How-To Use S#arp Architecture and S#arp Architecture Contrib in Windows GUI and Service Applications

The S#arp Architecture Contrib team believes that most developers using S#arp Architecture in non-web applications want to leverage work already done in a web application.  For example, you might need a web service to run background processing tasks for your web application.  Therefore, this how-to focuses on adding a Windows application to an existing solution that already has a working web.  If you don't have a working web yet, you can use the solution template that comes with S#arp Architecture to create one.

(((Note that you no longer need to use PostSharp with Contrib as it now uses Castle Interceptors)))

==Setup==

Your project must configure NHibernate and Castle Windsor at startup.

=====Step 1: NHibernate Configuration File=====

Add a link to your web's NHibernate.config to your Windows application.  If you are unsure how to do this, check out the information on adding an item as a link in this Microsoft article [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9f4t9t92%28VS.80%29.aspx|How to: Add Existing Items to a Project].

=====Step 2: Move &lt;Your Project&gt;.Web.CastleWindsor.ComponentRegistrar to a Shared DLL=====

&lt;Your Project&gt;.Web.CastleWindsor.ComponentRegistrar will need to be accessed by your Windows application.  Of course, you cannot reference your web DLL from your Windows application so it will have to be moved to a common location.  Arguably, this is an application service and can be moved to &lt;Your Project&gt;.ApplicationServices.CastleWindsor.

=====Step 3: Create a Static Class to Initialize Service Locator=====

Add the following class to &lt;Your Project&gt;.ApplicationServices.CastleWindsor:

{{{{using Castle.Windsor;
using CommonServiceLocator.WindsorAdapter;
using Microsoft.Practices.ServiceLocation;

namespace &lt;Your Project&gt;.ApplicationServices.CastleWindsor {
    public static class ServiceLocatorInitializer {
        public static void Init() {
            IWindsorContainer container = new WindsorContainer();
            //Register all the Contrib Components
            SharpArchContrib.Castle.CastleWindsor.ComponentRegistrar.AddComponentsTo(container);
            ComponentRegistrar.AddComponentsTo(container);
            ServiceLocator.SetLocatorProvider(() => new WindsorServiceLocator(container));
        }
    }
}
}}}}

=====Step 4: Create a Static Class to Initialize NHibernate=====

Add the following class to &lt;Your Project&gt;.Data:

{{{{using &lt;Your Project&gt;.Data.NHibernateMaps;
using SharpArch.Data.NHibernate;
using SharpArchContrib.Data.NHibernate;

namespace &lt;Your Project&gt;.Data {
    public static class Initializer {
        public static void Init() {
            NHibernateSession.Init(new ThreadSessionStorage(),
                                   new[] {"&lt;Your Project&gt;.Data.dll"},
                                   new AutoPersistenceModelGenerator().Generate(),
                                   "NHibernate.config");
        }
    }
}
}}}}

Notice that this configuration is using ThreadSessionStorage, which is required if you will be using the UnitOfWork support.  If you are using the Transaction attribute you can still use WebSessionStorage.

=====Step 5: Initialize Service Location and NHibernate When Application Starts=====

Make sure to call &lt;Your Project&gt;.ApplicationServices.CastleWindsor.ServiceLocatorInitializer.Init() followed by &lt;Your Project&gt;.Data.Initializer() when your application starts.  

'''Important!:''' Make sure you register the components from SharpArchContrib '''before''' registering any components from your project.  Failing to do this will result in castle not recognizing the [Transaction] or [UnitOfWork] attributes since the interceptor has not been registered yet.

==Session Management==

For best results you should attribute any method that performs NHibernate operations with the UnitOfWork attribute.  The UnitOfWork attribute will ensure that your application adheres to best-practices when using NHibernate.  Review the documentation on UnitOfWork for more information.