WPF, WCF and Code First - Disconnected mode - c#

Some architecture dilemma:
I'm using WPF as my client-side, EF Code First as my Data Access Layer, and WCF to connect between those. My probelm is hou to reupdate the UI after I did some changes to the DB, for example:
User insert new "Person" on the UI (ID=0)
User save the "Person" to the DB (ID=10, for example)
When talking about one user it's very simple - I can return the ID and update my UI as well (so next change to this person will be considered as "Update"), but what about adding more than one user at once, or updating other properties that was calculated on the server? should I return the whole graph? not to mention is very hard to remap it on the client side.
Before CodeFirst we could use STE, but it has it's own problems. anyone knows about known CodeFirst approach?
Would be happy to hear your voice.
Thanks!

You can send as the request to your wcf service the dateTime of your last update in client-side. But in the server-side you take all Persons which was updated/added after that dateTime and return it as the result. In this way you will get only modified/added Persons from your server-side.
So add lastUpdate collumn to your entity Person.
EDIT 1
If you want to server update the information in client but not client ask for news from server.
You can use the way like it works in Web Programming.
(1)The client-side asks server-side - "hey, my last update was at 20:00 10.02.2013", then server looks into DB - "is news after 20:00 10.02.2013?" if yes:
a) returns the news to the client
if no news in DB:
b) He dont returns null, but he does Thread.Sleep(somevalue). He sleeps then repeats the query to db and asks is "there news in db". So it's all repeats untill the news in DB will apear. After news in db appears he return the List<data> which is in updated after the dateTime. After that client gets the data he goes back to the point - (1).
So you dont make a lot of requests to the server but making only one request and wait for the news from the server.
Notice 2 things:
1) If the client waits too long the server side will throw the exception(dont remember actually the error code but it's not important now), so you have to catch this exception on client-side and make a new request to server-side. Also you have to configure on the server-side as long as you can wait time, to minimize the amount of requests from client.
2) You have to run this data-updater in the new thread not in the main, where the application runs.
How it will looks from the code(it may not work, i just want to show you the logic):
Server side:
public List<SomeData> Updater(DateTime clientSideLastUpdate)
{
List<SomeData> news = new List<SomeData>();
while(true)
{
List<SomeData> news = dbContext.SomeData.Where(e=>e.UpdateDateTime > clientSideLastUpdate).ToList();
if(news.Count()>0)
{
return news;
}
}
}
Client-side:
public static void Updater()
{
try
{
var news = someServiceReference.Updater(DateTime clientSideLastUpdate);
RenewDataInForms(news);
Updater();
}
catch(ServerDiesOrWhatElseExcepption)
{
Updater()
}
}
And somewhere in the code you run this updater in the new thread
Thread updaterThread = new Thread(Updater());
updaterThread.Start();
Edit 2
if you want update by one request all entities but not only SomeData then you have to add Dto object which will contain the List of every entities you want to be updatable. The server-side will complete and return this Dto object.
Hope it helps.

Related

Push notification from .NET API to VueJS

This description at the moment is all theory, I don't have any code yet. I was hoping to bounce ideas off people.
I have a VueJS app, let's say a To Do app. It lists all of the things I need to do today. When I complete a To Do, I check a box in my Vue app and Axios fires of an Http Post to a .NET API end point. Let's say that API method has to do several things, like update several databases, execute a few stored procedures, etc. as in it can take a few seconds to complete. My Vue app gets a success response and I can then go on to check the next completed item.
If I have several things I've completed it could take several minutes of my day to check, wait, check and wait. Now I want to check several items or maybe even select all. I want to submit a list of items to the API, let them queue up and process in the background while I go about other business in the app. All the while, a panel in the app displays the items still being processed in the background. As each one completes in the API, a push notification occurs and the UI updates, removing the item from the list.
Does this sound doable? Would I have Vue listening for updates from the API? or would Vue periodically have to poll the API to see what it still has outstanding? What is the preferred way? The goal is to free up the user to keep working rather than watch paint dry.
#Connie, I can tell you from experience that it's really possible, with a few tweaks.
The first thing I'd do, is to add all the logic inside Vuex.
Making it really simple, the steps would be:
1. Create a vuex state called toDos, and I'd assume that each toDo would be an object containing a format such:
toDoModel = {
id: 1,
completed: false
}
API receives only 1 ID for updating
Create a vuex mutation for updating this toDos state:
updateToDo(state, toDoObject) {
const toDoObjectIndexOnState = state.toDos.findIndex(toDo =>
toDo.id == toDoObject.id)
//ToDo not found on state list
if (toDoObjectIndexOnState == -1) {
state.toDos.push(toDoObject)
return
}
state.toDos[toDoObjectIndexOnState] = toDoObject
}
Create a vuex action called updateToDoState, to perform the Axios call and update state:
updateToDoState({commit}, toDoId){
// Call API on Axios, assuming `data` as the key for returning the toDo with updated info
response = axios.post(ENDPOINT, toDoId)
.then({data: toDo} => {
if (!toDo) return
// Call mutation
commit('updateToDo', toDo)
})
Make the call on your main Vue Component to call the updateToDoState action on each checklist click to update toDo state
API can receive multiple IDs for updating
(you have two approaches:
- Have a mutation to change each toDo per time and the action would loop through them all
- Have the action to pass thewhole list and the mutation would take care of updating the store object for each returned Id
Here my examples assume the fist option
Create a vuex mutation for updating this toDos state:
updateToDo(state, toDoObject) {
const toDoObjectIndexOnState = state.toDos.findIndex(toDo =>
toDo.id == toDoObject.id)
//ToDo not found on state list
if (toDoObjectIndexOnState == -1) {
state.toDos.push(toDoObject)
return
}
state.toDos[toDoObjectIndexOnState] = toDoObject
}
Create a vuex action called updateToDosState, to perform the Axios call and update state:
updateToDosState({commit}, toDosIdsList){
// Call API on Axios, assuming `data` as the key for returning the toDo with updated info
response = axios.post(ENDPOINT, toDosIdsList)
.then({data: toDos} => {
if (!toDos) return
// Call mutation
toDos.forEach(toDo => commit('updateToDo', toDo))
})
Make the call on your main Vue Component to call the updateToDoState action for batch updating the toDos state
In case any part of this logic / code is not 100% clear, just let me know and I can update here!

Accessing data stored in HttpContext.Current.Items across threads

I am currently working on a system that makes calls to an external service and caches some of the data in the HttpContext.Current.Items collection for performance. The data can change quite regularly and it is user sensitive which is why we are currently storing it only for the duration of the current HttpRequest.
Example:
if (HttpContext.Current.Items[cacheKey] != null)
{
LogHelper.Debug<ExampleService>("[- CACHED RESULT -] GetUser({0})", () => email);
return (ExampleUser)HttpContext.Current.Items[cacheKey];
}
using (var client = new UserServiceClient())
{
using (new OperationContextScope(client.InnerChannel))
{
LogHelper.Debug<ExampleService>("GetUser({0})", () => email);
exampleUser = svc.GetUser(email);
HttpContext.Current.Items.Add(cacheKey, exampleUser);
}
}
In my local environment this behaves as expected and mostly also does in staging where the same thread is used for the duration of the request however in production this is not the case and there are still multiple calls to the external service in the same request. This can be seen from the logs which show that the value in HttpContext.Current.Items[cacheKey] is not returned in cases where the Thread ID does not match the original request.
This I guess means that my current understanding of HttpContext.Current.Items is wrong and that this is not a suitable solution for my needs.
My question therefore is can this be made to work across threads in the same request and if so should it, otherwise what suitable alternative is there?
One option is to use Session to store your data. Unfortunately it's not applicable for API-specific requests (e.g mobile device makes a call to server API). Besides, server session state requires all of your data serializable (DB session state doesn't).
If session does not satisfy your requirements, then you should go to next option: Using cache protected by something that represents your requests coming from the same user (a.k.a access token).

Row by row streaming of data while waiting for response

I have a WCF service and client developed using C# which handles data transfer from SQL server database on the server to the SQL server database on the client end. I am facing some issues with the current architecture and planning to modify it to an idea I have, and would like to know if it is possible to achieve it, or how best can I modify the architecture to suite my needs.
The Server side database server is SQL 2008 R2 SP1 and client side servers are SQL 2000
Before I state the idea, below is the overview and current shortcomings of the architecture design I am using.
Overview:
Client requests for a table’s data.
WCF service queries the Server database for all pending data for the requested table. This data is loaded into a dataset.
WCF Compresses the Dataset using GZIP compression and converts it to byte for the client to download.
Client receives the Byte stream, un-compresses it and replicates the data from the Dataset to the physical table on the client database. This data is inserted row by row since in need the Primary key column filed to be returned to the server so that it can be flagged of as transferred.
Once the client has finished replicating the data, it uploads the successful rows Primary key fields back to the server, and in turn the server update each field one by one.
The above procedure uses a basic http binding, with streamed transfer mode.
Shortcomings:
This works great for little data, but when it comes to bulk data, maintaining the dataset in memory as the download is ongoing and also at the client side as replication is ongoing, is becoming impossible as sometimes the dataset size goes up to 4gb. The server can hold this much data since it’s a 32gb RAM server, but at the client side I get System out of memory exception since the client machine has 2gb RAM.
There are numerous deadlocks as the select query is running and also when updating since I am using transaction mode as read committed.
For bulk data it is very slow and completely hangs the client machine when the DTS is ongoing.
Idea in mind:
Maintain the same service and logic of row by row transfer since I cannot change this due to sensitivity of the data, but rather than downloading bulk data I plan to use the sample given in http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Custom-WCF-Streaming-436861e6.
Thus the new flow will be as:
Upon receiving the download request, the server will open a connection to the DB using snapshot isolation as the transaction level.
Build the row by row object on the server and send it to the client on the requested channel, as the client receives each row object, it gets processed and a success or failure response is sent back to the server on the same method same channel, as I need to update the data on the same snapshot transaction.
This way I will reduce bulk objects in memory, and rely on SQL for the snapshot data that will be maintained in temdb once the transaction is initiated.
Challenge:
How can I send the row object and wait for a confirmation before sending the next one, as the update to the server row has to occur on the same snapshot transaction. Since if I create another method on the service to perform the flagging off, the snapshots will be different and this will cause issues in the integrity of the data in case the data undergoes changes after the snapshot transaction was initiated.
If this is the wrong approach, then please suggest a better one, as I am open to any suggestions.
If my understanding of the snapshot isolation is wrong, then please correct me as I am new to this.
Update 1:
I would like to achieve something like this when the client is the one requesting:
//Client Invokes this method on the server
public Stream GetData(string sTableName)
{
//Open the Snapshot Transaction on the Server
SqlDataReader rdr = operations.InitSnapshotTrans("Select * from " + sTableName + " Where Isnull(ColToCheck,'N') <> 'Y'");
//Check if there are rows available
if(rdr.HasRows)
{
while rdr.read()
{
SendObj sendobj = Logic.CreateObejct(rdr);
//Here is where i am stuck
//At this point I want to write the object to the Stream
...Write sendobj to Stream
//Once the client is done processing it reverts with a true for success or false for failuer.
if (returnObj == true)
{
operations.updateMovedRecord(rdr);
}
}
}
}
For the server sending i have written the code as Such (I used Pub Sub Model for this):
public void ServerData(string sServerText)
{
List<SubList> subscribers = Filter.GetClients();
if (subscribers == null) return;
Type type = typeof(ITransfer);
MethodInfo publishMethodInfo = type.GetMethod("ServerData");
foreach (SubList subscriber in subscribers)
{
try
{
//Open the Snapshot Transaction on the Server
SqlDataReader rdr = operations.InitSnapshotTrans("Select * from " + sTableName + " Where Isnull(ColToCheck,'N') <> 'Y'");
//Check if there are rows available
if(rdr.HasRows)
{
while rdr.read()
{
SendObj sendobj = Logic.CreateObejct(rdr);
bool rtnVal = Convert.ToBoolean(publishMethodInfo.Invoke(subscriber.CallBackId, new object[] { sendobj }));
if (rtnVal == true)
{
operations.updateMovedRecord(rdr);
}
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
}
}
Just off the top of my head, this sounds like it might take longer. That may or may not be a concern.
Given the requirement in challenge 1 (that everything happen in the context of one method call), it sounds like what actually needs to happen is for the server to call a method on the client, sending a record, and then waiting for the client to return confirmation. That way, everything that needs to happen, happens in the context of a single call (server to client). I don't know if that's feasible in your situation.
Another option might be to use some kind of double-queue system (perhaps with MSMQ?) so that the server and client can maintain an ongoing conversation within a single session.
I assume there's a reason why you can't just divide the data to be downloaded into manageable chunks and repeatedly execute the original process on the chunks. That sounds the least ambitious option, but you probably would have done it already if it met all your needs.

How to call a script with SignalR when item created to DB

I'm newbie with SignalR and want to learn so much. i already read beginner documents. But in this case i've stucked. what i want to do is when a user got new message i want to fire a script, like alert or showing div like "you have new mail" for notify the recieved user. And my question is how can i do that ? is there anyone know how to achieve this ? or good "step-by-step" document? i really want to work with SignalR.
ps: i'm using Visual Studio 2012 and MsSQL server
edit: i forgot to write, notification must be fired when message created to DB
Thank you
In your Scripts use the following, naturally this is not all the code, but enough based off tutorials to get you going. Your userId will be generated server side, and somehow your script can get it off an element of the page, or whatever method you want. It runs when the connection is started and then every 10 seconds. Pinging our server side method of CheckMessage() .
This js would need refactoring but should give you the general idea.
...
var messageHub = $.connection.messageHub;
var userId = 4;
$.connection.hub.start().done(function () {
StartCheck();
}
//Runs every 10 seconds..
function StartCheck()
{
setInterval(messageHub.server.checkMessage(userId,$.connection.hub.id), 10000);
}
This method takes in a userId, assuming your db is set up that way, and grabs them all from your database; naturally the method used is probably not appropriate for your system, however change it as you need to. It also checks if the user has any messages, and if so sends down another message to our SignalR scripts.
public void CheckMessage(int userId,int connectionId)
{
var user = userRepo.RetrieveAllUsers.FirstOrDefault(u=>u.id == userId);
if(user.HasMessages)
{
Clients.Group(connectionId).DisplayMailPopUp();
}
}
Finally this message, upon being called would run your code to do the 'You have Mail alert' - be it a popup, a div being faded in or whatever.
...
messageHub.client.displayMailPopUp = function () {
alert("You have Mail!");
};
...
Hopefully this helps - I recommend the following links for reading up and building your first SignalR app:
http://www.asp.net/signalr/overview/signalr-20/getting-started-with-signalr-20/tutorial-getting-started-with-signalr-20-and-mvc-5
And a smaller sample: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/SignalR-Getting-Started-b9d18aa9

Too fast response

I have an ASP.NET-MVC application that:
opens a db transaction
updates a cart status and other things
submits this cart to another web server via an HttpRequest
register in database the transmission with its code status
send a confirmation mail, that the command has been sent
then if no error has occurs commit the transaction else rollback it.
Normally, after that the distant server sends another web request to my application to a controller action that will update the previous transmission and set an aknowledge field.
My problem is that the distant web server sometimes is very fast and sends the aknowledge status before the transmission insertion in the database is committed, so the update fails. How could I prevent this?
Thanks.
Just make your commit operation in two stages. First is too create record. Then do processing like create mail and so on. And second to make real(logical) commit.
using(var db = new Db(){
db.Insert(
} // This will commit first stage
// Send email do other stuff
using(var db = new Db(){
var t = db.getTransmission()
r.Commited = true;
db.Save();
} // This will logically commit
Can you update the database, commit and mark as inactive or invalid, then take away this mark once you get our acknowledgement status?
I may be misunderstanding what exacty it is you're doing.

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