Is it possible to have two partial classes in different assemblies represent the same class?

Asked 2009-03-15T06:25:46.720

154

I have a class called 'Article' in a project called 'MyProject.Data', which acts as the data layer for my web application.

I have a separate project called 'MyProject.Admin', which is a web-based admin system for viewing/editing the data, and was build using ASP.NET Dynamic Data.

Basically I want to extend the Article class, using a partial class, so that I can augment one of its properties with a "UIHint" extender, which will allow me to replace the normal multi-line textbox with an FCKEdit control.

My partial class and extender would look like this:

[MetadataType(typeof(ProjectMetaData))]
public partial class Project
{
}

public class ProjectMetaData
{
    [UIHint("FCKeditor")]
    public object ItemDetails { get; set; }
}

Now this all works fine if the partial class is in the same project as the original partial class - i.e. the MyProject.Data project.

But UI behavior shouldn't sit in the Data layer, but rather, in the Admin layer. So I want to move this class to MyProject.Admin.

However, if I do that, the functionality is lost.

My fundamental question is: can I have 2 partial classes in separate projects, but both referring to the same "class"?

If not, is there a way to accomplish what I'm trying to do, without mixing data-layer logic with UI logic?

asp.net partial-classes asp.net-dynamic-data

Edit Report

2 Answers

Extension methods and ViewModels are the standard way to extend data-layer objects in the frontend like this:

Data Layer (class library, Person.cs):

namespace MyProject.Data.BusinessObjects
{
  public class Person
  {
    public string Name {get; set;}
    public string Surname {get; set;}
    public string Details {get; set;}
  }
}

Display Layer (web application) PersonExtensions.cs:

using Data.BusinessObjects
namespace MyProject.Admin.Extensions
{
  public static class PersonExtensions
  {
    public static HtmlString GetFormattedName(this Person person)
    {
       return new HtmlString(person.Name + " <b>" + person.Surname</b>);
    }
  }
}

ViewModel (for extended view-specific data):

using Data.BusinessObjects
namespace MyProject.Admin.ViewModels
{
  public static class PersonViewModel
  {
    public Person Data {get; set;}
    public Dictionary<string,string> MetaData {get; set;}

    [UIHint("FCKeditor")]
    public object PersonDetails { get { return Data.Details; } set {Data.Details = value;} }
  }
}

Controller PersonController.cs:

public ActionMethod Person(int id)
{
  var model = new PersonViewModel();
  model.Data = MyDataProvider.GetPersonById(id);
  model.MetaData = MyDataProvider.GetPersonMetaData(id);

  return View(model);
}

View, Person.cshtml:

@using MyProject.Admin.Extensions

<h1>@Model.Data.GetFormattedName()</h1>
<img src="~/Images/People/image_@(Model.MetaData["image"]).png" >
<ul>
  <li>@Model.MetaData["comments"]</li>
  <li>@Model.MetaData["employer_comments"]</li>
</ul>
@Html.EditorFor(m => m.PersonDetails)

answered 2013-08-01T11:31:31.813

Perhaps use a static extension class.

answered 2012-01-11T13:43:54.880

Is it possible to have two partial classes in different assemblies represent the same class?

2 Answers

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