I am using the repository and unit of work patterns and dependency injection to access the database with entity framework 5 in my web application. I have a User
class from which Entity Framework generates a Code-First database.
public class User
{
public Guid UserId { get; set; }
public string UserName { get; set; }
.
.
.
public string LanguagePreference { get; set; }
public virtual List<Role> Roles { get; set; }
public virtual List<Branch> Branches { get; set; }
}
I have a UserService
class that is used to Add or Update users. This class takes an IUserUnitOfWork
as a parameter in the constructor and Unity injects a UserUnitOfwork
. The IUserUserOfWork
contains an IRepository<User>
, an IRepository<Location>
and an IRepository<Role>
. These are set as Repository<T>
by the DI bootstrapper. The IUserUnitOfWork sets up the different Repositories with the same entity framework DbContext. I did this as I was having issues updating the many-to-many relationships related to the User (Locations and Roles).
UserUnitOfWork:
public IRepository<Branch> BranchRepository {get; set;}
public IRepository<Role> RoleRepository { get; set; }
public IRepository<User> UserRepository { get; set; }
public DbContext Context { get; set; }
public UserUnitOfWork(DbContext context, ITransientErrorDetectionStrategy errorDetectionStrategy,RetryStrategy retryStrategy )
{
Context = context;
BranchRepository = new Repository<Branch>(context, errorDetectionStrategy, retryStrategy);
RoleRepository = new Repository<Role>(context, errorDetectionStrategy, retryStrategy);
UserRepository = new Repository<User>(context, errorDetectionStrategy, retryStrategy);
}
The Repository class then uses Entity Framework 5 to access the database.
Example of method from Repository.FirstOrDefault:
public virtual T FirstOrDefault(Expression<Func<T, bool>> filter = null, Func<IQueryable<T>, IOrderedQueryable<T>> orderBy = null, string includeProperties = "")
{
T result = null;
_retryPolicy.ExecuteAction(() =>
{
IQueryable<T> entities = GetHelper(filter, orderBy, includeProperties);
result = entities.FirstOrDefault();
});
return result;
}
And Update from Repository:
public virtual void Update(T entity)
{
if (_dbContext.Entry(entity).State == System.Data.EntityState.Detached)
{
_dbContext.Set<T>().Attach(entity);
_dbContext.Entry(entity).State = System.Data.EntityState.Modified;
}
}
So my problem now is that when I update the User it correctly updates the data in the database, and when I log out and log in the initial change works. However if I update again and log out and in the new change isn't picked up even though the database is updated.
I'm beginning to fear that the approach I've taken is incorrect, can someone tell me how to make sure that when I do an update Entity Framework will always get the latest version?
EDIT:
So I've created a Per Request Lifetime Manager like so:
public class PerHttpRequestLifetimeManager : LifetimeManager
{
private readonly object key = new object();
public override object GetValue()
{
if (HttpContext.Current != null &&
HttpContext.Current.Items.Contains(key))
return HttpContext.Current.Items[key];
else
return null;
}
public override void RemoveValue()
{
if (HttpContext.Current != null)
HttpContext.Current.Items.Remove(key);
}
public override void SetValue(object newValue)
{
if (HttpContext.Current != null)
HttpContext.Current.Items[key] = newValue;
}
}
In my DI bootstrapper I now setup my domain context like below:
container.RegisterType<DbContext, DomainContext>(new PerHttpRequestLifetimeManager());
It still doesn't appear to be working, am I missing something else or am I setting it up incorrectly?
EDIT 2:
Just to point out the architecture:
We have an MVC application which uses Angular JS to make ajax calls to a Web Api service layer. The Web Api has an ISomethingService injected into it. It is this ISomethingService that has the repositories injected into it. Would there be some confusion for the PerHttpRequestLifetimeManager since there is both an MVC and Web API project running?
EDIT 3:
An example of how I am saving the edited user:
We have a UserModel
class that is used for communications between the ServiceLayer -> API -> UI layer and back. The User
class is the one generated by Entity Framework code first. The EditUser method in the UserService takes in a UserModel
.
I then user the _unitOfWork.UserRepository to get the corresponding database user
var editedUser = _unitOfWork.UserRepository.FirstOrDefault(x => x.UserId == userModel.UserId);
I map the fields from the userModel to the editedUser and I then call (in the UserService)
_unitOfWork.UserRepository.Update(editedUser)
and after
_unitOfWork.Save()
YET ANOTHER EDIT:
So I have edited a simple method that updates a single text field on the user table (Language Preference). I explicitly call the dispose method after the update to ensure I am disposing the method.
public void SetUserLanguagePreference(Guid userId, string language)
{
var user = _unitOfWork.UserRepository.FirstOrDefault(x => x.UserId == userId);
user.LanguagePreference = language;
_unitOfWork.UserRepository.Update(user);
_unitOfWork.Save();
_unitOfWork.Dispose();
}
UnitOfWork.Dispose()
calls the dispose method of the repositories and the Dbcontext
The database updates correctly. However the behaviour is still incorrect. When I log out and in first it retrieves the correct value. When I change it again and log out and in again it doesn't update. This has been the pattern before, it get the first update after I log out and in, but if I change again and log out and in it doesn't pick it up.