Asp.net-mvc – Unit of Work pattern implementation

asp.net-mvcentity-framework

I am creating an application with ASP.NET MVC and Entity framework code first. I am using repository and unit of work pattern with influence of from following link.

http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/getting-started-with-ef-5-using-mvc-4/implementing-the-repository-and-unit-of-work-patterns-in-an-asp-net-mvc-application

Here I have question about the implementation of Unit Of Work in that link unit of work is implemented via directly writing entities in class itself like.

public class UnitOfWork : IDisposable
{
    private SchoolContext context = new SchoolContext();
    private GenericRepository<Department> departmentRepository;

    public GenericRepository<Department> DepartmentRepository
    {
        get
        {

            if (this.departmentRepository == null)
            {
                this.departmentRepository = new GenericRepository<Department>(context);
            }
            return departmentRepository;
        }
    }

}

Do you think that implementation is good enough because every time I add/remove entities I need to change my Unit of work class. I believe that Unit of work should not be dependent on entities. Because in my application based on Client feedback we are going to frequently add/remove entities.

I may sound stupid but let me know your views on that.

Best Answer

The Unit of Work pattern is already implemented in Entity Framework.

The DbContext is your Unit of Work. Each IDbSet is a Repository.

using (var context = new SchoolContext())   // instantiate our Unit of Work
{
    var department = context.Departments.Find(id);
}

Related Solutions

C# – How do implement Unit of Work, Repository and Business Logic in ASP MVC

What if it takes hours from data retrieval until the client click save button. From what i know, we have to keep context as short as possible.

This isn't an issue - the controller is instantiated per request. It doesn't persist while the user views the page. It sounds like you're misunderstanding at what point the controller is instantiated. When you instantiate the UnitOfWork within the controller's constructor, the process flow goes like this:

The user issues a POST request (by clicking 'Save').
The request reaches the server and the controller is instantiated (thereby instantiating the unit of work).
The action method is called.
The unit of work is disposed.

Where should i put business logic? Do i put it in repository? So i would call UoW.departmentRepository.Validate(department) before save. But then, what if i need to validate entity which relate to other entity. Do i call UoW.departmentRepository.Validate(course, department)?

Typically, your business logic would be abstracted into a separate layer that sits between your web application and your repositories. Tutorials that show you repositories injected directly into controllers assume that you have "thin" business logic.

However, validation definitely isn't the job of a repository. You should create a separate view model for each view and validate those in your controller. The repository should be used pretty much solely for CRUD operations.

C# – ASP.NET Identity with Repository and Unit of Work

I have found working with ASP.Net Identity 2.0 and EF6 a bit challenging. The biggest drawback is the lack of documentation or conflicting documentation.

I am using WebApi 2.0, EF6 and ASP.Net Identity 2.0. At first it was tough to get going but once it's working, it's been good.

I created my own Identity classes. At the moment I don't care about extending the identity classes I just want to generate the tables and log into the system.

CustomRole

public class CustomRole : IdentityRole<int, CustomUserRole>
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="CustomRole"/> class.
    /// </summary>
    public CustomRole() { }

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="CustomRole"/> class.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="name">The name.</param>
    public CustomRole(string name) { Name = name; }
}

CustomUserClaim

public class CustomUserClaim : IdentityUserClaim<int> { }

CustomUserLogin

public class CustomUserLogin : IdentityUserLogin<int> { }

CustomUserRole

public class CustomUserRole : IdentityUserRole<int> {}

User

public class User : IdentityUser<int, CustomUserLogin, CustomUserRole, CustomUserClaim>
{

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the first name.
    /// </summary>
    /// <value>The first name.</value>
    public string FirstName { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the last name.
    /// </summary>
    /// <value>The last name.</value>
    public string LastName { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets a value indicating whether this <see cref="User"/> is active.
    /// </summary>
    /// <value><c>true</c> if active; otherwise, <c>false</c>.</value>
    public bool Active { get; set; }

}

I don't like the naming of the Identity tables, so I changed the names.

DataContext

public class DataContext : IdentityDbContext<User, CustomRole, int, CustomUserLogin, CustomUserRole, CustomUserClaim>
{
    public DataContext() : base("DefaultConnection"){}

    protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
    {
        base.OnModelCreating(modelBuilder);

        modelBuilder.Entity<CustomUserRole>().ToTable("UserRoles", "Security");
        modelBuilder.Entity<CustomUserLogin>().ToTable("UserLogins", "Security");
        modelBuilder.Entity<CustomUserClaim>().ToTable("UserClaims", "Security");
        modelBuilder.Entity<CustomRole>().ToTable("Roles", "Security");
        modelBuilder.Entity<User>().ToTable("Users", "Security");

    }
}

I found getting the UserManager a bit of a pain.

I created a static class to handle it. The UserStore does handle the lifecycle of the DataContext, but you'll have to call dispose for this to happen. This could cause problems if you are using this DataContext reference elsewhere. I'll eventually wire it into my DI container, but for now this is what I have:

public class Identity
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the user manager.
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>UserManager&lt;User, System.Int32&gt;.</returns>
    public static UserManager<User, int> GetUserManager()
    {
        var store = new UserStore<User, CustomRole, int, CustomUserLogin, CustomUserRole, CustomUserClaim>(new DataContext());
        var userManager = new UserManager<User, int>(store);

        return userManager;
    }
}

I use the Unit of Work pattern for most my data access. It works good. There are some cases where I have data that needs more control than the unit of work exposes for these cases I exposed the DataContext. If that still does not work for me, I'll fallback to using a repository.

public class UnitOfWork : IUnitOfWork
{
    private readonly IContainer _container;

    public UnitOfWork(IContainer container) :this()
    {
        _container = container;
    }

    //private readonly List<CommitInterception> _postInterceptions = new List<CommitInterception>(); 

    public DataContext Context { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="UnitOfWork"/> class.
    /// </summary>
    public UnitOfWork()
    {
        Context = new DataContext();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Performs application-defined tasks associated with freeing, releasing, or resetting unmanaged resources.
    /// </summary>
    /// <exception cref="System.NotImplementedException"></exception>
    public void Dispose()
    {
        //Chuck was here
        try
        {
            Commit();
        }
        finally
        {
            Context.Dispose();   
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Begins the transaction.
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>IUnitOfWorkTransaction.</returns>
    public IUnitOfWorkTransaction BeginTransaction()
    {
        return new UnitOfWorkTransaction(this);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Commits this instance.
    /// </summary>
    public void Commit()
    {
        Commit(null);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Commits transaction.
    /// </summary>
    public void Commit(DbContextTransaction transaction)
    {
        //Lee was here.
        try
        {
            Context.SaveChanges();

            if (transaction != null)
            {
                transaction.Commit();
            }

            //foreach (var interception in _postInterceptions)
            //{
            //    interception.PostCommit(interception.Instance, this);
            //}

        }
        catch (DbEntityValidationException ex)
        {
            var errors = FormatError(ex);
            throw new Exception(errors, ex);
        }
        catch
        {
            if (transaction != null)
            {
                transaction.Rollback();
            }
            throw;
        }
        finally
        {
           // _postInterceptions.Clear();
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Formats the error.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="ex">The ex.</param>
    /// <returns>System.String.</returns>
    private static string FormatError(DbEntityValidationException ex)
    {
        var build = new StringBuilder();
        foreach (var error in ex.EntityValidationErrors)
        {
            var errorBuilder = new StringBuilder();

            foreach (var validationError in error.ValidationErrors)
            {
                errorBuilder.AppendLine(string.Format("Property '{0}' errored:{1}", validationError.PropertyName, validationError.ErrorMessage));
            }

            build.AppendLine(errorBuilder.ToString());
        }
        return build.ToString();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Inserts the specified entity.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="entity">The entity.</param>
    /// <returns>``0.</returns>
    public T Insert<T>(T entity) where T: class
    {
        var instance = _container.TryGetInstance<IUnitOfWorkInterception<T>>();

        if (instance != null)
        {
            instance.Intercept(entity, this);
           // _postInterceptions.Add(new CommitInterception() { Instance = entity, PostCommit = (d,f) => instance.PostCommit(d as T, f) });
        }

        var set = Context.Set<T>();
        var item = set.Add(entity);

        return item;
    }

    public T Update<T>(T entity) where T : class
    {
        var set = Context.Set<T>();
        set.Attach(entity);
        Context.Entry(entity).State = EntityState.Modified;

        return entity;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Deletes the specified entity.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="entity">The entity.</param>
    public void Delete<T>(T entity) where T : class
    {
        var set = Context.Set<T>();
        set.Remove(entity);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Finds the specified predicate.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="predicate">The predicate.</param>
    /// <returns>IQueryable{``0}.</returns>
    public IQueryable<T> Find<T>(Expression<Func<T, bool>> predicate) where T : class
    {
        var set = Context.Set<T>();
       return set.Where(predicate);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets all.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <returns>IQueryable{``0}.</returns>
    public IQueryable<T> GetAll<T>() where T : class
    {
        return Context.Set<T>();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the by identifier.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="id">The identifier.</param>
    /// <returns>``0.</returns>
    public T GetById<T>(int id) where T : class
    {
        var set = Context.Set<T>();
        return set.Find(id);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Executes the query command.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="sql">The SQL.</param>
    /// <returns>DbSqlQuery{``0}.</returns>
    public DbSqlQuery<T> ExecuteQueryCommand<T>(string sql) where T : class
    {
        var set = Context.Set<T>();
        return set.SqlQuery(sql);
    }

    private class CommitInterception
    {
        public object Instance { get; set; }

        public Action<object, IUnitOfWork> PostCommit { get; set; } 
    }
}

public class UnitOfWorkTransaction : IUnitOfWorkTransaction
{
    private readonly UnitOfWork _unitOfWork;
    private readonly DbContextTransaction _transaction;

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="UnitOfWorkTransaction"/> class.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="unitOfWork">The unit of work.</param>
    public UnitOfWorkTransaction(UnitOfWork unitOfWork)
    {
        _unitOfWork = unitOfWork;
        _transaction = _unitOfWork.Context.Database.BeginTransaction();
        Context = unitOfWork.Context;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Performs application-defined tasks associated with freeing, releasing, or resetting unmanaged resources.
    /// </summary>
    public void Dispose()
    {
        _unitOfWork.Commit(_transaction);
    }

    public DataContext Context { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Commits this instance.
    /// </summary>
    public void Commit()
    {
        _unitOfWork.Commit();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Rollbacks this instance.
    /// </summary>
    public void Rollback()
    {
        _transaction.Rollback();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Inserts the specified entity.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="entity">The entity.</param>
    /// <returns>T.</returns>
    public T Insert<T>(T entity) where T : class
    {
        return _unitOfWork.Insert(entity);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Updates the specified entity.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="entity">The entity.</param>
    /// <returns>T.</returns>
    public T Update<T>(T entity) where T : class
    {
        return _unitOfWork.Update(entity);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Deletes the specified entity.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="entity">The entity.</param>
    public void Delete<T>(T entity) where T : class
    {
        _unitOfWork.Delete(entity);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Finds the specified predicate.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="predicate">The predicate.</param>
    /// <returns>IQueryable&lt;T&gt;.</returns>
    public IQueryable<T> Find<T>(Expression<Func<T, bool>> predicate) where T : class
    {
       return _unitOfWork.Find(predicate);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets all.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <returns>IQueryable&lt;T&gt;.</returns>
    public IQueryable<T> GetAll<T>() where T : class
    {
        return _unitOfWork.GetAll<T>();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the by identifier.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="id">The identifier.</param>
    /// <returns>T.</returns>
    public T GetById<T>(int id) where T : class
    {
       return _unitOfWork.GetById<T>(id);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Executes the query command.
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
    /// <param name="sql">The SQL.</param>
    /// <returns>DbSqlQuery&lt;T&gt;.</returns>
    public DbSqlQuery<T> ExecuteQueryCommand<T>(string sql) where T : class
    {
       return _unitOfWork.ExecuteQueryCommand<T>(sql);
    }
}

Here are a few examples of it in action. I have an nHibernate background and like defining a transaction in the scope of a using so I implemented in my unit of work.

        using (var trans = _unitOfWork.BeginTransaction())
        {
            var newAgency = trans.Insert(new Database.Schema.Agency() { Name = agency.Name, TaxId = agency.TaxId });

        }

Another example of using the "Find" off of the Unit of Work:

        var users = _unitOfWork.Find<Database.Schema.User>(s => s.Active && s.Agency_Id == agencyId)
            .Select(u=> new {Label = u.FirstName + " " + u.LastName, Value = u.Id})
            .ToList();

User Creation and User Sign-In

I use ASP.NET Identity for the sign-In and user creation and my Unit of Work for everything else.

Testing

I would not try to test ASP.NET Identity. For one I'm sure Microsoft did a pretty good job testing it. I'm sure they did a better job than you or I could do. If you really want to test around the ASP.NET Identity code put it behind an interface and mock out the interface.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

C# – How do implement Unit of Work, Repository and Business Logic in ASP MVC

C# – ASP.NET Identity with Repository and Unit of Work

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