Modifying the DataSourceRequest Object to Map ViewModel Objects to EF Core Entities and Support Filtering and Sorting

Updated on Dec 10, 2025

Environment

Product Version	2023.1.117
Product	DataSource for ASP.NET Core

Description

I want to use Model Mapping, but my view model object and entities returned by Entity Framework are not identical. Thus, when I follow the Model mapping documentation I get an exception.

I have an EF Core entity:

C#

public class Product
{
 public long ID {get;set;}
 public string Product_Name {get;set;}
}

And a corresponding ViewModel:

C#

public class ProductVM
{
  public long Id {get;set;}
  public string ProductName {get;set;}
}

Solution

A possible approach to resolve the issue is to implement model mapping and map the different model properties to support filtering and sorting. The solution below is suggested by Dave, a member of our forums, and shows how to map model properties so filtering and sorting can be used:

C#

    public static class DataSourceRequestExtensions
    {
        public static void RemapMember(this DataSourceRequest request, string memberName, string newMemberName)
        {
            foreach (var sort in request.Sorts)
            {
                if (sort.Member.Equals(memberName))
                {
                    sort.Member = newMemberName;
                }
            }

            foreach (var filter in request.Filters)
            {
                if (filter is CompositeFilterDescriptor compositeFilterDescriptor)
                {
                    foreach (var compositeFilter in compositeFilterDescriptor.FilterDescriptors)
                    {
                        RemapFilterDescription(compositeFilter, memberName, newMemberName);
                    }
                }
                RemapFilterDescription(filter, memberName, newMemberName);
            }
        }

        private static void RemapFilterDescription(IFilterDescriptor filter, string memberName, string newMemberName)
        {
            if (!(filter is FilterDescriptor descriptor)) return;

            if (descriptor.Member.Equals(memberName))
            {
                descriptor.Member = newMemberName;
            }
        }
    }

Use the extension method to map the model properties so filtering and sorting works as expected:

C#

        public ActionResult Grid_Read([DataSourceRequest] DataSourceRequest request)
        {
            var data = myProductsService.GetAllProducts();
            request.RemapMember("Id", "ID");
            request.RemapMember("ProductName", "Product_Name");
            var dsResult = data.ToDataSourceResult(request, model => new ProductVM()
            {
                Id = model.ID,
                ProductName = model.Product_Name
            });
            return Json(dsResult);
        }

More ASP.NET Core Grid and DataSource Resources

• ASP.NET Core DataSource Documentation

• ASP.NET Core DataSource Demos

• ASP.NET Core Grid Documentation

• ASP.NET Core Grid Demos

• ASP.NET Core Grid Product Page

• Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core Video Onboarding Course (Free for trial users and license holders)

• Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core Forums

See Also

• Server-Side API Reference of the Grid for ASP.NET Core
• Client-Side API Reference of the Grid for ASP.NET Core
• Server-Side API Reference of the DataSource for ASP.NET Core
• Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core Breaking Changes
• Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core Knowledge Base