Fun with ASP.NET MVC3, MEF and NuGet

APRIL 12, 2023 | SLIDE 1


www.realdolmen.com

FUN WITH ASP.NET MVC 3,MEF AND NUGET

Maarten Balliauw

http://about.me/maartenballiauw

http://blog.maartenballiauw.be

@maartenballiauw



http://blog.maartenballiauw.be/



WHO AM I?

Maarten Balliauw Antwerp, Belgium www.realdolmen.com Focus on web

ASP.NET MVC, PHP, Azure, SignalR, … MVP Windows Azure (formerly ASP.NET)

Co-founder of AZUG http://blog.maartenballiauw.be @maartenballiauw

Me, looking intelligent with glasses


AGENDA

Technologies & techniques used ASP.NET MVC 3 Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) NuGet

Creating application components Building an application Conclusion Further information Q&A


ASP.NET MVC 3

All the new stuff: Razor view engine Global Action Filters Unobtrusive Ajax & Client Validation Better Visual Studio tooling

And a very interesting one for doing LEGO development: Better support for Dependency Injection


var partA =new PartA(new PartB())

DEPENDENCY INJECTION?

Part A

I need a “Part B”

!

Me on a typicalwork day

Coming up!


Container

DEPENDENCY INJECTION?

Part A

I need a “Part B”

!

Part B

Let me see...

There you go!


WHAT ABOUT ASP.NET MVC 3?

ASP.NET MVC 3 uses DependencyResolver

: IDependencyResolver GetService() GetServices()

Register it on application start


WHAT ABOUT ASP.NET MVC 3?

ASP.NET MVC will / can query the IDependencyResolver for Controllers View engines & view pages Filters Model validators Model metadata

Check Brad Wilson’s blog for examples on all of these http://bradwilson.typepad.com/blog/2010/07/service-

location-pt1-introduction.html

Value providers Model binders Controller activator View page activator


DEPENDENCY INJECTION in ASP.NET MVC 3


MANAGED EXTENSIBILITYFRAMEWORK (MEF)

Cool as ICE: Import, Compose, Export

MEF catalogHomeControll

er

[Import]IRule rule;

SomeRuleImpl

[Export(typeof(IRule)]

MEF container

Let me see...

There you go!


MEF IN ASP.NET MVC 3

Build an IDependencyResolver based on MEF container

Use has a built-in IDependencyResolver has a “Convention” model is available on NuGet mefcontrib.codeplex.com

http://mefcontrib.codeplex.com/


NUGET

“NuGet is a Visual Studio extension that makes it easy to install and update open source libraries and tools in Visual Studio.”Publish your own packages

Create & use your own feed+


USING MEFCONTRIBand finding it on NuGet


MEFCONTRIB.MVC3

Optional addition for Adds some things to your application:

AppStart code that does the wiring A CompositionDependencyResolver Will check all assemblies in /bin Will export everything : IController by convention


CONVENTIONS BASED MODEL

public class MvcApplicationRegistry : PartRegistry { public MvcApplicationRegistry() { Scan(x => { x.Assembly(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly()); x.Directory(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory + "\bin"); });

Part() .ForTypesAssignableFrom<IController>() .MakeNonShared() .ExportTypeAs<IController>() .ExportType() .Imports( // ... ); }}


THIS ALL MAKES ME THINK...

Package company components using NuGet?

Distribute them in a custom feed? Use ASP.NET MVC 3? Wire everything with MEF & MefContrib? Pure application Lego!

Me, thinking


CREATING APPLICATION COMPONENTS


WHAT’S NEXT?

Building it MSBuild (or whatever! Nuget.exe is all that matters)

Hosting it Create a NuGet server Drop everything in a folder Use a NaaS solution: www.myget.org

Using it Reference the feed Download & install components needed Assemble using MEF (or another IoC)

Install-Package NuGet.Server

http://www.myget.org/


A QUICK COMMERCIAL PLUG

Create your own NuGet feed Packages from official feed Uploaded/pushed packages No need to setup & maintain your own NuGet Server Free! www.myget.org



CREATING A PRIVATE NUGET FEED


LET’S SEE IF WE CAN BUILD THIS...

TPS Reports Cover Sheet Generator

(ASP.NET MVC 3)Domain

layer

Domain.TpsReports

Authentication

AccountControllerContracts

And their implementations...

ThemeDefault theme

Packagedas .nupkg

Wiredwith MEF


BUILDING AN APPLICATIONCover Sheet Generator


CONCLUSION

You can build an app like a Lego set Requires “bricks” (NuGet packages) Requires “glue” (MEF / MefContrib / IoC)

Requires you to think in terms of components Structure is key!

Not a best-practice architecture Just something we toyed with on a project Proved to work (for the customer)


FURTHER INFORMATION

On the Internet: www.nuget.org www.myget.org mefcontrib.codeplex.com

http://www.nuget.org/


http://mefcontrib.codeplex.com/


THANK YOU FOR JOINING

Me, having a question

Maarten Balliauw


http://blog.maartenballiauw.be

@maartenballiauw





Technology

Fun with ASP.NET MVC3, MEF and NuGet