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C# Optional<TObject> as a return type?

Often i have a method where i want to return the error if something goes wrong, and instead of returning null, I want something less prone to errors at runtime and more easy to consume. Is there anything already done in .Net or maybe a nuget package?
Maybe have a constructor with optional parameters or object initializer would be enough?
This would have been the first approach but then every new Dto has to either have these Error property or inherit from a base class.
if (condition)
{
return new MyDto(null, error);
}
return new MyDto(someVariable, null);
So I've made this class to use a return type:
public class Optional<TObject> where TObject : class
{
public Optional(TObject? value)
{
Value = value;
}
public Optional(String error)
{
Error = error;
}
public TObject? Value { get; }
public String Error { get;} = String.Empty;
public Boolean IsError => !String.IsNullOrEmpty(Error);
}
I return it in the method:
if (condition)
{
return new Optional(error);
}
return new Optional(new MyDto(someVariable));
And then consume it like this:
var result = await myService.GetSomethingAsync();
if(result.IsError)
{
await DisplayAlert("error", result.Error, "Ok");
}
else
{
await DoSomethingElse(result.Value);
}

By creating a small class hierarchy, you could ensure that the Value property is only available when no error occurred
public abstract class Result
{
public virtual string Message => null;
public static Error Error(string message) => new Error(message);
public static Okay<T> Okay<T>(T value) where T : class => new Okay<T>(value);
}
public class Error : Result
{
public Error(string errorMessage) => Message = errorMessage;
override public string Message { get; }
}
public class Okay<T> : Result
where T : class
{
public Okay(T value) => Value = value;
public T Value { get; }
}
Usage
Result result = Result.Error("Something went wrong");
// OR
Result result = Result.Okay(new MyDto(someVariable));
if (result is Okay<MyDto> dtoResult) {
Console.WriteLine(dtoResult.Value);
} else {
Console.WriteLine(result.Message);
}
Or by using a recursive pattern, we can retrieve the value into a variable directly
if (result is Okay<MyDto> { Value: var dto }) {
Console.WriteLine(dto);
} else {
Console.WriteLine(result.Message);
}
Note that I have declared the Message property in the abstract base class Result, so that you don't have to cast to the Error type to get the message.
I used null as defualt value for the error message, as it allows us to write
Console.Writeline(result.Message ?? "okay");

This OneOf recommendation you got looks promising. I will personally have a look at it later.
What I do with my services is to standardize the result they return by using a SvcResult class or an inherited class.
Example:
public class SvcResult
{
public List<Error> Errors { get; } // Error is a class of my own. Add set; if deserialization is needed.
public bool Success { get; } // Add set; if deserialization is needed.
// Then parameterless constructor for a successful result.
// Then parameterized constructor to receive errors for a failed result.
}
That is the class for side-effect service calling. If The service returns data, I derive from the above to create DataSvcResult:
public class DataSvcResult<TResult> : SvcResult
{
public TResult Data { get; }
// Add constructor that receives TResult for a successful object result.
// Expose base class constructor that takes errors.
}
Basically that's what I do. But that OneOf thing, though. Looks super intersting.

ASP.NET Web API possible deserialization issue while using flurl

I have a ASP.NET(C#, .NET 4.6.1) Web-Api-GET function which returns a complex object instance and is of generic type. Here is the return type definition (Note that the classes are much expansive in reality).
public class FileProcessInstance
{
public FileProcessInstance()
{ }
//ID that identifies file by primary key of log table
public int FileLogID;
//File name without path as received
public string OriginialFileName;
//Path with file name where file can be physically accessed
public string FileSharePath;
}
public class CommonStatusPayload<T> : CommonStatus
{
public CommonStatusPayload() : base(false)
{
Payload = default(T);
}
public CommonStatusPayload(T payload, bool status)
: base(status)
{
Payload = payload;
}
public virtual T Payload { get; private set; }
}
public class CommonStatus
{
public CommonStatus() : this(false)
{
}
public CommonStatus(bool status)
{
Status = status;
}
public bool Status { get; set; }
}
Now my web api looks like this:
[HttpGet]
public CommonStatusPayload<List<FileProcessInstance>> GetFilesForProcessing()
{
List<FileProcessInstance> lst = new List<FileProcessInstance>() { new FileProcessInstance() { FileLogID = 1, FileSharePath = #"\\d\s", OriginialFileName = "d.txt" } };
CommonStatusPayload<List<FileProcessInstance>> cs = new CommonStatusPayload<List<FileProcessInstance>>(lst, true);
return cs;
}
The issue is, a call to this api from C# code would receive null as payload, while Postman request does receive proper payload.
Now my client code looks like this:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var lst = GetFilesForProcessing();
}
private static List<FileProcessInstance> GetFilesForProcessing()
{
List<FileProcessInstance> lst = new List<FileProcessInstance>();
try
{
Task<CommonStatusPayload<List<FileProcessInstance>>> task = GetFilesForProcessingFromAPI();
task.Wait();
if (task.Result.Payload != null)
lst.AddRange(task.Result.Payload);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
}
return lst;
}
private static async Task<CommonStatusPayload<List<FileProcessInstance>>> GetFilesForProcessingFromAPI()
{
return await "http://localhost:10748/api/values/GetFilesForProcessing".ToString()
.GetAsync().ReceiveJson<CommonStatusPayload<List<FileProcessInstance>>>();
}
I have observed that the return payload works if it were to be a a) list by itslef b) a local instance of CommonStatusPayload<List<FileProcessInstance>>. This makes me believe that there is a possible deserialization issue, when the result is handed over to C# code from web-api. A fiddler check for the same request turns out to be just fine, just that C# client would not receive proper result.
Any guess as to what could be the underlying reason for payload being null?

I found the root cause of this issue. The private setter for Payload within CommonStatusPayload class is causing the deserialization to fail. Although for the intended behavior, i wanted the payload to be set only via constructor/method always to be associated with a relative status, at-least this change allows me to continue.
I did find some other questions here, related to JSON.NET with protected setters having same issues.

In MVVMCross, is it possible to close a viewmodel and pass values back to the previous viewmodel in the navigation stack?

Consider the following example. I have three view models, ViewModel_A, ViewModel_B, and ViewModel_Values.
I want to be able to navigate to ViewModel_Values from either ViewModel_A or ViewModel_B, select a value from ViewModel_Values, then return that value to the calling view model.
Is there a way of passing arguments to previous view models in the navigation stack so that I can simply call ViewModel_Values.Close(this), thereby ensuring that the ViewModels_Values is decoupled from any other view models and can be used with arbitrary "parent" view models?

MvvmCross 5 onwards
From MvvmCross 5 you can use the new IMvxNavigationService that allows you to have a much richer navigation. One of the new features is the possibility to await a value from another ViewModel after navigating to it and should be the approach to take after MvvmCross 5 instead of Messenger, e.g.:
public class ViewModel_A : MvxViewModel
{
private readonly IMvxNavigationService _navigationService;
public ViewModel_A(IMvxNavigationService navigation)
{
_navigationService = navigationService;
}
public override async Task Initialize()
{
//Do heavy work and data loading here
}
public async Task SomeMethod()
{
var result = await _navigationService.Navigate<ViewModel_Values, MyObject, MyReturnObject>(new MyObject());
//Do something with the result MyReturnObject that you get back
}
}
public class ViewModel_Values : MvxViewModel<MyObject, MyReturnObject>
{
private readonly IMvxNavigationService _navigationService;
public ViewModel_Values(IMvxNavigationService navigation)
{
_navigationService = navigationService;
}
public override void Prepare(MyObject parameter)
{
//Do anything before navigating to the view
//Save the parameter to a property if you want to use it later
}
public override async Task Initialize()
{
//Do heavy work and data loading here
}
public async Task SomeMethodToClose()
{
// here you returned the value
await _navigationService.Close(this, new MyReturnObject());
}
}
More info here
HIH

Use messaging center. Here is the sample code.
//for trigger
MessagingCenter.Send<object> (this, "Hi");
//put this where you want to receive your data
MessagingCenter.Subscribe<object> (this, "Hi", (sender) => {
// do something whenever the "Hi" message is sent
});

Installing & using the MvxMessenger plugin is a great way to decouple view model communication in MvvmCross -
In your case, you could set up a new message -
public class ValuesChangedMessage : MvxMessage
{
public ValuesChangedMessage(object sender, int valuea, string valueb)
: base(sender)
{
Valuea = valuea;
Valueb = valueb;
}
public int Valuea { get; private set; }
public string Valueb { get; private set; }
}
In ViewModel_Values, you would act on / publish your UX changes with -
_mvxMessenger.Publish<ValuesChangedMessage>(new ValuesChangedMessage(this, 1, "boo!"));
And in ViewModel_A, ViewModel_B you would subscribe and act on them (as your ViewModel A / B would be still in the navigation stack when you pushed ViewModel_Values from them, so they could receive the message) -
private MvxSubscriptionToken _messageToken;
_messageToken = _mvxMessenger.Subscribe<ValuesChangedMessage>(async message =>
{
// use message.Valuea etc ..
});
More infos here -
https://www.mvvmcross.com/documentation/plugins/messenger?scroll=644
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HQdvrWWzkIk

In my case of trying to navigate in this pattern:
//pseudo code
"ModelA" => "ModelB<List<MyObject>>" => "ModelC<MyObject>"
OR
//pseudo code
"ModelA" => "ModelC<MyObject>"
I used the following work around in my ViewDestroy() override of ModelB<List>:
private bool destroyView = true;
public bool DestroyView
{
get => destroyView;
set
{
destroyView = value;
RaisePropertyChanged(() => DestroyView);
}
}
public override void ViewDestroy(bool viewFinishing)
{
viewFinishing = DestroyView;
base.ViewDestroy(viewFinishing);
}
private async Task ModifySelectedObject()
{
DestroyView = false;
MyObject obj = SelectedObject;
MyObject modifiedObj = await _navigationService.Navigate<ModifySingleViewModel, MyObject, MyObject>(new MyObject());
if (modifiedObj != null)
{
obj = modifiedObj;
}
else
{
await Application.Current.MainPage.DisplayAlert("", "No changes made.", "OK");
}
DestroyView = true;
}
This keeps the original
"await _navigationService.Navigate<ModifyMultipleViewModel,
List, List>(new MyObject);"
from ModelA open when navigating to ModelC from ModelB, but still allows the ViewDestroy Method to close otherwise.

Implementing simple cache in Windows Phone 8.1 Class Library

I am trying to implement a simple caching mechanism in a windows phone 8.1 API that I am creating. I have chosen a Windows Phone Portable Class Library template in visual studio.
Refrence : http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Windows-Phone-8-1-Development-for-Absolute-Beginners/Part-22-Storing-and-Retrieving-Serialized-Data
The cache class looks something like this,
[DataContract]
class cache
{
private const string JSONFILENAME = "data.json";
[DataMember]
Dictionary<Int32, item> cDictionary;
[DataMember]
int _maxSize;
public int MaxSize
{
get { return _maxSize; }
set { _maxSize = value; }
}
public cache(int maxSize){
cDictionary = new Dictionary<int, item>();
_maxSize = maxSize;
}
public void push(Int32 id, item obj)
{
if (!cDictionary.ContainsKey(id)) {
cDictionary.Add(id, obj);
}
}
internal static async Task<cache> Load()
{
cache obj = null;
try
{
var jsonSerializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(cache));
using (var myStream = await ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder.OpenStreamForReadAsync(JSONFILENAME))
{
obj = (cache)jsonSerializer.ReadObject(myStream);
}
}
catch (FileNotFoundException)
{
obj = null;
}
return obj;
}
internal static async void Save(cache obj)
{
var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(cache));
using (var stream = await ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder.OpenStreamForWriteAsync(
JSONFILENAME,
CreationCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting))
{
serializer.WriteObject(stream, obj);
}
}}
The item class whose objects go into the dictionary looks like this,
[DataContract]
class item
{
[DataMember]
string _fName;
public string FName
{
get { return _fName; }
set { _fName = value; }
}
[DataMember]
string _lName;
public string LName
{
get { return _lName; }
set { _lName = value; }
}
[DataMember]
int _id;
public int Id
{
get { return _id; }
set { _id = value; }
}
public item(int id, string fName, string lName)
{
this.Id = id;
this.FName = fName;
this.LName = lName;
}
}
The idea is : The end user creates an instance of the api and calls a method doSomething(). The method first looks in the cache (not shown in the example) if found, returns the Item object back, or else, gets the item object from a web service(not shown) and then push it to cache.
public class api
{
cache tCache;
string apiKey;
public laas(string apiKey)
{
this.apiKey = apiKey;
this.tCache = new cache(100);
}
public async void Initialize(api obj)
{
//If cache exists
obj.tCache = await cache.Load();
if (obj.tCache == null)
{
obj.tCache = new cache(100);
}
}
public void doSomething(string id)
{
tCache.push(id.GetHashCode(),new item(1,"xxxx","xxx"));
cache.Save(tCache);
}
}
I wanted to initialize/load the cache in the constructor of the api class, but since ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder provide only async methods to read and write data from persistent storage, I created a separate static async class Initiialize() that would load the cache, since making an async constructor makes no sense.
Problem: the statement tCache.push(id.GetHashCode(),new item(1,"xxxx","xxx")); in the doSomething() throws null reference exceptions. This could possibilly be happening because the tCache hasn't been loaded/initialized yet due to the async operation.
I had tried obj.tCache = await cache.Load().Result to wait for the loading to complete, but that hangs my application. (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/jj991977.aspx)
Could you please point me in the right directions here? Is my diagnonis right? Is there a better way to do it? Any pointer is appreciated.
Thanks!

What is probably happening is that you're calling Initialize but not awaiting it, because it is async void.
What you need to do is change:
public async void Initialize(api obj)
To:
public async Task Initialize(api obj)
Then, you'll need to await Initialize(obj) which will ensure that caches completion before use.
Note that async void is ment only for top level event handlers and shouldn't be used otherwise.
Also, the reason Task.Result hangs your application is because it is causing a deadlock, which is related to the way async marshals your synchronization context between calls.

How to wait until a process finishes in EntityFramework?

I'm working with EntityFramework and Silverlight, and I'm dealing with this situation. When I try to load the data from a EntitySet, I have to get the data from a callback.
Now, I need to get the data inmediately, I mean wait until the process finished.
In the next code, the part which I'd like to wait the process is Objectives property. Or I don't know if I can convert the callback method into a IAsyncResult, or something like that.
public class EntityService : IEntityService
{
public EntityService()
{
_entities = new DatabaseDomainContext();
}
private DatabaseDomainContext _entities;
public DatabaseDomainContext Entities
{
get { return _entities; }
set { _entities = value; }
}
private EntityList<Objective> _objectives;
public ObservableCollection<Objective> Objectives
{
get
{
if (_objectives == null)
{
var loadOp = _entities.Load(_entities.GetObjectivesQuery()/*, Callback, true*/);
_objectives = new EntityList<Objective>(_entities.Objectives, loadOp.Entities);
}
return _objectives;
}
}
}

Implement INotifyPropertyChanged. When the results return, raise NotifyPropertyChanged.