I am trying to figure out how to generically map a domain model to a presentation model. For example, given the following simple objects and interfaces ...
// Product
public class Product : IProduct
{
public int ProductID { get; set; }
public string ProductName { get; set; }
}
public interface IProduct
{
int ProductID { get; set; }
string ProductName { get; set; }
}
// ProductPresentationModel
public class ProductPresentationModel : IProductPresentationModel
{
public int ProductID { get; set; }
public string ProductName { get; set; }
public bool DisplayOrHide { get; set; }
}
public interface IProductPresentationModel
{
int ProductID { get; set; }
string ProductName { get; set; }
bool DisplayOrHide { get; set; }
}
I would like to be able to write code like this ...
MapperObject mapper = new MapperObject();
ProductService service = new ProductService();
ProductPresentationModel model = mapper.Map(service.GetProductByID(productID));
... in which the "MapperObject" could automatically figure out which properties map across the two objects and what sort of objects it is mapping using something like reflection, convention-based mapping, etc. So, I could then just as easily try to map objects like UserPresentationModel and User with the same MapperObject.
Is this possible? If so, how?
EDIT: Just for clarity, here is an example of a non-generic MapperObject that I am currently using:
public class ProductMapper
{
public ProductPresentationModel Map(Product product)
{
var presentationModel = new ProductPresentationModel(new ProductModel())
{
ProductID = product.ProductID,
ProductName = product.ProductName,
ProductDescription = product.ProductDescription,
PricePerMonth = product.PricePerMonth,
ProductCategory = product.ProductCategory,
ProductImagePath = product.ProductImagePath,
ProductActive = product.ProductActive
};
return presentationModel;
}
}
I am still trying to work out how to get this to work with List, instead of just a single Product, but that's a different topic :)
I see want you want. You want to map your domain entities (Product) to aome kind of DTO object (ProductPresentationModel) for communication with your clients (GUI, external services etc).
I you have all this functionality you're looking for packed into AutoMapper framework.
You can write like this with AutoMapper: Mapper.CreateMap();
look at this wiki https://github.com/AutoMapper/AutoMapper/wiki/Flattening
Good luck. /Best Regards Magnus