What is DNTFrameworkCore?

DNTFrameworkCore is a Lightweight and Extensible Infrastructure for Building High-Quality Web Applications Based on ASP.NET Core and has the following goals:

• Common structures in various applications like Cross-Cutting Concerns, etc
• Follow DRY principle to focus on main business logic
• Reduce the development time
• Less bug and stop bug propagation
• Reduce the training time of the new developer with low knowledge about OOP and OOD

CRUD-based Thinking

Application Service

public interface IBlogService : IEntityService<int, BlogModel>
{
}

public class BlogService : EntityService<Blog, int, BlogModel>, IBlogService
{
    private readonly IMapper _mapper;

    public BlogService(
        IDbContext dbContext,
        IEventBus bus,
        IMapper mapper) : base(dbContext, bus)
    {
        _mapper = mapper ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(mapper));
    }

    public override Task<IPagedResult<BlogModel>> FetchPagedListAsync(FilteredPagedRequest request,
        CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
    {
        return EntitySet.AsNoTracking()
            .Select(b => new BlogModel
            {
                Id = b.Id,
                Version = b.Version,
                Url = b.Url,
                Title = b.Title
            }).ToPagedListAsync(request, cancellationToken);
    }

    protected override void MapToEntity(BlogModel model, Blog blog)
    {
        _mapper.Map(model, blog);
    }

    protected override BlogModel MapToModel(Blog blog)
    {
        return _mapper.Map<BlogModel>(blog);
    }
}

ASP.NET Core WebAPI

[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class BlogsController : EntityController<IBlogService, int, BlogModel>
{
    public BlogsController(IBlogService service) : base(service)
    {
    }

    protected override string CreatePermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_Create;
    protected override string EditPermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_Edit;
    protected override string ViewPermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_View;
    protected override string DeletePermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_Delete;
}

ASP.NET Core MVC

public class BlogsController : EntityController<IBlogService, int, BlogModel>
{
   public BlogsController(IBlogService service) : base(service)
   {
   }

   protected override string CreatePermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_Create;
   protected override string EditPermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_Edit;
   protected override string ViewPermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_View;
   protected override string DeletePermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_Delete;
   protected override string ViewName => "_BlogPartial";
}

_BlogPartial.cshtml

@inherits EntityFormRazorPage<BlogModel>
@{
   Layout = "_EntityFormLayout";
   EntityName = "Blog";
   DeletePermission = PermissionNames.Blogs_Delete;
   CreatePermission = PermissionNames.Blogs_Create;
   EditPermission = PermissionNames.Blogs_Edit;
   EntityDisplayName = "Blog";
}

<div class="form-group row">
   <div class="col col-md-8">
       <label asp-for="Title" class="col-form-label text-md-left"></label>
       <input asp-for="Title" autocomplete="off" class="form-control"/>
       <span asp-validation-for="Title" class="text-danger"></span>
   </div>
</div>
<div class="form-group row">
   <div class="col">
       <label asp-for="Url" class="col-form-label text-md-left"></label>
       <input asp-for="Url" class="form-control" type="url"/>
       <span asp-validation-for="Url" class="text-danger"></span>
   </div>
</div>

Installation

To create your first project based on DNTFrameworkCore you can install the following packages:

PM> Install-Package DNTFrameworkCore
PM> Install-Package DNTFrameworkCore.EFCore
PM> Install-Package DNTFrameworkCore.EFCore.SqlServer
PM> Install-Package DNTFrameworkCore.Web
PM> Install-Package DNTFrameworkCore.Web.Tenancy
PM> Install-Package DNTFrameworkCore.Web.EFCore
PM> Install-Package DNTFrameworkCore.Licensing
PM> Install-Package DNTFrameworkCore.FluentValidation

OR

1- Run the following command to install boilerplate project template based on ASP.NET Core Web API and DNTFrameworkCore:

dotnet new --install DNTFrameworkCoreTemplateAPI::*‌‌

2- Create new project with installed template:

dotnet new dntcore-api

Now you have a solution like below that contains complete identity management feature includes user, role, and dynamic permission management and also integrated with persistent JWT authentication mechanism:

For more info about templates, you can watch DNTFrameworkCoreTemplate repository

Features

• Application Input Validation
• Transaction Management
• Eventing
• EntityGraph Tracking (Master-Detail)
• Numbering
• Functional Programming Error Handling
• Permission Authorization
• EntityService
• EntityController (API and MVC)
• DbLogger Provider based on EFCore
• ProtectionKey EFCore Store
• Hooks
• SoftDelete
• Tenancy
• Tracking mechanism (ICreationTracking, IModificationTracking)
• FluentValidation Integration
• BackgroundTaskQueue
• RowIntegrity
• StartupTask mechanism
• CQRS (coming soon)
• EntityHistory (coming soon)

Usage

DNTFrameworkCore.TestAPI Complete ASP.NET Core Web API

Create Entity

public class Task : Entity<int>, INumberedEntity, IHasRowVersion, IHasRowIntegrity, ICreationTracking, IModificationTracking
{
    public const int MaxTitleLength = 256;
    public const int MaxDescriptionLength = 1024;

    public string Title { get; set; }
    public string NormalizedTitle { get; set; }
    public string Number { get; set; }
    public string Description { get; set; }
    public TaskState State { get; set; } = TaskState.Todo;
    public byte[] Version { get; set; }
}

Implement ProjectDbContext that inherited from DbContextCore

public class ProjectDbContext : DbContextCore
{
    public ProjectDbContext(DbContextOptions<ProjectDbContext> options, IEnumerable<IHook> hooks) : base(options, hooks)
    {
    }

    protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
    {               
        modelBuilder.ApplyConfigurationsFromAssembly(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());

        modelBuilder.AddJsonFields();
        modelBuilder.AddTrackingFields<long>();
        modelBuilder.AddIsDeletedField();
        modelBuilder.AddRowVersionField();
        modelBuilder.AddRowIntegrityField();
            
        modelBuilder.NormalizeDateTime();
        modelBuilder.NormalizeDecimalPrecision();
            
        base.OnModelCreating(modelBuilder);
    }
}

Create Model/DTO

[LocalizationResource(Name = "SharedResource", Location = "DNTFrameworkCore.TestAPI")]
public class TaskModel : MasterModel<int>, IValidatableObject
{
    public string Title { get; set; }

    [MaxLength(50, ErrorMessage = "Validation from DataAnnotations")]
    public string Number { get; set; }

    public string Description { get; set; }
    public TaskState State { get; set; } = TaskState.Todo;

    public IEnumerable<ValidationResult> Validate(ValidationContext validationContext)
    {
        if (Title == "IValidatableObject")
        {
            yield return new ValidationResult("Validation from IValidatableObject");
        }
    }
}

Note: Based on validation infrastructure, you can validate Model/DTO with various approaches, using by DataAnnotation ValidateAttribute, Implementing IValidatableObject, or Implement IModelValidator that exist in DNTFrameworkCore package.

public class TaskValidator : ModelValidator<TaskModel>
{
    public override IEnumerable<ModelValidationResult> Validate(TaskModel model)
    {
        if (!Enum.IsDefined(typeof(TaskState), model.State))
        {
            yield return new ModelValidationResult(nameof(TaskModel.State), "Validation from IModelValidator");
        }
    }
}

Also in most cases, one Model/DTO can be enough for your requirements about Create/Edit/View an entity. However, you can create ReadModel like below:

public class TaskReadModel : ReadModel<int>
{
    public string Title { get; set; }
    public string Number { get; set; }
    public TaskState State { get; set; } = TaskState.Todo;
}

Implement Service

public interface ITaskService : IEntityService<int, TaskReadModel, TaskModel, TaskFilteredPagedRequest>
{
}

public class TaskService : EntityService<Task, int, TaskReadModel, TaskModel, TaskFilteredPagedRequest>,
    ITaskService
{
    private readonly IMapper _mapper;
    public TaskService(IDbContext dbContext, IEventBus bus, IMapper mapper) :base(dbContext, bus)
    {
        _mapper = mapper ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(mapper);
    }

    public override Task<IPagedResult<TaskReadModel>> FetchPagedListAsync(TaskFilteredPagedRequest request,
        CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
    {
        return EntitySet.AsNoTracking()
            .WhereIf(model.State.HasValue, t => t.State == model.State)
            .Select(t => new TaskReadModel
            {
                Id = t.Id,
                Title = t.Title,
                State = t.State,
                Number = t.Number
            }).ToPagedListAsync(request, cancellationToken);
    }

    protected override void MapToEntity(TaskModel model, Task task)
    {
        _mapper.Map(model, task);
    }

    protected override TaskModel MapToModel(Task task)
    {
        return _mapper.Map<TaskModel>(task);
    }
}

In DNTFrameworkCore.EFCore there is no dependency to AutoMapper or other mapper libraries, then you can do mapping between Entity and Model manually by implementing MapToModel and MapToEntity abstract methods.

Implement API Controller

[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class
    TasksController : EntityController<ITaskService, int, TaskReadModel, TaskModel, TaskFilteredPagedRequest>
{
    public TasksController(ITaskService service) : base(service)
    {
    }

    protected override string CreatePermissionName => PermissionNames.Tasks_Create;
    protected override string EditPermissionName => PermissionNames.Tasks_Edit;
    protected override string ViewPermissionName => PermissionNames.Tasks_View;
    protected override string DeletePermissionName => PermissionNames.Tasks_Delete;
}

[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class BlogsController : EntityController<IBlogService, int, BlogModel>
{
    public BlogsController(IBlogService service) : base(service)
    {
    }

    protected override string CreatePermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_Create;
    protected override string EditPermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_Edit;
    protected override string ViewPermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_View;
    protected override string DeletePermissionName => PermissionNames.Blogs_Delete;
}

Task-based Thinking

Rich Domain Model

public class PriceType : Entity<long>, IAggregateRoot
{
    private PriceType(Title title)
    {
        Title = title;
    }
    
    public PriceType(Title title, IPriceTypePolicy policy)
    {
        if (title == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(title));
        if (policy == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(policy));

        Title = title;

        if (!policy.IsUnique(this)) ThrowDomainException("PriceType Title Should Be Unique");

        AddDomainEvent(new PriceTypeCreatedDomainEvent(this));
    }

    public Title Title { get; private set; }

    // public static Result<PriceType> New(Title title, IPriceTypePolicy policy)
    // {
    //     if (title == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(title));
    //     if (policy == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(policy));
    //
    //     var priceType = new PriceType(title);
    //     if (!policy.IsUnique(priceType)) return Fail<PriceType>("PriceType Title Should Be Unique");
    //
    //     priceType.AddDomainEvent(new PriceTypeCreatedDomainEvent(priceType));
    //
    //     return Ok(priceType);
    // }
}

ValueObject

public class Title : ValueObject
{
    private Title()
    {
    }

    public Title(string value)
    {
        value ??= string.Empty;

        switch (value.Length)
        {
            case 0:
                ThrowDomainException("title should not be empty");
                break;
            case > 100:
                ThrowDomainException("title is too long");
                break;
        }
    }

    public string Value { get; private set; }

    protected override IEnumerable<object> EqualityValues
    {
        get { yield return Value; }
    }

    // public static Result<Title> New(string value)
    // {
    //     value ??= string.Empty;
    //
    //     if (value.Length == 0) return Fail<Title>("title should not be empty");
    //
    //     return value.Length > 100 ? Fail<Title>("title is too long") : Ok(new Title { Value = value });
    // }

    public static implicit operator string(Title title)
    {
        return title.Value;
    }

    public static explicit operator Title(string title)
    {
        return new(title);
    }
}

DomainEvent

public sealed class PriceTypeCreatedDomainEvent : DomainEvent
{
    public PriceTypeCreatedDomainEvent(PriceType priceType)
    {
        PriceType = priceType ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(priceType));
    }

    public PriceType PriceType { get; }
}

CQRS (Command)

public sealed class CreatePriceTypeCommand : ICommand
{
    public string Title { get; }
    [JsonConstructor]
    public CreatePriceTypeCommand(string title) => Title = title;
}

CQRS (CommandHandler)

    public class PriceTypeCommandHandlers : ICommandHandler<RemovePriceTypeCommand, Result>,
       ICommandHandler<CreatePriceTypeCommand, Result>
    {
        private readonly IUnitOfWork _uow;
        private readonly IPriceTypeRepository _repository;
        private readonly IPriceTypePolicy _policy;
        private readonly IEventBus _bus;

        public PriceTypeCommandHandlers(
            IUnitOfWork uow,
            IPriceTypeRepository repository,
            IPriceTypePolicy policy,
            IEventBus bus)
        {
            _uow = uow ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(uow));
            _repository = repository ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(repository));
            _policy = policy ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(policy));
            _bus = bus ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(bus));
        }

        public async Task<Result> Handle(RemovePriceTypeCommand command, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            var priceType = await _repository.FindAsync(command.PriceTypeId, cancellationToken);
            if (priceType is null) return Result.Fail($"PriceType with id:{command.PriceTypeId} not found");
            
            //Alternative: _repository.Remove(priceType);
            _uow.Set<PriceType>().Remove(priceType);
            
            await _uow.SaveChanges(cancellationToken);
            await _bus.DispatchDomainEvents(priceType, cancellationToken);
            
            return Result.Ok();
        }

        public async Task<Result> Handle(CreatePriceTypeCommand command, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            var title = new Title(command.Title);

            var priceType = new PriceType(title, _policy);

            //Alternative: _repository.Add(priceType);
            _uow.Set<PriceType>().Add(priceType);
            
            await _uow.SaveChanges(cancellationToken);
            await _bus.DispatchDomainEvents(priceType, cancellationToken);

            return Result.None;
        }
    }

TODO

• Write unit tests for packages
• Use nullable reference types
• Use HTTP problem details
• Implement IntegrationEvent mechanism
• Dispatching DomainEvents before/after save changes
• Complete CQRS and MediatR related behaviors
• Publish DNTFrameworkCore.Cqrs.* packages to nuget.org
• Provide sample codes for multi-tenant scenarios
• Provide sample codes for using Cqrs packages and Rich Domain Model
• Complete FilterExpression class with custom DSL support for filtering mechanism
• Complete DNTFrameworkCore.NHibernate packages
• Implement a mechanism to provide correlationId in distributed systems

ASP.NET Boilerplate

DNTFrameworkCore (old versions) vs ABP Framework

A small part of this project like the following sections are taken from ABP

• Validation with refactoring to support functional programming error handling mechanism