Virtualize RepositoryBase methods

[ngruson]

What do you feel about making the methods in RepositoryBase.cs virtual?
I ran into a NullReferenceException when unit testing my concrete EF6 implementation of the repository with a mocked DbContext.

public virtual async Task UpdateAsync(T entity)
{
  dbContext.Entry(entity).State = EntityState.Modified; // Entry call to mocked DbContext returns null

  await SaveChangesAsync();
}

I'm not able to mock the Entry method of DbContext because the constructor of DbEntityEntry is not public.

If UpdateAsync was virtual in RepositoryBase, I could override it in my concrete repository:

public override async Task UpdateAsync(T entity)
{
  ((MyDbContext)DbContext).SetModified(entity);
  await SaveChangesAsync();
}

SetModified in my concrete repository:

public virtual void SetModified(object entity)
{
  Entry(entity).State = EntityState.Modified;
}

I would need a protected property to get to the DbContext.
In this setup, I'm able to unit test my concrete repository without issues.

[fiseni]

Hi @ngruson,

It's not about the method implementations only, but also the namespaces used within the "RepositoryBase".

The EntityFramework6 project should fully implement IRepositoryBase interface, and not inherit from the existing one in EntityFrameworkCore project. These two "addon/plugin" projects shouldn't reference each other. As for making the methods virtual, sure, why not.

Also, we should have a new project for tests, something like EntityFramework6.IntegrationTests. That way we can clearly test upon EF6, without referencing the EFCore at all.

This is my stand initially, @ardalis may have a different opinion.

PS. We have to refactor the test infrastructure here. It's in our backlog for some time. We should have the following:

• UnitTests project for the base package.
• IntegrationsTests project for each plugin package.

[EDIT]
Now that I read it again, I think I misunderstood you, sorry :). In the next release, we may refactor the methods as virtual.

[ngruson]

Hi @fiseni

Just to clarify further:
The EF6 base repository is not referencing the EF Core base repository and is implementing IRepositoryBase.
In my solution I have a repository which is inheriting from RepositoryBase (it's EF6 but it might as well be EF Core).
I have unit tests in my solution to test this repository. So this is not about the tests in Ardalis.Specification.

Shall I make a PR to virtualize these methods in both the EF Core and EF6 RepositoryBase classes?

[fiseni]

Lets' first wait to merge the existing PR, and fix the EF6 project properly. Once we sort that out, then you can create an additional PR for these changes. Sounds OK?

For now, please use your own fully implemented Repository (you may just copy the implementations and update them as you wish). Anyhow, the RepositoryBase is given just as an optional base class and just as a reference. We try to avoid leading or enforcing users to use it.

[fiseni]

The methods of base repositories now are marked as virtual in v5.

[fiseni]

Implemented in version 5.0.3