MVC 5 NHibernate Autofac, not able to see database data - nhibernate

Question

I'm building an MVC5 web app connecting to a MS SQL 2008 database, so that the users can search and make changes to data stored there. I've looked at a bunch of autofac tutorials and examples, but can't seem to make any of them work.
I'm assuming my autofac configuration is the problem, because when I run the app it says my model is null. Which I think means the autofac is not connecting to the datbase.
So, in my global.asax.cs file I have the following:
protected void Application_Start()
{
#region Autofac
// Register Controllers
var builder = new ContainerBuilder();
builder.RegisterControllers(typeof(MvcApplication).Assembly); //all controllers in assembly at once ?
builder.RegisterControllers(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
builder.RegisterFilterProvider();
// Set the Dependency Resolver
IContainer container = builder.Build();
DependencyResolver.SetResolver(new AutofacDependencyResolver(container));
// Register Model Binders
builder.RegisterModelBinders(typeof(MvcApplication).Assembly); //all binders in assembly at once ?
builder.RegisterModelBinderProvider();
// Register Modules
builder.RegisterModule<PersistenceModule>();
#endregion
AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles);
}
I have a hibernate.cfg.xml file as
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
<configSections>
<section name="hibernate-configuration" type="NHibernate.Cfg.ConfigurationSectionHandler, NHibernate" />
</configSections>
<hibernate-configuration xmlns="urn:nhibernate-configuration-2.2">
<session-factory>
<property name="connection.provider">NHibernate.Connection.DriverConnectionProvider</property>
<property name="connection.driver_class">NHibernate.Driver.SqlClientDriver</property>
<property name="connection.connection_string">Data Source=DEVSRV\SQLSERVER;Initial Catalog=tipdemo;Persist Security Info=True;User ID=admin;Password=***********</property>
<property name="dialect">NHibernate.Dialect.MsSql2008Dialect</property>
<property name="proxyfactory.factory_class">NHibernate.ByteCode.LinFu.ProxyFactoryFactory, NHibernate.ByteCode.LinFu</property>
<!--<mapping assembly="NHibernateTest"/> -->
</session-factory>
</hibernate-configuration>
</configuration>
And my PersistenceModule class is:
public class PersistenceModule : Autofac.Module
{
protected override void Load(ContainerBuilder builder)
{
if (builder == null)
throw new ArgumentException("builder", "builder is null");
base.Load(builder);
}
private ISessionFactory ConfigureDB()
{
Configuration cfg = new Configuration().Configure(System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/Config/hibernate.cfg.xml"));
cfg.AddAssembly(typeof(Domain.General.Project).Assembly);
return cfg.BuildSessionFactory();
}
}

Answer 1

You can't register things in the container after it's built.
On line 11 in the sample for Application_Start you're building the container, but then after you set the DependencyResolver you're registering more stuff with the ContainerBuilder. You can't do that - you have to register everything first, then build the container as the last thing you do.
That's why it's never entering your PersistenceModule - you've already built the container, so it's not actually getting registered.
If, for some reason, you need to add registrations to an already-built container, you need to create an all new ContainerBuilder and call builder.Update(container). However, I strongly recommend you just reorder things so the container is built last rather than go the Update route if possible.