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Updating two related Objects using generic repository pattern and Entity Framework

I am using a generic repository and Entity Framework. I can update one of the classes normally, but I'm having trouble updating the relationship between them.
I'm also using lazy loading, AutoMapper and a service layer to isolate the domain.
public class DetalhesDoArquivoViewModel
{
public DetalhesDoArquivoViewModel()
{
Id = Guid.NewGuid();
}
[Key]
public Guid Id { get; set; }
public string FileName { get; set; }
public string Extension { get; set; }
public Guid FormularioId { get; set; }
public virtual FormularioDoUploadViewModel DescricaoDoUpload { get; set; }
}
public class FormularioDoUploadViewModel
{
public FormularioDoUploadViewModel()
{
Id = Guid.NewGuid();
}
[Key]
public Guid Id { get; set; }
[Required(ErrorMessage = "Digite um nome")]
[Display(Name = "Nome")]
[MaxLength(100)]
public string Nome { get; set; }
[Required(ErrorMessage = "Entre com uma descrição")]
[Display(Name = "Descrição")]
[MaxLength(500)]
public string Descricao { get; set; }
public virtual IEnumerable<DetalhesDoArquivoViewModel> DetalhesDoArquivo { get; set; }
}
My Update repository
public virtual TEntity Atualizar(TEntity obj)
{
var entry = Db.Entry(obj);
Dbset.Attach(obj);
entry.State = EntityState.Modified;
SaveChanges();
return obj;
}
My service class:
public class UploadAppServices : BaseService, IUploadServices
{
private readonly IFormularioUploadRepository _formularioUploadRepository;
private readonly IDetalhesDoArquivoRepository _detalhesDoArquivoRepository;
// Update
public FormularioDoUploadViewModel Atualizar(FormularioDoUploadViewModel formularioDoUploadViewModel)
{
var form = Mapper.Map<FormularioUpload>(formularioDoUploadViewModel);
_formularioUploadRepository.Atualizar(form);
Commit();
return formularioDoUploadViewModel;
}
//getById
public FormularioDoUploadViewModel ObterPorId(Guid id)
{
return Mapper.Map<FormularioDoUploadViewModel>(_formularioUploadRepository.ObterPorId(id));
}
}
My controller:
public class FormularioDoUploadController : BaseController
{
private ApplicationDbContext db = new ApplicationDbContext();
private IFormularioUploadRepository _formularioUploadRepository;
private IUploadServices _uploadServices;
public ActionResult Edit(Guid id)
{
var formularioDoUploadViewModel = _uploadServices.ObterPorId(id);
if (formularioDoUploadViewModel == null)
{
return HttpNotFound();
}
return View(formularioDoUploadViewModel);
}
[HttpPost]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public ActionResult Edit(FormularioDoUploadViewModel formularioDoUploadViewModel)
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
for (int i = 0; i < Request.Files.Count; i++)
{
var file = Request.Files[i];
if (file != null && file.ContentLength > 0)
{
var fileName = Path.GetFileName(file.FileName);
DetalhesDoArquivoViewModel detalhesDoArquivo = new DetalhesDoArquivoViewModel()
{
FileName = fileName,
Extension = Path.GetExtension(fileName),
FormularioId = formularioDoUploadViewModel.Id,
};
var path = Path.Combine(Server.MapPath("~/App_Data/Upload/"), detalhesDoArquivo.Id + detalhesDoArquivo.Extension);
file.SaveAs(path);
}
// Update
_uploadServices.Atualizar(formularioDoUploadViewModel);
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
}
return View(formularioDoUploadViewModel);
}

Automapper is great for mapping entity to view-model, but I would avoid using it to map from a view-model to entity. This may seem convenient, but you are effectively unconditionally trusting the data received from the client and overwriting your database data. This means you have to send 100% of your entity domain model to the client, revealing more about your domain structure than you need to, and then accept that expanded domain model which can contain alterations that your client application does not intend to make. (intercepting the post to the server in the browser debugger and altering values in the object posted back to the server)
Submit actions should be coded to:
Validate that the current session user has permission to modify the record(s) identified by the submit request.
Limit the update to specific values provided in the request.
Validate those specific values.
Disconnect the user session and notify administrators if any of the above is violated.
In some cases, such as adding a new entity, the payload will effectively be a complete entity and potentially some related details. This still needs to be validated against the known data state. In other cases where you provide an action that updates an entity, the model posted back should merely contain the ID of the entity being updated, and the specific values the client is allowed to update. (not the entire, modified entity)
By passing entities, or view models that map directly to entities for a method intended to update some aspects of the entity, I can:
Re-assign that entity to someone else.
Use the request to attempt to assign another random entity to myself.
Negate or otherwise change any and all data recorded in that entity.
Do not trust anything received from the client.
This issue also presents a concurrent access issue where your system is adopting a "last in wins" scenario. Between the time you provided the entity/view model and the time you submit the view model back to the server, that entity data may have changed. By mapping the data into a new entity class, attaching, marking modified, and saving, you overwrite the data without any consideration as to whether the data was stale.
To avoid the issue you are seeing, and the security/stale issues, you should load the entity from the context on the Update post call, validate the authorization for the current user, check the row version # or timestamp to ensure the record isn't stale, validate your updated details, then, once you're absolutely sure that the data in your view model presents no risk to your entity, you can use automapper's .Map(source, detination) to copy the values across. If you need to update related entities against related view models, then as long as you .Include() those related entities when you retrieve the entity from the context, then the .Map() call should handle the related data.

Pre-filtering results with entity framework database-first

Using EF database-first, is it possible to create a duplicate of one of the classes, such that any query made comes back with an additional filter?
As an example: Given a class
public partial class Person
{
public Person()
{
this.Job= new HashSet<Appointments>();
}
public int PersonID { get; set; }
public int JobID { get; set; }
public string Forename { get; set; }
public string Surname { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<Appointments> Appointments { get; set; }
}
Is it possible to construct a duplicate of the class in some way that functions like the existing class, but will only return results applied a "where Forename = 'David')
I can't overwrite the existing class (both cases need to be kept, and it'll be overwritten anyway)
My first thought was to simply create a seperate static class with methods that return an IQueryable< Persons>, but to then call that later, the context has been disposed - I don't think you can attach it to a new context?

The best you could do would be to add a function to your DbContext, in a partial class, that returns an IQueryable<Persons> with the filter already applied.
The partial class should have the same name as your actual context class. Any code in the partial class will be merged with the Database-First generated class, as if they were in the same file. It also won't get touched or overwritten by the code-generator if you regenerate the context. You can use this same concept to extend all kinds of code-generated classes (this is exactly the kind of use-case that partial classes were designed for).
public partial class MyDbContext
{
public IQueryable<Persons> FilteredPersons()
{
return this.Persons.Where(p => p.Forename =="David");
}
}
Then you can call it like this:
using (var myContext = new MyDbContext())
{
var query = myContext.FilteredPersons().Where(...some additional filter...);
var results = query.ToList();
}
You could probably also rig something up with an IDBCommandInterceptor, but that would be huge, hacky, ugly, and beyond the scope of a simple answer like this.

ASP, MVC, EF: How to map POST values from Html.ListBoxFor<T> to EF Entity Navigation Property

I am new to stackoverflow! Please forgive me if I do something wrong.
I have now searched around hours for a solution, unsuccessfully...
Background:
EF Model "Role":
public class IdItem {
[Key]
public Int32 ID { get; set; }
}
public class NamedItem : IdItem {
public String Name { get; set; }
}
public class Right : NamedItem {
...
}
public class Role : NamedItem {
/* [1] */ public ICollection<Int32> RightIDs { get; set; } // <-- Key-Collection of Nav-Prop
/* [2] */ public virtual ICollection<Right> Rights { get; set; } // <-- Nav-Prop
...
}
View "Roles.cshtml" containing:
var sliRights = /* All available Rights as SelectListItem { Value = Right.ID } */
var rightsAtts = new { #class = "form-control selectpicker", multiple = true };
#Html.ListBoxFor(x => x.RightIDs, sliRights, rightsAtts)
This way, the ID's of all selected Rights are correctly stored in the "RightIDs" property of class "Role".
Q: However, how can I tell EF to map the Keys stored in "RightIDs" to synchronously (vice-versa) use it with the "Rights"-Property (see [2])?
I guess something like [ForeignKey("RightIDs")] as att. for [2] (tried, not working)?
Update
For example something like:
public class Role : NamedItem {
public ICollection<Int32> RightIDs { get; set; }
[ForeignKey("RightIDs")] // <-- normally for non-collections, but tried -> not working at all
public virtual ICollection<Right> Rights { get; set; }
...
}
Currently, I am using an interface for class "Role" implementing a method to read all IDs from "Rights" into "RightIDs" and another method to perform the way back, both using DbContext as parameter, invoked by responsible controller:
public interface IScalarEntity {
void ToScalarProperties(DbContext context);
void FromScalarProperties(DbContext context);
}
Ugly when using this current approach for at least 20 upcoming entity classes...
Edit
As I now have researched, there is no sense to get EF to use a ICollection where T is a primitive type, even if T is a type equal to an key property of another entity Type.
Now going to use the workaround for this kind of problem.
Thanks to all contributors!

What you are doing looks really weird. First of all, you are mixing Database logic with ViewModel logic, which is a bad practice. Do you really need the IDs for the collection of Rights, when you can just get them from the Right object?
You can remove the RightIds property from your Role class and use a simple select statement in the controller:
var rights = role.Rights.ToList().Select(r => new SelectListItem
{
Value = r.ID.ToString(),
Text = r.Name
});
return View(rights);
Now in the view you will have a model with SelectListItems, which you can use with many of the List controls available in Razor.

How to set this from Entity Framework using Linq

A while back, I fell into the fat controller trap when I was first working with MVC. My first app used EF4 to make all the models I needed. I just put all my logic into my controller actions. While it worked, it's definitely not the best practice way. To do it the right way I started trying to build my models based on my EF objects in an effort to follow the skinny controller concept.
I've run into a roadblock in trying to find the best way to populate my models. Is there a way to run a LINQ query and have it populate your model without having to iterate through the properties to set to another class?
Something like this:
// from EF model built from database
public class MyEFObject
{
public int ID {get; set;}
public string Name {get; set;}
public string Title {get; set;}
}
public class MyObjectModel : MyEFObject
{
private Entities _data = new Entities();
public MyObjectModel(int? id)
{
if(id.HasValue) // get an existing record
{
this = _data.MyEFObjects.Where(m => m.ID.Equals(id)).Single();
// or populate right out of the query
_data.MyEFObjects.Where(m => m.ID.Equals(id))
.Select(o => new {
this.ID = o.ID,
this.Name = o.Name,
this.Title = o.Title
});
}
else
{
// set defaults for a new MyObjectModel
}
}
public void Save()
{
// takes the current object and saves changes
}
}
I know you can add a function to the EF Entity object, but I like having the option to Create or Update all tied up in one call (Save method). I don't see the point messing with a model if I have to essentially recreate what I already have from my EF Object. If I simply have a method on a class that accepts a populated object, the concept of a usable model for my views is negated.

Slauma is right. LINQ to Entities won't accept it. I tried a couple of versions of what was posted and I only found my self with a kludgy mess. I got it to the point where I could set instance values, but by then EF wouldn't register a change had been made and defeating the whole purpose. There may be a way to do this, but as of now, the steps to make it work seem to be overkill.
I ended up with something like this:
public class MyObjectModel : MyEFObject
{
public void Save(int? id, MyObjectModel model)
{
var data = new Entities();
MyEFObject foo;
if(id.HasValue)
{
foo = data.MyEFObjects.Where(e => e.ID.Equals(id.Value)).Single();
}
else
{
foo = new MyEFObject();
}
foo.Name = model.Name;
foo.Title = model.Title;
if(!id.HasValue)
{
data.MyEFObjects.AddObject(foo);
}
data.SaveChanges();
}
}
I didn't want to have to work with two instances of my model, but it works and I have my lean controller action.

What you could do is have a domain model, ef model and and adapter. I think this keeps the code pretty clean and nicely separates the mapping logic.
//Domain model to decouple from EF
public class MyObjectModel
{
public int ID {get; set;}
public string Name {get; set;}
public string Title {get; set;}
}
//Auto generated Entity Framework class
public class MyEFObject
{
public int ID {get; set;}
public string Name {get; set;}
public string Title {get; set;}
}
//Adapter responsible for mapping your data to your domain model
public class MyObjectModelAdapter : MyEFObject
{
public MyObjectModelAdapter(MyEFObject entity)
{
if(entity != null)
{
this.ID = entity.ID;
this.Name = entity.Name;
this.Title = entity.Title;
}
else
{
// set defaults for a new MyObjectModel
}
}
}
Then the basic usage would be:
new Entities().MyEFObjects.ToList().Select(x => new MyObjectModelAdapter(x));
OR
new MyObjectModelAdapter(new Entities().MyEFObjects.FirstOrDefault(x => x.ID.Equals(objectId)));
If you specifically require a list of MyObjectModel then you could do the following:
new Entities().MyEFObjects.ToList().Select(x => new MyObjectModelAdapter(x) as MyObjectModel);
OR
new MyObjectModelAdapter(new Entities().MyEFObjects.FirstOrDefault(x => x.ID.Equals(objectId)) as MyObjectModel;
Of course you don't want to chain your entity context together like that, it is just to show usage.

How can I add default values to a property when saving using Code First EF4.1?

I started by creating some models like this:
public abstract class EditableBase
{
public DateTime CreatedOn { get; set; }
public DateTime ModifiedOn { get; set; }
public int CreatedBy { get; set; }
public int ModifiedBy { get; set; }
}
public class Project : EditableBase
{
public int ProjectId { get; set; }
public string ProjectName { get; set; }
}
And I use this line when the app starts:
Database.SetInitializer<ModelContext>(
new DropCreateDatabaseIfModelChanges<ModelContext>());
A table called Projects is created with all the properties mentioned above as columns... this is exactly what I wanted.
However, now I need populate some default values when I issue a SaveChanges() on DbContext. When I save I need to update the ModifiedOn and ModifiedBy properties with the appropriate values.
Normally I would at least do the DateTime values on the database side (either a trigger or a stored procedure) however this is obviously not an option here since the database will be dropped anytime a class changes. And since I did code first I do not have a model designer that I can tweak the properties on.
What I would like to do is add a method in the EditableBase class that gets called when the SaveChanges() is executed, thus keeping all the logic involved in one place. Is it possible to do this? What is the best way to achieve my goal?

Override SaveChanges in your derived DbContext:
public override int SaveChanges()
{
foreach(var entry in ChangeTracker.Entries<EditableBase>())
{
var entity = entry.Entity;
if (entry.State == EntityState.Added)
{
entity.CreatedOn = ...;
entity.CreatedBy = ...;
}
else if (entry.State == EntityState.Modified)
{
entity.ModifiedOn = ...;
entity.ModifiedBy = ...;
}
}
return base.SaveChanges();
}
I'm only not sure if generic Entries will work directly with your base type becasue it is not actually mapped as base entity. There is also non generic version so you can rewrite it to more complex linq query or test each entry's entity type in loop.

Well, you have complete control over the code for your entities. I'd imagine you would probably want to implement an IPropertyChanged like pattern to update your properties.

Did consider the two options in this post where you do something on the setter (or constructor)?
The default attribute solution seems a good one.