CRUD Application Using ASP.NET MVC 5 and MongoDB

Why use MongoDB? It’s not a fad. It’s a need. I will not cover the advantages of MongoDB over other databases out there. Try this and you will find why.

In this article, I will give you the basics on creating CRUD application using ASP.NET MVC and MongoDB.  Take it from the basics and you can grow it into Enterprise Application.

Download the Complete Source Code

Things we need:

1. MongoDB = https://www.mongodb.org/downloads
2. VS 2013/VS 2012

Running the MongoDB/Quick and Easy Way

1. Download and extract the zip file on folder you can easily access.
2. Create a data folder next to the bin folder (same level).
3. Open a command window on bin folder (Shift + Right Click on the bin folder).
4. Type mongod --dbpath ../data (see Figure 1). Don’t close the command window while creating and running  the application.

Figure 1:  Type mongod –dbpath ../data to run MongoDB

Starting the ASP.NET MVC CRUD Application and Adding Mongocsharpdriver
We will be working on simple Country CRUD with 3 fields.

1. Create an ASP.NET MVC project in VS 2012/2013. Name it as mvcMongoDB.
2. Change the Authentication to No Aunthentication (no disturbance).
3. Install the mongocsharpdriver. On the Package Manager Console, type Install-Package mongocsharpdriver. This will add 2 MongoDB references on the application (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: MongoDB DLL files.

Creating the CRUD Application

The Project Structure will guide you as we go along (See Figure 3).

Figure 3: The Project Structure

Let’s Create the Model,  DatabaseContext and Controller:

1. Under the Models folder, create the the Country.cs (Document).
2. Under the same folder, create the CountryDB.cs (The context).
3. Open the HomeController.cs (under the Controllers folder), replace with code snippet below:

The Country.CS: Why Document?
In MongoDB, tables are called documents that are similar JSON objects. And the Id is called ObjectId with data type of string. With an attribute of [BsonRepresentation(BsonType.ObjectId)].  This is a GUID  representation in C#.
MongoDB CRUD Methods Used

Method	Description
FindAll	Returns all records
SetSortOrder	Query with Sort Order
Insert	Adds New record
FindOneById	Finds record by ObjectId
Save	Update the record
Remove	Remove a record

Creating the Views

Creating the Index/List View:

1. Compile the application first so that we can apply scaffolding;
2. Delete the Index.cshtml under the Views->Home folder. We will recreate this through scaffold;
3. Open the HomeController.cs and right click the Index method;
4. Click on the add View;
5. On the Add View window, select the List on the Template option;
6. Select Country (mvcMongoDB.Models) on the Model Class;
7. Click the Add button.

Creating the Create View:

1. Open the HomeController.cs, right click on the Create method (without [HttpPost] attribute);
2. Click the Add View option;
3. On the Add View window, select the Create in the Template option;
4. Select Country (mvcMongoDB.Models) on the Model Class;
5. Click the Add button. The Create.cshtml should be added in the Views->Home folder;

Creating the Edit View:

1. Open the HomeController.cs, right click on the Edit method (without [HttpPost] attribute);
2. Click the Add View option;
3. On the Add View window, select the Edit in the Template option;
4. Select Country (mvcMongoDB.Models) on the Model Class;
5. Click the Add button. The Edit.cshtml should be added in the Views->Home folder;

Creating the Delete View:

1. Open the HomeController.cs, right click on the Delete method (with [HttpGet] attribute);
2. Click the Add View option;
3. On the Add View window, select the Delete in the Template option;
4. Select Country (mvcMongoDB.Models) on the Model Class;
5. Click the Add button. The Delete.cshtml should be added in the Views->Home folder;

The Outputs:

The Simple CRUD App.

The CountryDB on RoboMongo.

That’s it. Run the application with the MongoDB running.
If you want to administer you MongoDB database, you can use RoboMongo.

That’s for today. More to come. If you have some questions, please key on the comments section.