FluentNHibernate.DAL 1.0.1

FluentNHibernate.DAL

A robust and flexible Data Access Layer (DAL) built with FluentNHibernate, providing a generic repository pattern implementation with advanced querying capabilities and comprehensive database management features.

🚀 Features

• Generic Repository Pattern: Complete CRUD operations with async/await support
• Custom Repository Support: Easily extend base functionality for entity-specific operations
• Code-First Approach: Start with C# classes and let the database be auto-generated
• Auto Mapping: Automatic table and relationship creation from entity definitions
• Advanced Querying: Support for custom SQL queries, pagination, and complex filtering
• Batch Operations: Efficient bulk insert, update, and delete operations
• Schema Management: Automated schema creation, updates, and validation
• Migration Support: Database versioning and migration capabilities for keeping database in sync with code changes
• Transaction Support: Built-in transaction handling and management
• Fluent Configuration: Easy-to-use fluent API for entity mappings
• Cross-Database Support: Works with multiple database providers (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MySQL, etc.)

🎯 Development Approaches

FluentNHibernate.DAL supports both Code-First and Database-First development approaches, giving you flexibility to choose the workflow that best fits your project needs.

Code-First Approach

Start with C# entities and auto-generate database schema:

1. Define entity classes and mappings
2. Configure session factory with schema generation
3. Database tables are created automatically

Benefits: Rapid prototyping, version-controlled schema, consistent across environments.

📖 Code-First Guides: Entity Mappings | Schema Generation

Database-First Approach

Work with existing databases by mapping to established schema:

1. Connect to existing database
2. Create entity classes matching database structure
3. Define mappings that align with current schema

Benefits: Integration with legacy systems, preserve existing data, work with established database designs.

📖 Database-First Guides: Entity Mappings | Custom Repositories

📖 Learn More:

• Entity Definitions & Relationships - Complete guide for both approaches
• Schema Generation Options - Code-first schema management
• Database Migration Strategies - Evolution strategies for both approaches

📋 Prerequisites

• .NET Core 3.1 or higher
• NHibernate 5.x or higher
• A supported database (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MySQL, SQLite, Oracle)

📦 Installation

NuGet Package Manager

Install-Package FluentNHibernate
Install-Package NHibernate

.NET CLI

dotnet add package FluentNHibernate
dotnet add package NHibernate

PackageReference

<PackageReference Include="FluentNHibernate" Version="3.1.0" />
<PackageReference Include="NHibernate" Version="5.4.6" />

🔧 Quick Start

1. Define Entity & Mapping

public class User
{
    public virtual int Id { get; set; }
    public virtual string Name { get; set; }
    public virtual string Email { get; set; }
    public virtual bool IsActive { get; set; }
}

public class UserMap : ClassMap<User>
{
    public UserMap()
    {
        Table("Users");
        Id(x => x.Id);
        Map(x => x.Name).Length(100).Not.Nullable();
        Map(x => x.Email).Length(100).Not.Nullable();
        Map(x => x.IsActive).Not.Nullable();
    }
}

📖 Learn More: Entity Definitions & Complex Relationships

2. Configure Session Factory

public static ISessionFactory CreateSessionFactory()
{
    return Fluently.Configure()
        .Database(PostgreSQLConfiguration.Standard.ConnectionString("your-connection-string"))
        .Mappings(m => m.FluentMappings.AddFromAssemblyOf<User>())
        .ExposeConfiguration(cfg => new SchemaExport(cfg).Create(false, true)) // Auto-create tables
        .BuildSessionFactory();
}

📖 Learn More: Schema Generation & Management | Migration Strategies

3. Use Repository

var repository = new NHibernateRepository<User>(sessionFactory);
await repository.InsertAsync(new User { Name = "John Doe", Email = "john@example.com" });
var user = await repository.GetAsync(1);

📖 Learn More: Custom Repository Patterns

📖 Detailed Guides: Entity Mappings | Schema Management | Custom Repositories

📚 Documentation

🎯 Usage Examples

Basic Operations

var repository = new NHibernateRepository<User>(sessionFactory);

// CRUD operations
await repository.InsertAsync(new User { Name = "Alice", Email = "alice@example.com" });
var user = await repository.GetAsync(1);
await repository.UpdateAsync(user);
await repository.DeleteAsync(user);

// Filtering & pagination
var activeUsers = await repository.GetByAsync(u => u.IsActive);
var pagedUsers = await repository.GetBySQLAsync("SELECT * FROM Users WHERE IsActive = :active",
    new Dictionary<string, object> { { "active", true } }, 0, 10);

Custom Repository

public class UserRepository : NHibernateRepository<User>, IUserRepository
{
    public async Task<User> GetByEmailAsync(string email) =>
        await GetByAsync(u => u.Email == email);

    public async Task<int> GetActiveUserCountAsync() =>
        await GetCountByAsync(u => u.IsActive);
}

📖 More Examples: Custom Repository Guide | Entity Relationship Examples

🏗️ Architecture

FluentNHibernate.DAL/
├── Configuration/          # Database and session configuration
├── Infrastructure/         # Core repository implementations
├── Repositories/          # Custom repository implementations
├── Utils/                # Utility classes and helpers
└── docs/                 # Documentation files

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

• Follow C# coding conventions
• Include unit tests for new features
• Update documentation as needed
• Ensure all tests pass before submitting PR

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• FluentNHibernate - The awesome ORM that makes this possible
• NHibernate - The underlying ORM framework
• Community contributors and testers

📞 Support

• Create an Issue for bug reports or feature requests
• Check our Documentation for detailed guides
• Review Custom Repository Examples
• Learn about Database Migrations for production deployments

Made with ❤️ for the .NET community