ASP.net MVC - Should I use AutoMapper from ViewModel to Entity Framework entities?

I am currently using AutoMapper to map my Entity Framework entities to my View Model:

public class ProductsController : Controller
{
    private IProductRepository productRepository;

    public ProductsController(IProductRepository productRepository)
    {
         this.productRepository = productRepository;
    }

    public ActionResult Details(int id)
    {
        var product = productRepository.GetProduct(id);

        if( product == null )
            return View("NotFound");

        ProductDetailsViewModel model = Mapper.Map<Product, ProductDetailsViewModel>(product);

        return View(model);
    }
}

This works well. The question I have is when I need to go from my View Model to my entity in order to update the database. Should I be using AutoMapper for this? Is this a bad/dangerous practice?

It seems like AutoMapper is good for flattening a complex type to a simple (flat) type, but so far I'm struggling trying to go from a flat/simple to a more complex type like my entity with the various开发者_运维问答 navigation properties.

If it is a bad idea to use AutoMapper to do this, then what would my code look like for a Create action?

public ActionResult Create(CreateProductViewModel model)
{
    if( ModelState.IsValid )
    {
        // what do i do here to create my Product entity?
    }
}

What about an Edit action?

public ActionResult Edit(int id, EditProductViewModel model)
{
    Product product = productRepository.GetProduct(id);

    // how do i convert my view model to my entity at this point???
}

I'm a of the mindset that updating your entities is a pretty big deal and that no automated tool should ever be used. Set the properties manually.

Yes its a very tiny amount of more code but automapper or running updatemodel on database entities can sometimes have unintended consequences. Better to make sure your writes are done correctly.

I use AutoMapper with a specialized mapping class that understands how to make a complex model from a simple one. AutoMapper is used to handle the one-to-one mapping and the custom logic in the class for doing the more complex things (like relationships, etc.). All of the AutoMapper configuration is done in the static constructor for the mapping class, which also validates the mapping configuration so that errors fail early.

public class ModelMapper
{
    static ModelMapper()
    {
        Mapper.CreateMap<FooView,Foo>()
              .ForMember( f => f.Bars, opt => opt.Ignore() );

        Mapper.AssertConfigurationIsValid();
    }

    public Foo CreateFromModel( FooView model, IEnumerable<Bar> bars )
    {
         var foo = Mapper.Map<FooView,Foo>();
         foreach (var barId in model.BarIds)
         {
             foo.Bars.Add( bars.Single( b => b.Id == barId ) );
         }
         return foo;
    }
}

You could also try configuring AutoMapper to only map Scalar properties (instead of having to .Ignore() every single property you don't want it to (including inherited properties like .EntityKey and .EntityState).

AutoMapper.Mapper.CreateMap<EntityType, EntityType>()
    .ForAllMembers(o => {
         o.Condition(ctx =>
             {
                 var members = ctx.Parent.SourceType.GetMember(ctx.MemberName); // get the MemberInfo that we are mapping

                if (!members.Any())
                    return false;
                return members.First().GetCustomAttributes(typeof(EdmScalarPropertyAttribute), false).Any(); // determine if the Member has the EdmScalar attribute set
            });
    });

Some more info at http://www.prosoftnearshore.com/blog/post/2012/03/14/Using-AutoMapper-to-update-Entity-Framework-properties.aspx

Essentially automapping is bad, I wrote a blog post on this http://blog.gavryli.uk/2015/12/02/why-automapping-is-bad-for-you/