How should you use UnitofWork pattern on my asp.net-mvc site (using nhibernate and ninject) - nhibernate

Question

i have followed the pattern on this site to hook up ninject and nhibernate to my asp.net-mvc3 site.
Here is the code in my global.aspx.cs:
internal class ServiceModule : NinjectModule
{
public override void Load()
{
var helper = new NHibernateHelper(connectionString);
Bind<ISessionFactory>().ToConstant(helper.SessionFactory)
.InSingletonScope();
Bind<IUnitOfWork>().To<UnitOfWork>()
.InRequestScope();
Bind<ISession>().ToProvider(new SessionProvider())
.InRequestScope();
Bind<IIntKeyedRepository<FAQ>>().To<Repository<FAQ>>()
.InRequestScope();
}
the issue is that i now need to do Update() and Add() in my controllers;
I have this as my controller code:
public FAQController(IIntKeyedRepository<FAQ> faqRepository, IUnitOfWork unitOfWork)
{
_faqRepository = faqRepository;
_unitOfWork = unitOfWork;
}
[Authorize]
[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
[ValidateInput(false)]
public ActionResult AddFAQ(FAQ contact)
{
var c = new FAQ {Question = contact.Question, Answer = contact.Answer};
_faqRepository.Add(c);
_unitOfWork.Commit();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
my main question is that it feels wrong to pass in Iunitofwork in the constructor as many other actions don't need it. I only really need it for the actions where i do updates and inserts into my db. Since i am using ninject IOC on the link above it seems to say to pass this unitofwork object through IOC.
So, is there a better more optimized way to using the UnitOfWork pattern with IOC in asp.net-mvc that does call beingtransaction for every method in my controller.

Answer 1

An alternative way to handle transactions is to use an IActionFilter Open the transaction in OnActionExecuting and commit on OnActionExecuted
public class TransactionFilter : IActionFilter
{
private readonly ISession session;
private ITransaction transaction;
public TransactionFilter(ISession session)
{
this.session = session;
}
public void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
this.transaction = this.session.BeginTransaction();
}
public void OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
{
try
{
if (this.transaction.IsActive)
{
if (filterContext.Exception == null)
{
this.transaction.Commit();
}
else
{
this.transaction.Rollback();
}
}
}
finally
{
this.transaction.Dispose();
}
}
}
Define an attribute to mark the actions that use a transaction:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Method)]
public class TransactionAttribute : Attribute
{
}
Change your Ninject configuration:
internal class ServiceModule : NinjectModule
{
public override void Load()
{
var helper = new NHibernateHelper(connectionString);
Bind<ISessionFactory>().ToConstant(helper.SessionFactory)
.InSingletonScope();
Bind<ISession>().ToProvider<SessionProvider>().InRequestScope();
Bind(typeof(IRepository<>)).To(typeof(Repository<>));
Bind(typeof(IIntKeyedRepository<>)).To(typeof(Repository<>));
BindFilter<TransactionFilter>(FilterScope.Action, null)
.WhenActionMethodHas<TransactionAttribute>();
}
}
Finally change your controller:
public FAQController(IIntKeyedRepository<FAQ> faqRepository)
{
_faqRepository = faqRepository;
}
[Transaction]
[Authorize]
[AcceptVerbs(HttpVerbs.Post)]
[ValidateInput(false)]
public ActionResult AddFAQ(FAQ contact)
{
var c = new FAQ {Question = contact.Question, Answer = contact.Answer};
_faqRepository.Add(c);
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}

Answer 2

I generally try to keep my generic IRepository implementation hidden inside the IUnitOfWork (see below).
My other recommendation is to pass a UnitOfWorkProvider or UnitOfWorkFactory to the constructor. That way you can register the transaction scope locally. This has the added benefit of being able to resolve the IRepository or ISession as you see fit, via dependency injection or manually.
using(var uow = this.UnitOfWorkProvider.New())
{
uow.Save<Faq>(myFaq);
}
Also make sure you in your IUnitOfWork.Dispose() you clean up the transaction and any data session objects / information you might have.

Answer 3

I prefer to only inject my unit of work into classes that actually use them. In most cases, the persistence classes (Repository in my case) are the only ones that need the unit of work. You want to make sure you maintain a clean separation of concerns. The controller doesn't need to know about the unit of work and shouldn't be coupled to it, either.
public class FaqRepository {
public FaqRepository(IUnitOfWork unitofWork) { ... }
public void CreateQuestion(Faq faq) {
unitOfWork.Save(faq);
unitOfWork.Commit();
}
}
If you're invoking your repository from your controller, inject the repository into your controller as follows:
public class FaqController {
public FaqController(IFaqRepository faqRepository) {...}
}
Does that make sense?