Develop Reference

Unity Extending Dependency Injection Containers

I'm working on a project which currently uses the Service Locator Anti-Pattern all over the code. I'm starting the process to slowly convert everything to using dependency injection, however because of the sheer size of the project I'd like to do this over the course of time.
I'm have a custom factory with 100's of dependencies registered with custom implementations. So I'd like to just wrap my container with unity, if my current container doesn't have the implementation then fall back to use unitys.
I've written this class to wrap IUnityContainer
public class GlobalFactoryUnityWrapper : IUnityContainer
{
IUnityContainer _unityContainer = new UnityContainer();
IUnityContainer _parent;
public GlobalFactoryUnityWrapper(IUnityContainer parent = null)
{
this._parent = parent ?? this._unityContainer.Parent;
}
public IUnityContainer Parent => this._parent;
//... Other IUnityContainer members
public object Resolve(Type type, string name, params ResolverOverride[] resolverOverrides)
{
if(GlobalContext.InstanceFactory.CanGetInstance(type))
{
return GlobalContext.InstanceFactory.GetInstance(type);
}
return this._unityContainer.Resolve(type, name, resolverOverrides);
}
}
I have most of the dependencies register for my controller there, However the controllers themselves are not, So it falls back to use unity's container.
Edit
I think I'm using the wrong thing, I should be using a strategy. my main goal is if the container doesn't contain an implementation, Fall back to use a what's registered in the old container

I needed to create a fallback strategy, this probably isn't the most optimal code but it's working for now
public class FactoryFallbackExtension : UnityContainerExtension
{
public FactoryFallbackExtension()
{
}
protected override void Initialize()
{
var strategy = new FallBackStrategy(Context);
Context.Strategies.Add(strategy, UnityBuildStage.PreCreation);
}
}
public class FallBackStrategy : BuilderStrategy
{
private ExtensionContext baseContext;
public FallBackStrategy(ExtensionContext baseContext)
{
this.baseContext = baseContext;
}
public override void PreBuildUp(IBuilderContext context)
{
var key = context.OriginalBuildKey;
if (key.Type.IsInterface)
{
if(GlobalContext.InstanceFactory.CanGetInstance(key.Type))
context.Existing = GlobalContext.InstanceFactory.GetInstance(key.Type);
}
}
}
Then When I configure my container I can just add the Container extension like so:
public static void Configure()
{
var container = new UnityContainer();
RegisterDepedencies(container);
container.AddExtension(new FactoryFallbackExtension());
GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.DependencyResolver = new UnityDependencyResolver(container);
SetControllerFactory(container);
}

Dependency Injection Container - How to keep available to

When creating an application with Dependency Injection and it utilizes a framework for Dependency Injection such as Unity (or Ninject).
How do you initialize registering the interfaces to the container at the beginning all together and keep them available for the application to use throughout its running lifecycle of the application?
Do you need to pass the DI Container to each method that may utilize dependency injection, or is there some way to make the container globally accessible so that you can register them all together in the beginning and access them throughout running the application without having to continually pass them, and be able to utilize them when ever needed?
Environment: Visual Studio 2015, C#, Microsoft Unity (for DI Container)
Example Code
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Make Unity resolve the interface, providing an instance
// of TrivialPursuit class
var diContainer = new UnityContainer();
diContainer.RegisterType<IGame, TrivialPursuit>();
var gameInstance = diContainer.Resolve<IGame>();
var xotherClass = new AnotherClass();
xotherClass.TestOtherClassOtherMethod();
}
------ Another class without context of the Dependency Injection Class ------
public void TestOtherClassOtherMethod()
{
IGame gameInstance = -- -Container is Not available to resolve from in this class ---
}
Reason: I don't want to need to pass every possible type that I may need later on to each class I load up, I will just want to use the instances when I need them. The more deeper I get into classes, later as the application becomes more complex, I won't want to pass down instances for each type up from the Main() method to each class.

A Dependency Injection (DI) container is just that. A framework for facilitating DI. You don't pass the container around in order to resolve instances of objects. You just request the type you need in your classes constructor and the DI framework will inject the appropriate dependency.
Mark Seemann has written a good book on dependency injection that I would recommend.
You register everything that'll need to be resolved with the container in the composition root. That is to say when your program starts up is when everything should be registered.
Let's say we have the following code:
public class MyClass
{
public Run()
{
var dependency = new Dependency1();
dependency.DoSomething();
}
}
public class Dependency1
{
public void DoSomething()
{
var dependency = new Dependency2();
dependeny.DoSomethingElse();
}
}
public class Dependency2
{
public void DoSomethingElse()
{
}
}
This gives us the above dependency chain: MyClass -> Dependency1 -> Dependency2.
The first thing we should do is refactor the classes to take their dependencies through their constructor and rely on interfaces rather than concretions. We can't inject dependencies unless there is a place to inject them (constructor, property, etc).
Here is the refactored code:
public interface IMyClass
{
void Run();
}
public interface IDependency1
{
void DoSomething();
}
public interface IDependency2
{
void DoSomethingElse();
}
public class MyClass : IMyClass
{
public readonly IDependency1 dep;
public MyClass(IDependency1 dep)
{
this.dep = dep;
}
public void Run()
{
this.dep.DoSomething();
}
}
public class Dependency1 : IDependency1
{
public readonly IDependency2 dep;
public MyClass(IDependency2 dep)
{
this.dep = dep;
}
public void DoSomething()
{
this.dep.DoSomethingElse();
}
}
public class Dependency2 : IDependency2
{
public void DoSomethingElse()
{
}
}
You'll notice the classes now all take their dependencies through their constructors and do not new up anything. Classes should only take in dependencies that they actually need. For example, MyClass does not NEED a Dependency2 so it doesn't ask for one. It only asks for a Dependency1 because that's all it needs. Dependency1 NEEDS Dependency2, not MyClass.
Now to wire it all up WITHOUT a container we would just new it all up in the composition root:
void Main()
{
var myClass = new MyClass(new Dependency1(new Dependency2()));
}
You can see how that could get cumbersom if we had tons of classes and depdencies. That's why we use a container. It handles all the depdency graph for us. With a container we'd rewrite it as follows:
void Main()
{
// the order of our registration does not matter.
var container = new Container();
container.Register<IDependency1>.For<Dependency1>();
container.Register<IDependency2>.For<Dependency2>();
container.Register<IMyClass>.For<MyClass>();
// then we request our first object like in the first example (MyClass);
var myClass = container.Resolve<IMyClass>();
myClass.Run();
}
In the second example the container will handle wiring up all the dependencies. So we never need to pass Depedency2 to MyClass and then to Depedency1. We only need to request it in Dependency1 and the container will wire it up for us like in the first example.
So in your example we would rewrite it like so:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var game = new UnityContainer();
game.RegisterType<IGame, TrivialPursuit>();
game.RegisterType<IAnotherClass, AnotherClass>();
game.RegisterType<IYetAnotherClass, YetAnotherClass>();
var gameInstance = game.Resolve<IGame>();
// you'll need to perform some action on gameInstance now, like gameInstance.RunGame() or whatever.
}
public class Game : IGame
{
public Game(IAnotherClass anotherClass)
{
}
}
public class AnotherClass : IAnotherClass
{
public AnotherClass(IYetAnotherClass yetAnotherClass)
{
}
}
public class YetAnotherClass : IYetAnotherClass {}
In these cases there is no need to pass the container around. You register your dependencies with the container then request them in your classes constructors. If you wish to use the container in the class WITHOUT requesting it through the constructor then you are not doing DI you are just using the container as a singleton service locator. Something that should generally be avoided.
Container as a Service Locator
This should be generally avoided but if you want to use the container as a service locator you have two options:
1) Pass the container into your classes that need it through the constructor.
You can use the above examples for wiring your classes up for DI. But instead of requesting a dependency like IDependency in the constructor you just pass the container.
public class Game : IGame
{
public Game(IContainer container)
{
var blah = container.Resolve<IBlah>();
}
}
2) Request your container through a static class:
public static class ServiceLocator
{
private static IContainer container;
public static IContainer Container
{
get
{
if (container == null)
{
container = new Container();
}
return container;
}
}
}
Register everything as normal in your composition root using the ServiceLocator class. Then to use:
public class MyClass
{
public void DoSomething()
{
var blah = ServiceLocator.Container.Resolve<IBlah>();
}
}

How to construct objects with an IOC container

I believe I understand enough about dependency injection to get started with it, but I'm having trouble understanding IOC containers vs service location, and how to construct my objects utilizing the container.
Given:
public interface IFooService
{
void DoSomethingFooey();
}
public class FooService : IFooService
{
readonly IBarService _barService;
public FooService(IBarService barService)
{
this._barService = barService;
}
public void DoSomethingFooey()
{
// some stuff
_barService.DoSomethingBarey();
}
}
public interface IBarService
{
void DoSomethingBarey();
}
public class BarService : IBarService
{
readonly IBazService _bazService;
public BarService(IBazService bazService)
{
this._bazService = bazService;
}
public void DoSomethingBarey()
{
// Some more stuff before doing ->
_bazService.DoSomethingBazey();
}
}
public interface IBazService
{
void DoSomethingBazey();
}
public class BazService : IBazService
{
public void DoSomethingBazey()
{
Console.WriteLine("Blah blah");
}
}
Without an IOC container I would have to provide all of my dependencies at construction like so:
public void DoStuff()
{
// Without a container, I would have to do something yucky like:
FooService fs = new FooService(
new BarService(
new BazService()
)
);
// or
BazService bazService = new BazService();
BarService barService = new BarService(bazService);
FooService fooService = new FooService(barService);
}
I am gaining seemingly a lot by constructing my classes in this DI manner, because I can now independently test my classes, when before using DI I really couldn't.
But with what I'm reading about the "proper way" of doing DI, I would use an IOC container like Unity or StructureMap... but I haven't found exactly what I need to understand how to get started.
I'm going to assume my container would look something like this:
var container = new Container(_ =>
{
_.For<IFooService>().Use<FooService>();
_.For<IBarService>().Use<BarService>();
_.For<IBazService>().Use<BazService>();
});
That was taken from the example at: http://structuremap.github.io/quickstart/
Based on the above example, I'm unsure of what the signature of the method containing var container... looks like, or how it is called and kept within scope. And perhaps more importantly how to actually construct the object utilizing the container.
What does my DoStuff() look like now if I wanted to create an instance of FooService (and in turn BarService and BazSerivce)?
Previously it was:
public void DoStuff()
{
// Without a container, I would have to do something yucky like:
FooService fs = new FooService(
new BarService(
new BazService()
)
);
// or...
}
But what does it look like now utilizing my container? And how does my method know where to look for my container?
Hopefully I'm somewhat on the right track, but please let me know if I'm not, and what I'm missing.

Your DoStuff method revised to use the container would look something like this:
public void DoStuff()
{
IFooService fooService = container.GetInstance<IFooService>();
// do something with fooService
}
I'm basing this off of the StructureMap link that you referenced. Other IoC containers name their equivalent "GetInstance" method differently.
You wouldn't normally create your container within the same method where you're trying to obtain an instance of IFooService though. Typically, you'd configure your container elsewhere in some initialization method and keep the container somewhere that you can access easily, such as in a static property. So, your DoStuff method might look more like this:
public void DoStuff()
{
IFooService fooService = MyIoCContainer.Current.Getinstance<IFooService>();
// do something with fooService
}
where MyIoCContainer is just a class that you've defined, and its Current property is the StructureMap container that you configured during initialization.
However, you're not always required to write code like this in order to obtain your services. Some frameworks provide hooks to make use of your IoC container so that you continue to use dependency injection all the way through your classes, and the framework takes care of instantiating your classes using your IoC container.
Just one example, the ASP.NET MVC framework provides an IDependencyResolver interface and DependencyResolver class that you can use to allow that framework to use your IoC container when instantiating your controller classes in your web application. That way, you can continue to use dependency injection all the way up into your controllers and therefore don't need to explicitly reference your IoC container within your controllers at all. See this section on "Including a Custom Dependency Resolver" for how that is accomplished.
So, ideally your DoStuff method and its containing class would look something like this, which is just a further continuation of dependency injection. The question then is how this MyStuffDoer class gets instantiated: either by a framework that understands how to use your IoC container to create it, or by you writing some explicit code somewhere to instantiate it from the IoC container.
class MyStuffDoer
{
IFooService fooService;
public MyStuffDoer(IFooService fooService)
{
this.fooService = fooService;
}
public void DoStuff()
{
// do something with fooService
}
}

I usually do this to keep DI and avoid drawbacks of IOC containers:
public interface IFooService
{
void DoSomethingFooey();
}
public class FooService : IFooService
{
readonly IBarService _barService;
public FooService() : this(new BarService()) {}
public FooService(IBarService barService)
{
this._barService = barService;
}
public void DoSomethingFooey()
{
// some stuff
_barService.DoSomethingBarey();
}
}
public interface IBarService
{
void DoSomethingBarey();
}
public class BarService : IBarService
{
readonly IBazService _bazService;
public BarService() : this(new BazService()) {}
public BarService(IBazService bazService)
{
this._bazService = bazService;
}
public void DoSomethingBarey()
{
// Some more stuff before doing ->
_bazService.DoSomethingBazey();
}
}
public interface IBazService
{
void DoSomethingBazey();
}
public class BazService : IBazService
{
public void DoSomethingBazey()
{
Console.WriteLine("Blah blah");
}
}

Dependency Injection in WebAPI with Castle Windsor

I want to implement Dependency Injection in WebApi application using Castle Windsor. I have following sample code -
Interface -
public interface IWatch
{
{
DateTime GetTime();
}
}
Following Watch class implements IWatch Interface -
public class Watch:IWatch
{
public DateTime GetTime()
{
return DateTime.Now;
}
}
WebApi Controller - WatchController as below -
public class WatchController : ApiController
{
private readonly IWatch _watch;
public WatchController()
{
_watch = new Watch();
}
//http://localhost:48036/api/Watch
public string Get()
{
var message = string.Format("The current time on the server is: {0}", _watch.GetTime());
return message;
}
}
Currently I am initiating IWatch object with Watch in WatchController constructor. I want to remove dependency of initializing IWatch inside constructor using Windsor Castle dependency injection principle.
Can anybody provide me the steps to implement dependency injection in this case of WebApi? Thanks in advance!

CodeCaster, Noctis and Cristiano thank you for all your help and guidance..
I just got the solution for my above query -
The first step is to use nuget to install the Windsor.Castle packages in the WebApi solution.
Consider the following code snippet -
Interface IWatch.cs
public interface IWatch
{
DateTime GetTime();
}
Class Watch.cs
public class Watch:IWatch
{
public DateTime GetTime()
{
return DateTime.Now;
}
}
The ApiController WatchController.cs is defined as follows: -
public class WatchController : ApiController
{
private readonly IWatch _watch;
public WatchController(IWatch watch)
{
_watch = watch;
}
public string Get()
{
var message = string.Format("The current time on the server is: {0}", _watch.GetTime());
return message;
}
}
In the controller we have injected the dependency through IWatch object in the WatchController constructor. I have used IDependencyResolver and IDependencyScope to achieve dependency injection in web api.
The IDependencyResolver interface is used to resolve everything outside a request scope.
WindsorDependencyResolver.cs
internal sealed class WindsorDependencyResolver : IDependencyResolver
{
private readonly IWindsorContainer _container;
public WindsorDependencyResolver(IWindsorContainer container)
{
if (container == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("container");
}
_container = container;
}
public object GetService(Type t)
{
return _container.Kernel.HasComponent(t) ? _container.Resolve(t) : null;
}
public IEnumerable<object> GetServices(Type t)
{
return _container.ResolveAll(t).Cast<object>().ToArray();
}
public IDependencyScope BeginScope()
{
return new WindsorDependencyScope(_container);
}
public void Dispose()
{
}
}
WindsorDependencyScope.cs
internal sealed class WindsorDependencyScope : IDependencyScope
{
private readonly IWindsorContainer _container;
private readonly IDisposable _scope;
public WindsorDependencyScope(IWindsorContainer container)
{
if (container == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("container");
}
_container = container;
_scope = container.BeginScope();
}
public object GetService(Type t)
{
return _container.Kernel.HasComponent(t) ? _container.Resolve(t) : null;
}
public IEnumerable<object> GetServices(Type t)
{
return _container.ResolveAll(t).Cast<object>().ToArray();
}
public void Dispose()
{
_scope.Dispose();
}
}
WatchInstaller.cs
Installers are simply types that implement the IWindsorInstaller interface. The interface has a single method called Install. The method gets an instance of the container, which it can then register components with using fluent registration API:
public class WatchInstaller : IWindsorInstaller
{
public void Install(IWindsorContainer container, IConfigurationStore store)
{
//Need to Register controllers explicitly in your container
//Failing to do so Will receive Exception:
//> An error occurred when trying to create //a controller of type
//> 'xxxxController'. Make sure that the controller has a parameterless
//> public constructor.
//Reason::Basically, what happened is that you didn't register your controllers explicitly in your container.
//Windsor tries to resolve unregistered concrete types for you, but because it can't resolve it (caused by an error in your configuration), it return null.
//It is forced to return null, because Web API forces it to do so due to the IDependencyResolver contract.
//Since Windsor returns null, Web API will try to create the controller itself, but since it doesn't have a default constructor it will throw the "Make sure that the controller has a parameterless public constructor" exception.
//This exception message is misleading and doesn't explain the real cause.
container.Register(Classes.FromThisAssembly()
.BasedOn<IHttpController>()
.LifestylePerWebRequest());***
container.Register(
Component.For<IWatch>().ImplementedBy<Watch>()
);
}
}
Finally, we need to replace the default dependency resolver with the Windsor implementation in Global.asax.cs (Application_Start method) and install our dependencies:
private static IWindsorContainer _container;
protected void Application_Start()
{
AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
WebApiConfig.Register(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);
FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles);
ConfigureWindsor(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);
}
public static void ConfigureWindsor(HttpConfiguration configuration)
{
_container = new WindsorContainer();
_container.Install(FromAssembly.This());
_container.Kernel.Resolver.AddSubResolver(new CollectionResolver(_container.Kernel, true));
var dependencyResolver = new WindsorDependencyResolver(_container);
configuration.DependencyResolver = dependencyResolver;
}

Read Mark Seemann post about windsor plumbing for webapi.

I didn't work directly with Castle Windsor, but I believe the logic should be similar:
Your WatchController ctor should look like this:
public WatchController(IWatch watch)
{
_watch = watch;
}
And this is where you inject the dependency.
You should have the equivalent to a Locator in which you register your WatchController class, and tell it which watch it should receive depending on whatever you want ... design/runtime , day of the week, random number ... whatever works or whatever you need...
The following code is from MVVM-Light, but should clarify the above paragraph:
static ViewModelLocator()
{
ServiceLocator.SetLocatorProvider(() => SimpleIoc.Default);
// This will run in design mode, so all your VS design data will come from here
if (ViewModelBase.IsInDesignModeStatic)
{
SimpleIoc.Default.Register<IDataService, Design.DesignDataService>();
}
// This will run REAL stuff, in runtime
else
{
SimpleIoc.Default.Register<IDataService, DataService>();
}
// You register your classes, so the framework can do the injection for you
SimpleIoc.Default.Register<MainViewModel>();
...
}

How to Inject daoFactory into NHibernate EventListener

I need to Inject some global service (daoFactory) into EventListenet subscribed on PostUpdate event. I`ve read that it is possible to do this way:
public class YourPostInsertListener : IPostInsertEventListener
{
private readonly IPersistentAuditor auditor;
public YourPostInsertListener(IPersistentAuditor auditor)
{
this.auditor = auditor;
}
public void OnPostInsert(PostInsertEvent #event)
But this code just throws exception: no parameterless constructor was specified for EventListener. And this is understandable behavior, because I haven`t added my service to any container. So how can I specify the IoC contauner in NHibernate?

The IoC that I've been using is Ninject. The best way I found so far is to take advantage of the ServiceLocator provdided by the Microsoft Patterns and Practices guys:
internal class YourPostInsertListener : IPostInsertEventListener
{
IKernel Kernel
{
get
{
return ServiceLocator.Current.GetInstance<IKernel>();
}
}
IPersistentAuditor
{
get
{
return Kernel.Get<IPersistentAuditor>();
}
}
// ... Rest of class
}
In the class that sets up your IoC container you would do this:
ServiceLocator.SetLocatorProvider( () => new NinjectServiceLocator( kernel ) );