Isolate Sample with an InMemory Database Provider

Environment

Product

Progress® Telerik® UI for ASP.NET MVC

Description

Providing a runnable ASP.NET MVC application plays a crucial role during support communication. However, more often than not, isolating a sample by stripping out the database layer inevitably opposes difficulties depending on the application's proportions

Solution

A potential way to isolate a runnable sample while preserving the database layer is to use a InMemoryDatabase Provider.

Using this tool, you can configure the application by following the next steps:

1. Install the Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.InMemory package.

2. Create a new InMemoryDatabase context class.

C#

  public class InMemoryDbContext: DbContext
  {
      public InMemoryDbContext(DbContextOptions<InMemoryDbContext> options)
         : base(options)
      { }

      protected override void OnConfiguring(DbContextOptionsBuilder optionsBuilder)
      {
          base.OnConfiguring(optionsBuilder); 
      }

      public DbSet<EmployeeViewModel> Employees { get; set; }
  }

3. Within the minimal hosting model of the application, register the InMemoryDatabase context by explicitly using the UseInMemoryDatabase() extension method.

C#

  builder.Services.AddDbContext<InMemoryDbContext>(options =>
      options.UseInMemoryDatabase("TelerikCoreDb")
  );

4. (Optional) Create a seeder, so that you can mock data onto the InMemoryDatabase context.

C#

  public class DataSeeder
  {
      public static void SeedData(InMemoryDbContext dbContext)
      {
          if (dbContext.Employees.Any())
          {
              return;
          }

          var employees = new List<EmployeeViewModel>
          {
              ...
          };

          dbContext.Employees.AddRange(employees);
          dbContext.SaveChanges();
      }
  }

5. Seed the data within the minimal hosting model.

   C#

        using (var serviceScope = app.Services.CreateScope())
        {
            var inMemoryContext = serviceScope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<InMemoryDbContext>(); // Gather a reference of the InMemoryDbContext.
            DataSeeder.SeedData(inMemoryContext); // Call the previously created DataSeeder.
        }

6. Inject the newly created InMemoryDatabase context within the desired controller.

   C#

        public class RemoteBindingController : Controller
        {
                private readonly InMemoryDbContext _dbContext;
   
                public RemoteBindingController(InMemoryDbContext dbContext)
                {
                    _dbContext = dbContext;
                }
   
                public IActionResult GetEmployees()
                {
                    var employees = _dbContext.Employees.ToList();
                    return Json(employees);
                }
        }

To see a fully runnable sample, refer to the following GitHub Example.

See Also

• Telerik UI for ASP.NET MVC Knowledge Base