I'm starting to implement AutoMapper, first I managed to integrate it with Castle.Windsor, which I'm already using. Now I have a Post entity which I want to map to either a LinkPostModel or an ImagePostModel. Both inherit from PostModel
1) This is what I have so far:
public class PostModelFromPostEntityConverter : ITypeConverter<Post, PostModel>
{
private readonly IPostService postService;
public PostModelFromPostEntityConverter(IPostService postService)
{
if (postService == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("postService");
}
this.postService = postService;
}
public PostModel Convert(ResolutionContext context)
{
Post post = (Post)context.SourceValue;
Link link = post.Link;
if (link.Type == LinkType.Html)
{
return new LinkPostModel
{
Description = link.Description,
PictureUrl = link.Picture,
PostId = post.Id,
PostSlug = postService.GetTitleSlug(post),
Timestamp = post.Created,
Title = link.Title,
UserMessage = post.UserMessage,
UserDisplayName = post.User.DisplayName
};
}
else if (link.Type == LinkType.Image)
{
return new ImagePostModel
{
PictureUrl = link.Picture,
PostId = post.Id,
PostSlug = postService.GetTitleSlug(post),
Timestamp = post.Created,
UserMessage = post.UserMessage,
UserDisplayName = post.User.DisplayName
};
}
return null;
}
}
Obviously the point in implementing AutoMapper is removing repeat code like this, so how am I supposed to map the common stuff, before adding my custom rules (such as the if-clause)
Ideally I'd want this to be something like:
public class PostModelFromPostEntityConverter : ITypeConverter<Post, PostModel>
{
[...]
public PostModel Convert(ResolutionContext context)
{
Post post = (Post)context.SourceValue;
Link link = post.Link;
if (link.Type == LinkType.Html)
{
return Mapper.Map<Post, LinkPostModel>(post);
// and a few ForMember calls?
}
else if (link.Type == LinkType.Image)
{
return Mapper.Map<Post, ImagePostModel>(post);
// and a few ForMember calls?
}
return null;
}
}
2) After this mapping is complete. I have a "parent" mapping, where I need to map an IEnumerable<Post> the following model:
public class PostListModel : IHasOpenGraphMetadata
{
public OpenGraphModel OpenGraph { get; set; } // og:model just describes the latest post
public IList<PostModel> Posts { get; set; }
}
So basically I'd need another TypeConverter (right?), which allows me to map the posts list first, and then create the og:model
I have this, but it feels kind of clunky, I feel it could be better:
public class PostListModelFromPostEntityEnumerableConverter : ITypeConverter<IEnumerable<Post>, PostListModel>
{
public PostListModel Convert(ResolutionContext context)
{
IEnumerable<Post> posts = (IEnumerable<Post>)context.SourceValue;
PostListModel result = new PostListModel
{
Posts = posts.Select(Mapper.Map<Post, PostModel>).ToList()
};
Post first = posts.FirstOrDefault();
result.OpenGraph = Mapper.Map<Post, OpenGraphModel>(first);
return result;
}
}
3) I didn't actually run the code yet, so another question comes to mind, and that is why aren't mappings strongly typed in converters?
IEnumerable<Post> posts = (IEnumerable<Post>)context.SourceValue;
where it could actually be
IEnumerable<Post> posts = context.SourceValue;