How to: Bind ASP.NET MVC Dashboard to Entity Framework (Runtime sample)

• Aug 01, 2019
• 5 minutes to read

The following example shows how to add the Entity Framework data source to the Web Dashboard’s list of data sources available to end-users. In this example, the DashboardEFDataSource class is used to establish a connection to the Entity Framework data source.

Note

A complete sample project is available at https://github.com/DevExpress-Examples/aspnet-mvc-dashboard-how-to-bind-a-dashboard-to-an-entity-framework-data-source-t551381.

Global.asax.cs

using System;
using System.Web.Http;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Routing;

namespace WebDashboard_EFDataSource {
    // Note: For instructions on enabling IIS6 or IIS7 classic mode, 
    // visit http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkId=9394801

    public class MvcApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication {
        protected void Application_Start() {
            DashboardConfig.RegisterService(RouteTable.Routes);
            AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();

            GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);
            FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
            RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);

            ModelBinders.Binders.DefaultBinder = new DevExpress.Web.Mvc.DevExpressEditorsBinder();

            DevExpress.Web.ASPxWebControl.CallbackError += Application_Error;
        }

        protected void Application_Error(object sender, EventArgs e) {
            Exception exception = System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Server.GetLastError();
            //TODO: Handle Exception
        }
    }
}

SalesPerson.cs

namespace WebDashboard_EFDataSource.Models
{
    using System;
    using System.Collections.Generic;
    using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
    using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Schema;
    using System.Data.Entity.Spatial;

    [Table("SalesPerson")]
    public partial class SalesPerson
    {
        [Key]
        [Column(Order = 0)]
        [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.None)]
        public int OrderID { get; set; }

        [StringLength(15)]
        public string Country { get; set; }

        [Key]
        [Column(Order = 1)]
        [StringLength(10)]
        public string FirstName { get; set; }

        [Key]
        [Column(Order = 2)]
        [StringLength(20)]
        public string LastName { get; set; }

        [Key]
        [Column(Order = 3)]
        [StringLength(40)]
        public string ProductName { get; set; }

        [Key]
        [Column(Order = 4)]
        [StringLength(15)]
        public string CategoryName { get; set; }

        public DateTime? OrderDate { get; set; }

        [Key]
        [Column(Order = 5, TypeName = "smallmoney")]
        public decimal UnitPrice { get; set; }

        [Key]
        [Column(Order = 6)]
        [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.None)]
        public short Quantity { get; set; }

        [Key]
        [Column(Order = 7)]
        public float Discount { get; set; }

        [Column("Extended Price", TypeName = "money")]
        public decimal? Extended_Price { get; set; }

        [Key]
        [Column("Sales Person", Order = 8)]
        [StringLength(31)]
        public string Sales_Person { get; set; }
    }
}

Index.cshtml (C#)

@Html.DevExpress().Dashboard(settings => {
    settings.Name = "Dashboard";
    settings.Width = Unit.Percentage(100);
    settings.Height = Unit.Percentage(100);
    settings.ClientSideEvents.BeforeRender = "onBeforeRender";
}).GetHtml()

DashboardConfig.cs

using DevExpress.DashboardCommon;
using DevExpress.DashboardWeb;
using DevExpress.DashboardWeb.Mvc;
using DevExpress.DataAccess.EntityFramework;
using System.Web.Routing;
using WebDashboard_EFDataSource.Models;

namespace WebDashboard_EFDataSource {
    public static class DashboardConfig {
        public static void RegisterService(RouteCollection routes) {
            routes.MapDashboardRoute("dashboardControl");
            DashboardFileStorage dashboardFileStorage = new DashboardFileStorage("~/App_Data/Dashboards");
            DashboardConfigurator.Default.SetDashboardStorage(dashboardFileStorage);

            DataSourceInMemoryStorage dataSourceStorage = new DataSourceInMemoryStorage();

            // Registers an Entity Framework data source.
            DashboardEFDataSource efDataSource = new DashboardEFDataSource("EF Data Source");
            efDataSource.ConnectionParameters = new EFConnectionParameters(typeof(NorthwindDataModel));
            dataSourceStorage.RegisterDataSource("efDataSource", efDataSource.SaveToXml());

            DashboardConfigurator.Default.SetDataSourceStorage(dataSourceStorage);
        }
    }
}

NorthwindDataModel.cs

namespace WebDashboard_EFDataSource.Models {
    using System.Data.Entity;

    public partial class NorthwindDataModel : DbContext {
        public NorthwindDataModel()
            : base("name=NWindConnectionString") {
        }

        public virtual DbSet<SalesPerson> SalesPersons { get; set; }

        protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder) {
            modelBuilder.Entity<SalesPerson>()
                .Property(e => e.UnitPrice)
                .HasPrecision(10, 4);

            modelBuilder.Entity<SalesPerson>()
                .Property(e => e.Extended_Price)
                .HasPrecision(19, 4);
        }
    }
}

HomeController.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;

namespace WebDashboard_EFDataSource.Controllers {
    public class HomeController : Controller {
        public ActionResult Index() {
            return View();
        }
    }
}

SalesPerson.vb

Imports System.Data.Entity.Spatial
Imports System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Schema
Imports System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System

Namespace WebDashboard_EFDataSource.Models

    <Table("SalesPerson")> _
    Partial Public Class SalesPerson
        <Key, Column(Order := 0), DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.None)> _
        Public Property OrderID() As Integer

        <StringLength(15)> _
        Public Property Country() As String

        <Key, Column(Order := 1), StringLength(10)> _
        Public Property FirstName() As String

        <Key, Column(Order := 2), StringLength(20)> _
        Public Property LastName() As String

        <Key, Column(Order := 3), StringLength(40)> _
        Public Property ProductName() As String

        <Key, Column(Order := 4), StringLength(15)> _
        Public Property CategoryName() As String

        Public Property OrderDate() As Date?

        <Key, Column(Order := 5, TypeName := "smallmoney")> _
        Public Property UnitPrice() As Decimal

        <Key, Column(Order := 6), DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.None)> _
        Public Property Quantity() As Short

        <Key, Column(Order := 7)> _
        Public Property Discount() As Single

        <Column("Extended Price", TypeName := "money")> _
        Public Property Extended_Price() As Decimal?

        <Key, Column("Sales Person", Order := 8), StringLength(31)> _
        Public Property Sales_Person() As String
    End Class
End Namespace

Index.cshtml (VB.NET)

@Html.DevExpress().Dashboard(settings => {
    settings.Name = "Dashboard";
    settings.Width = Unit.Percentage(100);
    settings.Height = Unit.Percentage(100);
    settings.ClientSideEvents.BeforeRender = "onBeforeRender";
}).GetHtml()

HomeController.vb

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.Mvc

Namespace WebDashboard_EFDataSource.Controllers
    Public Class HomeController
        Inherits Controller

        Public Function Index() As ActionResult
            Return View()
        End Function
    End Class
End Namespace

Global.asax.vb

Imports System
Imports System.Web.Http
Imports System.Web.Mvc
Imports System.Web.Routing

Namespace WebDashboard_EFDataSource
    ' Note: For instructions on enabling IIS6 or IIS7 classic mode, 
    ' visit http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkId=9394801

    Public Class MvcApplication
        Inherits System.Web.HttpApplication

        Protected Sub Application_Start()
            DashboardConfig.RegisterService(RouteTable.Routes)
            AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas()

            GlobalConfiguration.Configure(AddressOf WebApiConfig.Register)
            FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters)
            RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes)

            ModelBinders.Binders.DefaultBinder = New DevExpress.Web.Mvc.DevExpressEditorsBinder()

            AddHandler DevExpress.Web.ASPxWebControl.CallbackError, AddressOf Application_Error
        End Sub

        Protected Sub Application_Error(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
            Dim exception As Exception = System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Server.GetLastError()
            'TODO: Handle Exception
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

NorthwindDataModel.vb

Imports System.Data.Entity

Namespace WebDashboard_EFDataSource.Models

    Partial Public Class NorthwindDataModel
        Inherits DbContext

        Public Sub New()
            MyBase.New("name=NWindConnectionString")
        End Sub

        Public Overridable Property SalesPersons() As DbSet(Of SalesPerson)

        Protected Overrides Sub OnModelCreating(ByVal modelBuilder As DbModelBuilder)
            modelBuilder.Entity(Of SalesPerson)().Property(Function(e) e.UnitPrice).HasPrecision(10, 4)

            modelBuilder.Entity(Of SalesPerson)().Property(Function(e) e.Extended_Price).HasPrecision(19, 4)
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

DashboardConfig.vb

Imports System.Web.Routing
Imports DevExpress.DashboardCommon
Imports DevExpress.DashboardWeb
Imports DevExpress.DashboardWeb.Mvc
Imports DevExpress.DataAccess.EntityFramework
Imports WebDashboard_EFDataSource.Models

Namespace WebDashboard_EFDataSource
    Public NotInheritable Class DashboardConfig

        Private Sub New()
        End Sub

        Public Shared Sub RegisterService(ByVal routes As RouteCollection)
            routes.MapDashboardRoute("dashboardControl")
            Dim dashboardFileStorage As New DashboardFileStorage("~/App_Data/Dashboards")
            DashboardConfigurator.Default.SetDashboardStorage(dashboardFileStorage)

            Dim dataSourceStorage As New DataSourceInMemoryStorage()

            ' Registers an Entity Framework data source.
            Dim efDataSource As New DashboardEFDataSource("EF Data Source")
            efDataSource.ConnectionParameters = New EFConnectionParameters(GetType(NorthwindDataModel))
            dataSourceStorage.RegisterDataSource("efDataSource", efDataSource.SaveToXml())

            DashboardConfigurator.Default.SetDataSourceStorage(dataSourceStorage)
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace