Nhibernate, Abstract Base Classes and JSON.NET

While working on a project I ran into an issue where JSON.NET was not serializing and deserializing my nhibernate entities that used polymorphism. I found plenty of examples that showed how to do this with objects directly but none with Lists and Collections. This code isn't generic like it should be but worked for my purposes. So here is my code:

POCO:

---

 
[JsonConverter(typeof(LineItemConverter))]
public virtual ICollection LineItems { get; set; }

JsonConverter:

---

 
public class LineItemConverter : JsonConverter
    {
        public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
        {
            return typeof(LineItem).IsAssignableFrom(objectType);
        }

        public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, Type objectType, object existingValue, JsonSerializer serializer)
        {

            var lineitems = JArray.Load(reader);
            var lineItemObjects = new List();


            foreach (var lineitem in lineitems)
            {
                switch (EnumUtil.ParseEnum(lineitem["lineItemType"].Value()))
                {
                    case LineItemType.Assessorial:
                        lineItemObjects.Add(lineitem.ToObject());
                        break;

                    case LineItemType.DeficitWeight:
                        lineItemObjects.Add(lineitem.ToObject());
                        break;

                    case LineItemType.Discount:
                        lineItemObjects.Add(lineitem.ToObject());
                        break;

                    case LineItemType.FloorAdjustment:
                        lineItemObjects.Add(lineitem.ToObject());
                        break;

                    case LineItemType.Freight:
                        lineItemObjects.Add(lineitem.ToObject());
                        break;

                    case LineItemType.Fuel:
                        lineItemObjects.Add(lineitem.ToObject());
                        break;

                    case LineItemType.Other:
                        lineItemObjects.Add(lineitem.ToObject());
                        break;

                    default:
                        break;

                } 
            }

            return lineItemObjects;
            
        }


        public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
        {

            var lineitems = value as ICollection;
            serializer.Serialize(writer, lineitems.ToArray());
            
        }

---

Angluar JS + c# Web API decimals not routing

For some reason when i would put/get decimal values with the angularjs $resource i would get a 404. After lots of research i found out that this is due to $resource dropping trailing slashes (more info here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14533117/angular-trailing-slash-for-resource ). There is talk that in angular 1.3 they will add this as an option but for now we need to use a hack.
HACK: Add "\\/" to the end of your url in the $resource. For example: return $resource('/api/pricingAgreementItem/:id/:action/:value\\/', { id: '@id' },... See below for a more complete example.
 Javascript: C#:

Simple Membership + WebMatrix.Data & WebMatrix.WebData

In order to use simple membership roles with an MVC5 project you need WebMatrix.WebData reference.  To obtain this Reference you need to use nuget and install Microsoft.AspNet.WebHelpers.  I am documenting it here so i don't forget. Non-MVC projects need Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.OAuth (Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.OAuth) http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13324544/how-to-add-asp-net-membership-provider-in-a-empty-mvc-4-project-template/13325883#13325883

Visual Studio 2013 + Angularjs + JasmineJS + Resharper 7/8 (or Chutzpah)

I recently started a project which used the following technologies: Visual Studio 2013 + Angularjs + JasmineJS + Resharper 7/8 (or Chutzpah).

I was having a rough time getting JasmineJS to work with Resharper/Chutzpah.  The strange thing was that it would work in the specrunner but not in the actual resharper or chutzpah interfaces which directly integrate into Visual Studio (which is what i wanted).

After spending a couple hours of research i came upon this blog: http://microsoftwindowsblogger.blogspot.com/2013/10/best-unit-testing-angularjs-with.html

Basically you have to inject the script references into the unit test files (which i knew) but they must ALSO BE RELATIVE PATHS TO THE TEST FILE!

Here is an example of a working Jasmine Unit Test which integrates angularjs and works with both Chutzpah and Resharper 7+:

SQL Express 2012 Automated Backup Script

SQL Express doesn't come with the SQL Server Agent and so you can not use the Full SQL server backup maintenance plans.  To get around this I am using the following script which is executed once a day by the task scheduler.

sp_BackupDatabases can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2019698

database_backup.bat

md c:\temp_database_bak
sqlcmd -S {{MACHINE_NAME}}\SQLEXPRESS -Q "EXEC sp_BackupDatabases @backupLocation='c:\temp_database_bak\', @backupType='F'"

FOR %%A IN (%Date%) DO (
    FOR /F "tokens=1-3 delims=/-" %%B in ("%%~A") DO (
        SET Today=%%D%%B%%C
    )
)

"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" a c:\backup_mssql\Database_BAK.%TODAY%.7z "C:\temp_database_bak\"

rmdir c:\temp_database_bak /S /Q

Visio Alternative

If you are a developer you probably have Visio but if you don’t https://www.draw.io/ is a great alternative and its free.

Orchard CMS, Magelia WebStore & Credit Card Processing

I recently became the project manager for a fully integrated CMS and eCommerce solution.  After reviewing  possible options, I selected Orchard CMS(www.orchardproject.net) with a Magelia WebStore (http://www.magelia.org/) integration.

I was able to get both solutions installed without to much trouble using Microsoft Web Platform Installer.  Magelia provides some decent documentation on their website on how to integrate both solutions but their credit card processing documentation is non-existent.

After emailing back and forth with the Magelia CEO and development team, I now have a good understand of how it works and have documented their undocumented API which i am posting here including an overview of the solution.

Overview:

• Once you have installed both Magelia and Orchard and have integrated both products via the Magelia website tutorial (Found Here) you should be able to see products, add them to your cart and begin the checkout process.  
• Once you get to the end of the process you will get the following error:  "Override this view (DisplayTemplates\Checkout\ProceedToPayment.cshtml) in your theme in order to submit payment data to the payment provider of your choice/". see example below:

ProceedToPayment.cshtml

• Magelia provides an Orchard theme based off the default theme to make Paypal the payment gateway for the stores (Found Here).  If we want to use any other payment gateway we will need to override this theme.  It can be downloaded or install manually using the link above OR you can goto the theme gallery in Orchard and install it using the interface (recommend).  
• At this point you can edit the theme directly in notepad.  I have Visual Studio and so i wanted to create a VS project.  Orchard has a great system for generating theme templates which visual studio project solutions. To do so you need to use the Orchard Command Line interface (More Info).  
• Once the Orchard CLI is running execute the following command
• codegen theme MyTheme /BasedOn:TheThemeMachineWithPaypalForMageliaWebStore /CreateProject:true /IncludeInSolution:true
• This will create a new theme with a visual studio project file in it.
• modify {IIS SERVER}\Orchard\Themes\MyTheme\Views\DisplayTemplates\Checkout\ProceedToPayment.cshtml and implement your credit card processing logic using Razor syntax.

Magelia API: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7774960/Magelia_API.html
Code Example 1 (ProceedToPayment.cshtml): https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7774960/ProceedToPayment.cshtml
Code Example 2 (Extract Billing Address): https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7774960/billingAddress.cshtml

Once complete you will need to log into orchard and apply the theme to your site.

Post questions below