How do I manually populate ViewModel (Not using AutoMapper!)

Question

I know there are a lot of posts on the subject but I cannot find one that helps me do what I want. I know that I will eventually be using Automapper but before I start playing w

Answer 1

In order to populate a list of shipments based on your view model object you would need to create a mapping method to map from your collection of shipments from your database to a collection of shipments based on your view model:

var model = new List<ShippingHeaderSummaryVM>();

foreach(var h in shipments)
{

    var viewModel = new ShippingHeaderSummaryVM
    {
    ID = h.ID
    Site = r.Site
    DateShipped = h.DateShipped
    EstDeliveryDate = h.EstDeliveryDate
    TrackingNo = h.TrackingNumber
    FromSitePOC = e.LastName
    NumOrders = h.ShippingLI.Count
    Shipper = s.Shipper
    HeaderComments = h.HeaderComments
    }

    model.Add(viewModel);
}

return model;

As a side note, this becomes a one liner after you have AutoMapper up and running:

var model = Mapper.Map<IEnumerable<ShippingHdr>, IEnumerable<ShippingHeaderSummaryVM>>(shipments);

While, learning how to do things manually is great. Manually mapping models doesn't really benefit you in any way or form. Go with AutoMapper.

Answer 2

You can also use Linq to do something like this...

shipments.Select(h => new ShippingHeaderSummaryVM(){
    ID = h.ID,
    Site = r.Site,
    DateShipped = h.DateShipped,
    EstDeliveryDate = h.EstDeliveryDate,
    TrackingNo = h.TrackingNumber,
    FromSitePOC = e.LastName,
    NumOrders = h.ShippingLI.Count,
    Shipper = s.Shipper,
    HeaderComments = h.HeaderComments
});

Note that while mapping view models is great for passing to a view, always do it manually when reading from a view model to update your database.

Edit: Thanks for the typo correction:-)