Instantiation of ViewModels and Service classes

Question

I tried to understand the instantiation of ViewModels and Service classes and wrote it down for others. Please correct/add-on where needed.

The instantiation of ViewModels and Services is not done in the most-common way. It's done using reflection.

In the TipCalc you have:

public class FirstViewModel : MvxViewModel
{
    private readonly ICalculationService _calculationService;

    public FirstViewModel(ICalculationService calculationService)
    {
        _calculationService = calculationService;
    }
...
}

and

public class App : Cirrious.MvvmCross.ViewModels.MvxApplication
{
    public override void Initialize()
    {
        CreatableTypes()
         .EndingWith("Service")
         .AsInterfaces()
         .RegisterAsLazySingleton();
    ...
    }
}

During Initialize() Interfaces and classes designed as Service (name ends with Service) are paired up using reflection and the interface names and class names (IPersonService and PersonService). This is later used to reverse lookup the instance of the class (the lookup table contains lazy references to singleton instances of the service classes. Services are created when null.

public FirstViewModel(ICalculationService calculationService) references an instance of CalculationService. This is done by using the lookup table earlier created.

Instantiation of ViewModels is done through the Mvx framework. When the MvxFramework is 'asked' for an instantiated ViewModel, it will reflect the ViewModel and determine what constructors there are on that class. If there's a parameterless constructor, then that will be used. If there is a constructor with a parameter and the parameter is the interface of a service class, then the (singleton) instance of that service will be used as the parameter.

Services are instantiated in a similar way; their constructors reflected and parameters instantiated (singleton). And so on.

Answer 1

The ideas that are in use here are:

• the Service Locator pattern
• Inversion of Control

There are lots of articles and introductions available on this - some good starting places are Martin Fowler's introduction and Joel Abrahamsson's IoC introduction. I've also made some animated slides as a simple demonstration.

---

Specifically within MvvmCross, we provide a single static class Mvx which acts as a single place for both registering and resolving interfaces and their implementations.

Service Location - Registration and Resolution

The core idea of MvvmCross Service Location is that you can write classes and interfaces like:

public interface IFoo
{
    string Request();
}

public class Foo : IFoo
{
    public string Request()
    {
        return "Hello World";
    }
}

Singleton Registration

With this pair written you could then register a Foo instance as a singleton which implements IFoo using:

// every time someone needs an IFoo they will get the same one
Mvx.RegisterSingleton<IFoo>(new Foo());

If you did this, then any code can call:

    var foo = Mvx.Resolve<IFoo>();

and every single call would return the same instance of Foo.

Lazy Singleton Registration

As a variation on this, you could register a lazy singleton. This is written

// every time someone needs an IFoo they will get the same one
// but we don't create it until someone asks for it
Mvx.RegisterSingleton<IFoo>(() => new Foo());

In this case:

• no Foo is created initially
• the first time any code calls Mvx.Resolve<IFoo>() then a new Foo will be created and returned
• all subsequent calls will get the same instance that was created the first time

'Dynamic' Registration

One final option, is that you can register the IFoo and Foo pair as:

// every time someone needs an IFoo they will get a new one
Mvx.RegisterType<IFoo, Foo>();

In this case, every call to Mvx.Resolve<IFoo>() will create a new Foo - every call will return a different Foo.

Last-registered wins

If you create several implementations of an interface and register them all:

Mvx.RegisterType<IFoo, Foo1>();
Mvx.RegisterSingleton<IFoo>(new Foo2());
Mvx.RegisterType<IFoo, Foo3>();

Then each call replaces the previous registration - so when a client calls Mvx.Resolve<IFoo>() then the most recent registration will be returned.

This can be useful for:

• overwriting default implementations
• replacing implementations depending on application state - e.g. after a user has been authenticated then you could replace an empty IUserInfo implementation with a real one.

Bulk Registration by Convention

The default NuGet templates for MvvmCross contain a block of code in the core App.cs like:

CreatableTypes()
    .EndingWith("Service")
    .AsInterfaces()
    .RegisterAsLazySingleton();

This code uses Reflection to:

• find all classes in the Core assembly
  • which are creatable - i.e.:
    • have a public constructor
    • are not abstract
  • with names ending in Service
• find their interfaces
• register them as lazy singletons according to the interfaces they support

Technical Note: the lazy singleton implementation here is quite technical - it ensures that if a class implements IOne and ITwo then the same instance will be returned when resolving both IOne and ITwo.

The choice of name ending here - Service - and the choice to use Lazy singletons are only personal conventions. If you prefer to use other names or other lifetimes for your objects you can replace this code with a different call or with multiple calls like:

CreatableTypes()
    .EndingWith("SingleFeed")
    .AsInterfaces()
    .RegisterAsLazySingleton();
CreatableTypes()
    .EndingWith("Generator")
    .AsInterfaces()
    .RegisterAsDynamic();
CreatableTypes()
    .EndingWith("QuickSand")
    .AsInterfaces()
    .RegisterAsSingleton();

There you can also use additional Linq helper methods to help further define your registrations if you want to - e.g. Inherits, Except. WithAttribute, Containing, InNamespace ... e.g.

        CreatableTypes()
            .StartingWith("JDI")
            .InNamespace("MyApp.Core.HyperSpace")
            .WithAttribute(typeof(MySpecialAttribute))
            .AsInterfaces()
            .RegisterAsSingleton();

And you can also, of course, use the same type of registration logic on assemblies other than Core - e.g.:

typeof(Reusable.Helpers.MyHelper).Assembly.CreatableTypes()
    .EndingWith("Helper")
    .AsInterfaces()
    .RegisterAsDynamic();

Alternatively, if you prefer not to use this Reflection based registration, then you can instead just manually register your implementations:

Mvx.RegisterSingleton<IMixer>(new MyMixer());
Mvx.RegisterSingleton<ICheese>(new MyCheese());
Mvx.RegisterType<IBeer, Beer>();
Mvx.RegisterType<IWine, Wine>();

The choice is yours.

Constructor Injection

As well as Mvx.Resolve<T>, the Mvx static class provides a reflection-based mechanism to automatically resolve parameters during object construction.

For example, if we add a class like:

public class Bar
{
    public Bar(IFoo foo)
    {
        // do stuff
    }
}

Then you can create this object using:

    Mvx.IocConstruct<Bar>();

What happens during this call is:

• MvvmCross:
  • uses Reflection to find the constructor of Bar
  • looks at the parameters for that constructor and sees it needs an IFoo
  • uses Mvx.Resolve<IFoo>() to get hold of the registered implementation for IFoo
  • uses Reflection to call the constructor with the IFoo parameter

Constructor Injection and ViewModels

This "Constructor Injection" mechanism is used internally within MvvmCross when creating ViewModels.

If you declare a ViewModel like:

 public class MyViewModel : MvxViewModel
 {
     public MyViewModel(IMvxJsonConverter jsonConverter, IMvxGeoLocationWatcher locationWatcher)
     {
        // ....
     }
 }

then MvvmCross will use the Mvx static class to resolve objects for jsonConverter and locationWatcher when a MyViewModel is created.

This is important because:

1. It allows you to easily provide different locationWatcher classes on different platforms (on iPhone you can use a watcher that talk to CoreLocation, on Windows Phone you can use a watcher that talks to System.Device.Location
2. It allows you to easily provide mock implementations in your unit tests
3. It allows you to override default implementations - if you don't like the Json.Net implementation for Json, you can use a ServiceStack.Text implementation instead.

Constructor Injection and Chaining

Internally, the Mvx.Resolve<T> mechanism uses constructor injection when new objects are needed.

This enables you to register implementations which depend on other interfaces like:

public interface ITaxCalculator
{
    double TaxDueFor(int customerId)
}

public class TaxCalculator
{
    public TaxCalculator(ICustomerRepository customerRepository, IForeignExchange foreignExchange, ITaxRuleList taxRuleList)
    {
    // code...
    }

    // code...
}

If you then register this calculator as:

Mvx.RegisterType<ITaxCalculator, TaxCalculator>();

Then when a client calls Mvx.Resolve<ITaxCalculator>() then MvvmCross will create a new TaxCalculator instance, resolving all of ICustomerRepository, IForeignExchange and ITaxRuleList during the operation.

Further, this process is recursive - so if any of these returned objects requires another object - e.g. if your IForeignExchange implementation requires a IChargeCommission object - then MvvmCross will provide Resolve for you as well.

How do I use IoC when I need different implementations on different platforms?

Sometimes you need to use some platform specific functionality in your ViewModels. For example, you might want to get the current screen dimensions in your ViewModel - but there's no existing portable .Net call to do this.

When you want to include functionality like this, then there are two main choices:

1. Declare an interface in your core library, but then provide and register an implementation in each of your UI projects.
2. Use or create a plugin

1. PCL-Interface with Platform-Specific Implementation

In your core project, you can declare an interface and you can use that interface in your classes there - e.g.:

public interface IScreenSize
{
    double Height { get; }
    double Width { get; }
}

public class MyViewModel : MvxViewModel
{
    private readonly IScreenSize _screenSize;

    public MyViewModel(IScreenSize screenSize)
    {
         _screenSize = screenSize;
    }

    public double Ratio
    {
        get { return (_screenSize.Width / _screenSize.Height); }
    }
}

In each UI project, you can then declare the platform-specific implementation for IScreenSize. A trivial example is:

public class WindowsPhoneScreenSize : IScreenSize
{
    public double Height { get { return 800.0; } }
    public double Width { get { return 480.0; } }
}

You can then register these implementations in each of the platform-specific Setup files - e.g. you could override MvxSetup.InitializeFirstChance with

protected override void InitializeFirstChance()
{
    Mvx.RegisterSingleton<IScreenSize>(new WindowsPhoneScreenSize());
    base.InitializeFirstChance();
}

With this done, then MyViewModel will get provided with the correct platform-specific implementation of IScreenSize on each platform.

2. Use or create a plugin

A Plugin is an MvvmCross pattern for combining a PCL assembly, plus optionally some platform-specific assemblies in order to package up some functionality.

This plugin layer is simply a pattern - some simple conventions - for naming related Assemblies, for including small PluginLoader and Plugin helper classes, and for using IoC. Through this pattern it allows functionality to be easily included, reused and tested across platforms and across applications.

For example, existing plugins include:

• a File plugin which provides access to System.IO type methods for manipulating files
• a Location plugin which provides access to GeoLocation information
• a Messenger plugin which provides access to a Messenger/Event Aggregator
• a PictureChooser plugin which provides access to the camera and to the media library
• a ResourceLoader plugin which provides a way to access resource files packaged within the .apk, .app or .ipa for the application
• a SQLite plugin which provides access to SQLite-net on all platforms.

Plugin Use

If you want to see how these plugins can be used in your applications, then:

• the N+1 videos provide a good starting point - see http://mvvmcross.wordpress.com/ - especially :
  • N=8 - Location http://slodge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/n8-location-location-location-n1-days.html
  • N=9 - Messenger http://slodge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/n9-getting-message-n1-days-of-mvvmcross.html
  • N=10 - SQLite http://slodge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/n10-sqlite-persistent-data-storage-n1.html
  • N=12 -> N=17 - the Collect-A-Bull app http://slodge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/n12-collect-bull-full-app-part-1-n1.html

Plugin Authoring

Writing plugins is easy to do, but can feel a bit daunting at first.

The key steps are:

1. Create the main PCL Assembly for the plugin - this should include:

   • the interfaces your plugin will register
   • any shared portable code (which may include implementations of one or more of the interfaces)
   • a special PluginLoader class which MvvmCross will use to start the plugin

2. Optionally create platform-specific assemblies which:

   • are named the same as the main assembly but with a platform specific extension (.Droid, .WindowsPhone, etc.)
   • contains
     • any platform-specific interface implementations
     • a special Plugin class which MvvmCross will use to start this platform-specific extension

3. Optionally provide extras like documentation and NuGet packaging which will make the plugin easier to reuse.

I'm not going to go into any more detail on writing plugins here.

If you'd like to see more about writing your own plugin, then:

• there's a presentation on this at https://speakerdeck.com/cirrious/plugins-in-mvvmcross
• there's a sample which creates a Vibrate plugin at https://github.com/slodge/MvvmCross-Tutorials/tree/master/GoodVibrations

What if...

What if... I don't want to use Service Location or IoC

If you don't want to use this in your code, then don't.

Simply remove the CreatableTypes()... code from App.cs and then use 'normal code' in your ViewModels - e.g.:

public class MyViewModel : MvxViewModel
{
    private readonly ITaxService _taxService;

    public MyViewModel()
    {
        _taxService = new TaxService();
    }
}

What if... I want to use a different Service Location or IoC mechanism

There are lots of excellent libraries out there including AutoFac, Funq, MEF, OpenNetCF, TinyIoC and many, many more!

If you want to replace the MvvmCross implementation, then you'll need to:

• write some kind of Adapter layer to provide their service location code as an IMvxIoCProvider
• override CreateIocProvider in your Setup class to provide this alternative IMvxIoCProvider implementation.

Alternatively, you may be able to organise a hybrid situation - where two IoC/ServiceLocation systems exist side-by-side.

What if... I want to use Property Injection as an IoC mechanism

There is an example Property Injection implementation for IoC provided.

This can be initialised using a Setup override of:

protected override IMvxIoCProvider CreateIocProvider()
{
    return MvxPropertyInjectingIoCContainer.Initialise();
}

What if... I want advanced IoC features like child containers

The IoC container in MvvmCross is designed to be quite lightweight and is targeted at a level of functionality required in the mobile applications I have built.

If you need more advanced/complex functionality, then you may need to use a different provider or a different approach - some suggestions for this are discussed in: Child containers in MvvmCross IoC