Kentico CMS helper functions to query nodes and return strong typed objects

The following post shows Kentico 7 CMS wrapper functions that allow you to easily query nodes and return back a strong type.

The functionality here is using the mapping functionality shown in this post: Kentico CMS Mapper functions using Reflection in C# .NET.

GetListByClass - this function returns back a list of nodes mapped to the requested type with the given options: (Please see below regarding caching)

// function that returns a strong typed list by class and caches by default
public static List GetListByClass(string className, string path, int levels, int limit)
	where T : BaseModel, new()
{
	return GetListByClass(className, path, levels, limit, true);
}

// function that a strong typed list by class
public static List GetListByClass(string className, string path, int levels, int limit, bool cache)
	where T : BaseModel, new()
{
	// define function
	Func> fn = delegate()
	{
		// get a tree provider
		var th = new TreeProvider();

		// find the node
		var nodes = th.SelectNodes(
			CMSContext.CurrentSiteName, path,
			Globals.CultureCode, false,
			className, “”, “NodeOrder”, levels, true, limit);

		// return the list            
		return Mapper.MapToList(nodes).OrderBy(x => x.Document.NodeOrder).ToList();
	};

	// check if 
	if (cache)
	{
		// define cache key
		string cacheKey = String.Concat(“GetList”, “|”, path, “|”, className, “|”, levels, “|”, limit);

		// return the item from the cahc if exists
		return CacheManager.Get>(cacheKey, fn);
	}

	// else return the live data
	return fn();
}

GetListByClasses - this function takes a list of classes to filter

public static List GetListByClasses(List className, string path, int levels, int limit)
	where T : BaseModel, new()
{
	// join the filter list, return the list
	return GetListByClass(String.Join(“;”, className), path, levels, limit);
}

GetSingleByClass - this function returns a single object

// function that returns a single strong type by class
public static T GetSingleByClass(string className, string path, int levels)
	where T : BaseModel, new()
{
	// return the first item
	var itm = GetListByClass(className, path, levels, 1).FirstOrDefault();

	// check if null
	if (itm == null)
		itm = new T();

	// return;
	return itm;
}

The functions above use the Caching class below. I found this example from http://codepm.wordpress.com/2010/09/28/using-c-delegates-with-asp-net-data-caching/

// http://codepm.wordpress.com/2010/09/28/using-c-delegates-with-asp-net-data-caching/
public static class CacheManager
{
	// define default timeout
	static double CacheTimeoutMinutes = 20;

	// function that returns the full key
	private static string FullKey(string key)
	{
		return String.Concat(“MySite.”, key);
	}

	// function that added the object to the cache
	private static void Add(object cacheObject, string key, double timeoutminutes)
	{
		HttpContext.Current.Cache.Insert(FullKey(key), cacheObject, 
			null, 
			DateTime.MaxValue,
			TimeSpan.FromMinutes(timeoutminutes),
			CacheItemPriority.Normal, 
			null);
	}

	// function that returns a single item by key
	public static T Get(string key) where T : class
	{
		return HttpContext.Current.Cache[FullKey(key)] as T;
	}

	// function that returns tries to get the cached item with default time
	public static T Get(string key, Func fn) where T : class
	{
		return Get(key, CacheTimeoutMinutes, fn);
	}

	// function that returns tries to get the cached item with the given time
	public static T Get(string key, double timeoutminutes, Func fn) where T : class
	{        
		// try to get the item
		var obj = Get(key);
		if (obj == default(T))
		{         
			// if fails, execute function to get the data
			obj = fn();

			// add to the cache
			Add(obj, key, timeoutminutes);
		}

		// return the item
		return obj;
	}
}

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