Background
I'm using Postsharp version 3.0.42.9 and have created a custom tracer attribute (OnMethodBoundaryAspect). I have applied it at the assembly level of my WebForms project like this:
[assembly: MyLogging.Tracer(AttributePriority = 1)]
[assembly: MyLogging.Tracer(AttributeExclude = true, AttributeTargetMembers = "regex:^get_|^set_", AttributePriority = 2)]
The tracer logs entry with method arguments and exit with return value. I'm using NLog to write the log entries to a database table.
I have the following two classes in separate files in the same folder of the same project in my solution and in the same namespace:
public class ClassA : IClassA
{
public OperationResult PerformOperation(IEnumerable<SomeDto> parameters)
{
var classB = new ClassB();
return classB.AnotherOperation(parameters);
}
}
//In a different file
public class ClassB
{
public OperationResult AnotherOperation(IEnumerable<SomeDto> parameters)
{
//Do some stuff
return operationResult;
}
}
ClassA is instantiated and invoked from an aspx page.
Problem
I get the logs as expected for the methods in ClassA such as PerformOperation and the aspx page, but nothing gets logged for any methods in ClassB.
Any help is appreciated.
I am logging to a database table and one of the columns was not large enough to hold the data. When I turned on internal logging for NLog it put me on track to resolve the issue. This was not caused by Postsharp.
Related
I'm having an issue trying to convert an object to json. The error is a Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializationException:
Self referencing loop detected for property 'Project' with type 'System.Data.Entity.DynamicProxies.Project_F29F70EF89942F6344C5B0A3A7910EF55268857CD0ECC4A484776B2F4394EF79'. Path '[0].Categories[0]'.
The problem is that the object (it's actually a list of objects) has a property which is another object that refers back to the first object:
public partial class Project
{
...
public virtual ICollection<Category> Categories { get; set; }
...
}
public partial class Category
{
...
public virtual Project Project { get; set; }
...
}
This is all fine and dandy as far as Entity Framework is concerned, but to convert this to json would result in an infinite regress, hence the exception.
Here is my code:
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> GetProjects()
{
var projects = _projectService.GetProjects().ToList();
string jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(projects); // <-- Offending line
return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, jsonString);
}
I've looked online for solutions to this and I found this stackoverflow post:
JSON.NET Error Self referencing loop detected for type
They suggest three solutions, none of which work:
1) Ignore the circular reference:
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> GetProjects()
{
var projects = _projectService.GetProjects().ToList();
JsonSerializerSettings settings = new JsonSerializerSettings()
{
ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore
};
string jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(projects, settings);
return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, jsonString);
}
This resulted in the call to SerializeObject(...) hanging for a bit then throwing a System.OutOfMemoryException (which tells me the circular references were NOT being ignored).
Mind you, the author of this proposed solution at stackoverflow says to set the ignore setting in WebApiConfig.cs but I tried that and it has no effect.
He also says:
"If you want to use this fix in a non-api ASP.NET project, you can add the above line to Global.asax.cs, but first add: var config = GlobalConfiguration.Configuration;"
Mine's a web API with no global file so I shouldn't have to do this.
I also don't want to ignore circular references because I don't want to lose data.
2) Preserve the circular reference:
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> GetProjects()
{
var projects = _projectService.GetProjects().ToList();
JsonSerializerSettings settings = new JsonSerializerSettings()
{
ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Serialize,
PreserveReferencesHandling = PreserveReferencesHandling.Objects
};
string jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(projects, settings);
return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, jsonString);
}
This just resulted in the request timing out because it would just hang.
Again, the author says to put this in WebApiConfig.cs, but again this had no effect.
3) Add ignore/preserve reference attributes to the objects and properties:
Ignoring Categories:
public partial class Project
{
...
[JsonIgnore]
public virtual ICollection<Category> Categories { get; set; }
...
}
This has no effect. I hover over the project list and see that it still has categories, and each category still has an instance of the project. I still get the same exception.
Again, even if this worked, I don't want to ignore the categories.
Preserve Categories:
[JsonObject(IsReference = true)]
public partial class Project
{
...
public virtual ICollection<Category> Categories { get; set; }
...
}
Again, same results.
Even if this method worked, the attributes wouldn't be preserved. I'd be doing it on Entity Framework classes which are re-generated automatically every time I recompile. (Is there a way to tell it to set these attributes in the model? Can I set them on the other half of the partial class?)
Alternatively, I'm open to suggestions other than converting to json and sending back in the response. Is there another way to get the data back to the client?
What would be the fix to this problem? Thanks.
Briefly
The best way to fix this problem is to create completely brand-new Models (xxxModel, xxxViewModel, xxxResponse, etc..) on Presentation layer which will be returned to end-users. Than just cast one object to another using AutoMapper or your own custom methods.
Keep your database entities separate from real world!
In detail
There are so many problems that you will encounter:
Disclosure of sensitive data. Your database entity could/will contain sensitive data which end-users shouldn't receive;
Performance issues and waste of RAM and CPU. It would be better to load only those properties that end-users is required, instead all;
Serialization problems. EF entities almost always contain Navigation properties which will be serialized together in case lazy-loading enabled. Imagine dozens related entities, which will be lazy-loaded when your composite root is being serialized. It will cause dozens unexpected requests to database;
Fragility. Any changes related your EF entities will affect on Presentation Layer and on end-users. For instance, in case with API, new added property just extend response, but deleted or renamed will break logic in your customers' application.
There are a lot of other problems, just be careful.
I would recommend not Serializing Entity Framework classes and creating a specific class that only inherits from Object and has only the data you need
UPDATE: I think I've eliminated Unity from the equation. See below for more details.
UPDATE 2: I think I may have eliminated Entity Framework fro the equation. See below for more details.
I have some code that is building a unity container, but it started failing with the above error message out of the blue. It works on other people's machines, but not mine. I deleted the folder the solution was in and refreshed everything from source control to ensure I had nothing that could be causing issues (e.g. duplicate assemblies lying around from a previous build).
Here is part of my code:
public static class UnityBootstrapper
{
public static IUnityContainer Initialise()
{
Trace.WriteLine("UnityBootstrapper.Initialise()");
var container = BuildUnityContainer();
DependencyResolver.SetResolver(new UnityDependencyResolver(container));
return container;
}
private static IUnityContainer BuildUnityContainer()
{
Trace.WriteLine("UnityBootstrapper.BuildUnityContainer()");
var container = new UnityContainer();
// Other dependencies are registered here
// If the following line is commented out the container is build
// but, obviously, it won't resolve this dependency.
container.RegisterType<IUserAccessEntities, UserAccessEntities>(WebRequestLifetime);
// Other dependencies are registered here
return container;
}
The code apparently fails on the call to BuildUnityContainer(), and I can see that the trace statement I put inside that method is never displayed.
However, if I comment out the line that registers the UserAccessEntities class (which was code generated from Entity Framework 5) then the container is built. Naturally, when I ask for that dependency it can't resolve it, so the code just fails elsewhere.
I've Googled for solutions and they all seem to resolve around generics and moving the generic type from the method to the class level. I can't do that as EF5 creates the class and it puts generics on the properties. e.g
DbSet<MyTable> Tables { get; set; }
The only other thing I can think of is that I've extracted an interface from the EF5 generated class called IUserAccessEntities and the problem could lie there... but I used ReSharper to generate that, so it should be perfectly aligned.
UPDATE
Just to eliminate Unity from the equation, I tried to new up the UserAccessEntities on its own
private static void TestUae()
{
var uae = new UserAccessEntities(); //container.Resolve<IUserAccessEntities>();
Trace.WriteLine("Got the entities: " + uae);
}
And the call to TestUae() fails instead.
UPDATE 2
I created a new class, AlternativeEntities based on the interface I'd previously extracted. When I try to construct that directly it has a new exception: Method 'Set' in type 'AlternativeEntities' from assembly 'UserAccess.Model, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' does not have an implementation.
However, it does. There are two methods called set, both of which I've given a basic implementation:
public class AlternativeEntities : IUserAccessEntities
{
public DbSet<TEntity> Set<TEntity>() where TEntity : class
{
Trace.WriteLine("public DbSet<TEntity> Set<TEntity>() where TEntity : class");
return null;
}
public DbSet Set(Type entityType)
{
Trace.WriteLine("public DbSet Set(Type entityType)");
return null;
}
// Other methods and properties here.
}
When attempting to edit a new (proxy) entity using RequestFactoryEditorDriver.edit() I am getting the following error: "Exception caught: Attempting to edit an EntityProxy previously edited by another RequestContext". I am fairly sure that this is a result of my misunderstanding of the request factory/editor framework architecture. Here is the editor code that I think pertains to this problem:
public class OrgMaintenanceWidget extends Composite implements Editor<IOrgProxy> {
... other fields ...
private IOrgEditorDriver _orgEditorDriver;
interface IOrgEditorDriver extends RequestFactoryEditorDriver<IOrgProxy, OrgMaintenanceWidget> {}
public OrgMaintenanceWidget(final IClientFactory clientFactory) {
... widget initialization ...
_orgEditorDriver = GWT.create(IOrgEditorDriver.class);
_orgEditorDriver.initialize(_clientFactory.getRequestFactory().getEventBus(),
_clientFactory.getRequestFactory(), this);
}
#UiHandler("newButton")
public void onNewButtonClick(final ClickEvent clickEvent) {
_org = _clientFactory.getCache().getOrgCache().newOrg();
_orgEditorDriver.edit(_org, _clientFactory.getRequestFactory().orgRequestContext());
}
...
}
It's the "_orgEditorDriver.edit()" line that causes the exception. The "newOrg()" method is:
public IOrgProxy newOrg() {
return _clientFactory.getRequestFactory().orgRequestContext().create(IOrgProxy.class);
}
The RequestFactory is simply:
public interface IRequestFactory extends RequestFactory {
IOrgRequestContext orgRequestContext();
}
I am sure that I'm missing something fundamental about editing a new entity. When I edit an existing entity everything is fine ... the UI components are populated automatically, and flushing the editor back to the entity works very nicely. Here's the code that initiates editing for an existing entity:
#UiHandler("newButton")
public void onNewButtonClick(final ClickEvent clickEvent) {
_org = _clientFactory.getCache().getOrgCache().newOrg();
_orgEditorDriver.edit(_org, _clientFactory.getRequestFactory().orgRequestContext());
}
Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I'll try to publish any lessons learned.
This code:
_clientFactory.getRequestFactory().orgRequestContext().create(IOrgProxy.class);
Means:
Create new orgRequestContext()
Create new IOrgProxy using this context
Edit new IOrgProxy using this context, because as docs say: "Returns a new mutable proxy that this request can carry to the server, perhaps to be persisted.", it means that the proxy is edited by this request.
This code:
_orgEditorDriver.edit(_org, _clientFactory.getRequestFactory().orgRequestContext());
Means:
Again, create new orgRequestContext() (because each invocation of getRequestFactory().orgRequestContext() provides new instance of orgRequestContext()
"Start driving the Editor and its sub-editors with data." as docs say. But as a part of it, use passed orgRequestContext() to edit passed IOrgProxy instance, so that the proxy is editable.
Because the proxy was already edited while created by other RequestContext, you get the exception, because there is fundamental rule in RequestFactory, that proxy can be edited only by one RequestContext.
See also this thread.
I think you can't create an object with one RequestContext and then edit it with another one.
So you can solve this in two ways:
Persist the created object with the RequestContext you used when you created the object. The save method should return the persisted object and this persisted object can be passed to the editor with a fresh new RequestContext
Somewhere save the RequestContext you used for creating the object and pass it to the edit function of your Driver
Solution two could look something like this:
#UiHandler("newButton")
public void onNewButtonClick(final ClickEvent clickEvent) {
IOrgRequestContext ctx = _clientFactory.getRequestFactory().orgRequestContext();
_org = ctx.create(IOrgProxy.class);
_orgEditorDriver.edit(_org,ctx );
}
The default constructor in a generated Entity Framework Entities file is like this:
public ProjectEntities() : base("name=ProjectEntities", "ProjectEntities")
{
this.OnContextCreated();
}
I want to change it to:
public ProjectEntities() : base(UtilClass.GetEnvDependantConnectionStringName(), "ProjectEntities")
{
this.OnContextCreated();
}
This is because I want to have a different connection string for all the dev environments and the production environment, and have no chance they are mixed up (which is what my custom method checks).
How do I do that? This code is thrown away every time the designer file is regenerated.
You need to create another file alongside the auto-created ProjectEntities.Designer.cs, say ProjectEntities.cs. In that you use partial to extend the functionality of your entities class like this:
public partial class ProjectEntities : ObjectContext
{
partial void OnContextCreated()
{
this.Connection.ConnectionString = UtilClass.GetEnvDependantConnectionString();
}
}
The file won't then get changed when you regenerate the .Designer.cs file. You'll have to fetch the connection string yourself...
We fixed it by calling our entities ProjectEntitiesPrivate, and what was partial class ProjectEntities before, is now a non partial class ProjectEntities : ProjectEntitiesPrivate, with the constructor I need:
public class ProjectEntities: ProjectEntitiesPrivate
{
public ProjectEntities():base(UtilClass.GetEnvDependantConnectionStringName())
{
}
....
Making my first steps in RIA Services (VS2010Beta2) and i encountered this problem:
created an EF Model (no POCOs), generic repository on top of it and a RIA Service(hosted in an ASP.NET MVC application) and tried to get data from within the ASP.NET MVC application: worked well.
Next step: Silverlight client. Got a reference to the RIAService (through its context), queried for all the records of the repository and got them into the SL application as well (using this code sample):
private ObservableCollection<Culture> _cultures = new ObservableCollection<Culture>();
public ObservableCollection<Culture> cultures
{
get { return _cultures; }
set
{
_cultures = value;
RaisePropertyChanged("cultures");
}
}
....
//Get cultures
EntityQuery<Culture> queryCultures = from cu in dsCtxt.GetAllCulturesQuery()
select cu;
loCultures = dsCtxt.Load(queryCultures);
loCultures.Completed += new EventHandler(lo_Completed);
....
void loAnyCulture_Completed(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ObservableCollection<Culture> temp=
new ObservableCollection<Culture>loAnyCulture.Entities);
AnyCulture = temp[0];
}
The problem is this: whenever i try to edit some data of a record (in this example the first record) i get this error:
This EntitySet of type 'Culture' does not support the 'Edit' operation.
I thought that i did something weird and tried to create an object of type Culture and assign a value to it: it worked well!
What am i missing? Do i have to declare an EntitySet? Do i have to mark it? Do i have to...what?
Thanks in advance
It turns out that in the DomainService class one has to implement (or at least to mark "placeholder methods") as "Edit", "Delete",... eg
[Delete]
public void DeleteCulture(Culture currentCulture)
{
throw new NotImplementedException("UpdateCulture not Implemented yet");
}
[Insert]
public void InsertCulture(Culture newCulture)
{
throw new NotImplementedException("InsertCulture not Implemented yet");
}
This way the OrganizationDomainContextEntityContainer class creates an EntitySet with parameter EntitySetOperations.All (meaning that all the CUD operations are available).
Hope it's useful for someone in the future!