Common Message/Error/Status to used across jquery or C#

Question

There are times when we use same error or success message/checking of some status both in jquery & c#.

For consistency, we can define all message/status flag in as static class and use it wherever needed in c#.

Just an example:

C#

public class MyConstant
{
   public static string Admin = "AdminRole";
   public static string Approver= "ApproverRole";
}
if(userRole==MyConstant.Admin || userRole==MyConstant.Approver)
{
   //more work
}

jquery:

if(userRole=="AdminRole" || userRole=="ApproverRole")
{
   //more work
}

In stead hard coding msg/status in jquery, I would prefer approach similar to C#. Would be better to have common place to pull for client/service side.

How can I achieve similar in jquery? Better to say, How can I share common msgs/status flags between jquery & C#. I can think of following options:

Use Database. Cons: hitting DB every time may not be good idea.
Define some classes/property for msgs/status flags separately in jquery. Cons: duplicate; have to ensure all of them in sync.
maybe CMS but not necessarily, will be used in every application

Is there any better approach to share common Message/Error/Status to used across jquery or C#?

Thoughts?

you can serialize you c# class to json, and add it in your markup, save in js variable and use this variable in jquery code — Grundy, Sep 02 '14 at 07:09
@Grundy If OP is using constants I doubt serialization would work :( — Matías Fidemraizer, Sep 02 '14 at 07:14
@MatíasFidemraizer in OP code it simple static field, so possibly serialization would work :-) — Grundy, Sep 02 '14 at 07:17
@user1480864 there're some edge cases where an enum isn't enough, but your case - IMHO - it's not an edge case.. — Matías Fidemraizer, Sep 02 '14 at 07:30
@Grundy You know that this isn't regular serialization. You've implemented a custom serialization based on overriding `ToString`... Anyway, if you think about this topic, serializing static/constant values would defeat the point of *object serialization*, because an object is an instance of a class, and constants/static members aren't part of any instance!!!!!!!!! — Matías Fidemraizer, Sep 02 '14 at 07:54
@MatíasFidemraizer i just show that if you want you can serialize static field too :-D nobody cares that is custom serialization :-D — Grundy, Sep 02 '14 at 07:57
@Grundy What matters here is you can't call *object serialization* printing static member values as a JSON. Both are completely different concepts. — Matías Fidemraizer, Sep 02 '14 at 08:01
@Grundy, You solution is not ideal if I have lot more constants. I have to add all of them manually to have JSON..can't use in real time scenarios. haven't tried T4 yet — user1480864, Sep 02 '14 at 08:09
@user1480864 it just sample :-) There are many ways to serialize all field in class without adding it manually :-) — Grundy, Sep 02 '14 at 08:13
@Grundy okay! How can I use it in ASP.NET MVC based application? Serializing class & using in jquery — user1480864, Sep 02 '14 at 08:16
@user1480864 something like `var jsConst = @MyConstant.ToJson()`, and then `if(userRole==jsConst.Admin || userRole==jsConst.Approve)` — Grundy, Sep 02 '14 at 08:31
@Grundy just now finished my testing Serializing doesn't work with static. Your approach works well only with non-static property. here: https://dotnetfiddle.net/BTIl3x Correct me if it works for you. — user1480864, Sep 02 '14 at 08:40
@user1480864 if you create instance `MyConstant` why you use static members? — Grundy, Sep 02 '14 at 10:06
anyway you can use something like this :-) https://dotnetfiddle.net/0qTkQb — Grundy, Sep 02 '14 at 10:32

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 02 '14 at 07:13

2

One possible solution is T4 (text templates).

Just imagine a T4 which iterates each enumeration value (why classes of constants? use enumerations!) and creates an object literal like this in JavaScript:

var Roles = { "AdminRole": 1, "ApproverRole": 2 };

If you've never heard about T4, it's the text templating engine behind Visual Studio templates. For example, Entity Framework uses it to generate model classes.

Once you've created the text template, you can sync C# enumeration to JavaScript object literal from Visual Studio when you build your project or running the template manually (right-click on T4 and choose "Run custom tool").

Learn more about T4

answered Sep 02 '14 at 07:13

Matías Fidemraizer

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it would be nice if you gave an example t4 code :-) – Grundy Sep 02 '14 at 07:18
@Grundy I was about to do that, but then I thought: StackOverflow isn't a "I request then I get what I request". It's a Q&A site where you can find guidance. If you take no more than 1 minute checking the link I provided you, there're a lot of samples... – Matías Fidemraizer Sep 02 '14 at 07:20
methinks, link is only half answer :-) – Grundy Sep 02 '14 at 07:21
@Grundy ok, you're not the, OP, but you know, SO isn't a site to get job done but get guidance. Am I wrong? :D – Matías Fidemraizer Sep 02 '14 at 07:21
@Grundy The answer is "how" => "T4 is a possible approach". If you know what's a *text template* just use your imagination...!!! – Matías Fidemraizer Sep 02 '14 at 07:22

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:26

I would consider enums for status codes, but you can stay with your strings (no problem). To better address JavaScript part use solution presented here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/2383215/3170952, that is:

my.namespace.Roles = {
    ADMIN: "Admin",
    APPROVER: "Approver"
}

Then you have one place where you define literals in JS. Better yet, you can weave C# literals into your JS (if you define it in one of ASP.NET MVC views or have other mechanism of incorporating C# into JS files). Then you have one place of definition statically checked during compilation time.

Common Message/Error/Status to used across jquery or C#

2 Answers2