap.GetPropertyMaps()
.Where(pm => pm.IsMapped() && !pm.IsIgnored())
.ToDictionary(pm => pm.DestinationProperty.Name,
pm => Expression.Lambda(
Expression.MakeMemberAccess(nestedSelector.Body, pm.SourceMember),
nestedSelector.Parameters[0]));
foreach (var property in dstProperties)
{
if (!flattenedMappings.ContainsKey(property))
continue;
expression.ForMember(property, opt => opt.MapFrom((dynamic)flattenedMappings[property]));
}
return expression;
}
So in your case it can be used like this:
var nestedMap = Mapper.CreateMap<Nested, Flattened>()
.IgnoreAllNonExisting();
Mapper.CreateMap<Root, Flattened>()
.FlattenNested(s => s.TheNestedClass, nestedMap);
IgnoreAllNonExisting() is from here.
Though it's not universal solution it should be enough for simple cases.
So,
You don't need to follow flattening convention in destination's properties
Mapper.AssertConfigurationIsValid() will pass
You can use this method in non-static API (a Profile) as well
I created a simple example using AutoMappers new naming convention rules to map from flattened to nested objects, hope this helps
https://dotnetfiddle.net/i55UFK