IT:AD:ASP.NET:WebAPI:HowTo:Use OData and DTOs

A key goal would be to use a Repository, returning DTO's to external services. That's a bit tougher.

• The DataModel is defined in the Application Layer.
• Use a DataMapper such as what we developed in XActLib (XAct.ObjectMapping.IMappingService that wrapped IT:AD:AutoMapper):
  • DataMapper can Include serialize child items.

Example:

The trick is that the Constructor is creating queryable property.. That can later be exposed over the wire. Neat.

    public class DataModel
    {
      public DataModel()
      {
      using (var dbContext = new ODataDemoEntities())
      {
        Invoices = 
        dbContext.Invoices
        //.Include("LineItems")
        //.Where(i=>i...)
        //.Skip(...)
        //.Take(...)
        .Select(i=> {return _DataMappingService.Map<InvoiceDTO>(i))
      }
      }
      public IQueryable<EmployeeDTO> Invoices { get; private set; }
    }

* Found it (later, mind you!) here: http://stackoverflow.com/a/9806623