I expected SaveAsync(forceUpdate: true) to always hit the Data Portal

[michaelcsikos]

If we call SaveAsync(forceUpdate: true) on an object that is NOT base.IsNew and NOT IsDirty nothing happens.

I've probably misunderstood what this should do, but I was expecting forceUpdate: true to force the save to hit the Data Portal, i.e. the same as:

obj.MarkDirty(); // Can't do this as it's protected

obj = obj.SaveAsync();

What's the proper way to force a save on an object which is not dirty, given MarkDirty() is protected?

[jhuerta3]

maybe

base.MarkDirty()

I did something similar but with Delete. I had to set the IsDelete flag to true so that I can run my business rules.

        [Delete]
        private void Delete(Guid equipmentID, [Inject] DataAccess.IEquipmentDal dal)
        {
            base.MarkDeleted();
            EquipmentID = equipmentID;
            MarkForDelete = base.IsDeleted;
            BusinessRules.CheckRules(EquipmentIDProperty);
            if (IsValid)
            {
                dal.Delete(EquipmentID);
            }
        }

[michaelcsikos]

Yes, I could make a new method in my own base class to call MarkDirty() before calling Save(). Or I could just "touch" any property. It just seems strange if there's no built-in way to do it.

[Chicagoan2016]

If memory serves, forceupdate is for Web stateless applications when we want to run the 'UPDATE' operation in Database, instead of 'INSERT'.

[rockfordlhotka]

That's exactly right. the forceupdate option exists to tell the data portal that the operation that looks like an insert is actually an update. Its purpose is to support MVC and similar UI technologies where a postback occurs and you get the data from a remote UI.

[michaelcsikos]

So I should just add my own MarkDirtyAndSaveAsync() as there's no way for the UI to do this currently without touching a property.

[rockfordlhotka]

How are you creating and populating an object such that it isn't new or dirty?

[michaelcsikos]

Hi @rockfordlhotka, this is an usual scenario where an object can be saved to two different locations: either in a drawn component in AutoCAD, or saved as a template which writes the object to a JSON file to disk. The user can double-click on a drawn component to open the form and could immediately click Save as template. We clone the object, which at this point is not new or dirty, and call save. So we just have to call MarkDirty() first so that the save isn't short-circuited by CSLA. There's no public way to do this out of the box, though.

[rockfordlhotka]

I see. Is Clone virtual, so you could mark the clone as dirty?