MongoDB

The sample application

The files the samples share. Add them to your project once; a Progressive sample then adds only its own files.

Start from Get started: a project with the packages, the database with the sample schema, and the connection string. Then add each file below with the file name shown. Every sample page says which of them it needs; Standalone and Advanced pages repeat them, so they can be followed on their own.

  • SampleContext.cs: What every sample is given: the connection string (and the ISample interface the samples implement).
  • SampleOutput.cs: How the samples print: Step for each scenario, Show for what it did, ShowError for an error caught on purpose.
  • SampleContext.Application.cs: The application's ARX service and its schema catalog, created once and shared by the samples.
  • SampleCatalog.cs: The application's schema catalog: every table's id column and keys, and its selection sets.
  • SampleContext.Direct.cs: The plain MongoDB.Driver read-back helper, for the samples that show what MongoDB stored.
  • MongoDirectHelper.cs: Plain MongoDB.Driver, not part of ARX: reads rows back so a sample can show what MongoDB stored.
  • SecurityGuard.cs: A security check around ARX calls: suspected injection logged as a security event, strikes, blocking.
SampleContext.cs

What every sample is given: the connection string (and the ISample interface the samples implement).

namespace ArxSamples.MongoDb;

/// <summary>One documentation sample: a scenario a real application has, shown end to end.</summary>
public interface ISample
{
    /// <summary>The name to run it alone: <c>dotnet run -- &lt;name&gt;</c>.</summary>
    string Name { get; }

    /// <summary>One line on what it shows.</summary>
    string Title { get; }

    Task RunAsync(SampleContext dbContext);
}

/// <summary>
/// What a sample is given. Every sample gets the connection string; the application's service and catalog
/// (SampleContext.Application.cs) and the plain MongoDB driver read-back helper (SampleContext.Direct.cs) live in their own
/// files, so a sample needs only the files it uses.
/// </summary>
public sealed partial class SampleContext
{
    public SampleContext(string connectionString)
    {
        ConnectionString = connectionString;
    }

    public string ConnectionString { get; }
}
SampleOutput.cs

How the samples print: Step for each scenario, Show for what it did, ShowError for an error caught on purpose.

using ARX.SDK;

namespace ArxSamples.MongoDb;

/// <summary>How the samples print: a numbered step for each scenario, then what it did.</summary>
public static class SampleOutput
{
    /// <summary>The start of a scenario: <c>Step("1. By the id Create returned")</c>.</summary>
    public static void Step(string text) => Console.WriteLine($"  > {text}");

    /// <summary>What the scenario did.</summary>
    public static void Show(string text) => Console.WriteLine($"      {text}");

    /// <summary>An ARX error the scenario caught on purpose.</summary>
    public static void ShowError(ArxException exception)
        => Console.WriteLine($"      caught {exception.GetType().Name}: {exception.Message}");
}
SampleContext.Application.cs

The application's ARX service and its schema catalog, created once and shared by the samples.

using ARX.SDK.MongoDb.Services;
using ARX.SDK.Services;

namespace ArxSamples.MongoDb;

/// <summary>The application's ARX service and its schema catalog, shared by the real and advanced samples.</summary>
public sealed partial class SampleContext
{
    private ArxSchemaCatalog? _catalog;
    private ArxMongoDbService? _service;

    /// <summary>The application's schema catalog: collection ids, keys, lookups and selection sets (SampleCatalog.cs).</summary>
    public ArxSchemaCatalog Catalog => _catalog ??= SampleCatalog.Build();

    /// <summary>
    /// One service for the whole application. It shares one MongoDB client per connection string (a client is a
    /// connection pool), so make it once and keep it.
    /// </summary>
    public ArxMongoDbService Service => _service ??= new ArxMongoDbService(ConnectionString, Catalog);
}
SampleCatalog.cs

The application's schema catalog: every table's id column and keys, and its selection sets.

using ARX.SDK.Services;

namespace ArxSamples.MongoDb;

/// <summary>An account's industry. Stored in account.industry as the enum's number.</summary>
public enum Industry
{
    Retail = 1,
    Manufacturing = 2,
    Healthcare = 3,
    Finance = 4,
    Technology = 5
}

/// <summary>
/// The application's schema catalog: every collection's id and keys, the lookups between collections, and every
/// picklist (selection set), defined once.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>
/// <para>
/// <b>Ids.</b> On MongoDB the declared id is the document's <c>_id</c>, named in your code by the column you declare
/// (<c>account["account_id"]</c>). A generated string id is an ObjectId ARX makes before the insert and gives back as its
/// 24-character text; a generated Guid is one ARX makes; a supplied id is yours (a country code, a SKU). MongoDB has no
/// sequences, so a generated number isn't offered, and every document has an <c>_id</c>, so there is no NoIdColumn.
/// </para>
/// <para>
/// <b>Keys.</b> Business keys (an account number; a region and a SKU together) let Update, Delete and Retrieve find
/// documents by them. MongoDB enforces them with unique indexes: the sample database has one for each.
/// </para>
/// <para>
/// <b>Lookups.</b> MongoDB has no foreign keys, so the catalog says which field refers to which collection
/// (<c>.Lookup("contact", "account_id", "account")</c>). ARX stores the referenced id as it is stored there (an ObjectId)
/// and reads the field back as an <see cref="ArxEntityReference"/> with the referenced record's display name.
/// </para>
/// <para>
/// <b>Selection sets.</b> A field that only accepts a fixed list of codes: an account's status, a contact's preferred
/// channels (several codes, stored as an array). ARX checks every <see cref="ArxSelectionSetValue"/> against the catalog
/// before anything is sent and stores the codes themselves.
/// </para>
/// </remarks>
public static class SampleCatalog
{
    public static ArxSchemaCatalog Build() => ArxSchemaCatalog.Create()
        .Table("account", ArxIdColumn.Generated<string>("account_id"))
        .Key("account", "account_number")
        .DisplayName("account", "name")
        .Table("contact", ArxIdColumn.Generated<string>("contact_id"))
        .Key("contact", "email")
        .Lookup("contact", "account_id", "account")
        .DisplayName("contact", new[] { "first_name", "last_name" }, " ")
        .Table("country", ArxIdColumn.Supplied<string>("code"))
        .DisplayName("country", "name")
        .Table("product", ArxIdColumn.Supplied<string>("sku"))
        .DisplayName("product", "name")
        .Table("price_list", ArxIdColumn.Generated<string>("price_id"))
        .Key("price_list", "region", "sku")
        .Lookup("price_list", "region", "country")
        .Table("sales_order", ArxIdColumn.Generated<Guid>("order_id"))
        .Key("sales_order", "order_number")
        .Lookup("sales_order", "account_id", "account")
        .Table("activity_log", ArxIdColumn.Generated<string>("log_id"))
        .AddEnum<Industry>("Industry")
        .Add("AccountStatus", ArxSelectionSetKind.String, ("ACTIVE", "Active"), ("ON_HOLD", "On hold"), ("CLOSED", "Closed"))
        .Add("ContactChannels", ArxSelectionSetKind.String, ArxSelectionSetMultiplicity.Array, ("E", "Email"), ("P", "Phone"), ("S", "SMS"))
        .Build();
}
SampleContext.Direct.cs

The plain MongoDB.Driver read-back helper, for the samples that show what MongoDB stored.

namespace ArxSamples.MongoDb;

/// <summary>The plain MongoDB driver outside the SDK, for the samples that show what MongoDB stored.</summary>
public sealed partial class SampleContext
{
    private MongoDirectHelper? _direct;

    /// <summary>The plain MongoDB driver outside the SDK, used only to reset the database and to show what was stored.</summary>
    public MongoDirectHelper Direct => _direct ??= new MongoDirectHelper(ConnectionString);
}
MongoDirectHelper.cs

Plain MongoDB.Driver, not part of ARX: reads rows back so a sample can show what MongoDB stored.

using MongoDB.Bson;
using MongoDB.Driver;

namespace ArxSamples.MongoDb;

/// <summary>
/// The plain MongoDB driver, outside the SDK: it resets the sample database from Schema/sample-schema.json and shows
/// what was stored. Samples never write through it.
/// </summary>
public sealed class MongoDirectHelper
{
    private readonly IMongoDatabase _database;

    public MongoDirectHelper(string connectionString)
    {
        var url = MongoUrl.Create(connectionString);
        _database = new MongoClient(url).GetDatabase(url.DatabaseName ?? "arx_samples");
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// The sample schema: Schema/sample-schema.json next to the program (the samples' own project), or sample-schema.json
    /// in the project folder (a sample copied from its page, as Get started says).
    /// </summary>
    private static string SchemaPath()
    {
        var candidates = new[]
        {
            Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "Schema", "sample-schema.json"),
            Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "sample-schema.json"),
            Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "Schema", "sample-schema.json")
        };

        return candidates.FirstOrDefault(File.Exists)
            ?? throw new FileNotFoundException("sample-schema.json isn't in the project folder: download it from the Get started page and save it next to Program.cs.");
    }

    /// <summary>Drops the sample database and makes its collections, indexes and validators again.</summary>
    public async Task ResetAsync()
    {
        var schema = BsonDocument.Parse(await File.ReadAllTextAsync(SchemaPath()));

        foreach (var collection in schema["collections"].AsBsonArray.Select(x => x.AsBsonDocument))
        {
            var name = collection["name"].AsString;

            // Only the collections the schema lists are dropped and made again: anything else in the database is left alone.
            await _database.DropCollectionAsync(name);
            var options = new CreateCollectionOptions<BsonDocument>();

            if (collection.TryGetValue("validator", out var validator))
            {
                options.Validator = validator.AsBsonDocument;
            }

            await _database.CreateCollectionAsync(name, options);

            foreach (var index in collection.GetValue("indexes", new BsonArray()).AsBsonArray.Select(x => x.AsBsonDocument))
            {
                var keys = index["keys"].AsBsonDocument;
                var indexOptions = new CreateIndexOptions<BsonDocument> { Unique = index.GetValue("unique", false).AsBoolean };

                if (index.GetValue("partial", false).AsBoolean)
                {
                    indexOptions.PartialFilterExpression = new BsonDocument(keys.Names.Select(x => new BsonElement(x, new BsonDocument("$exists", true))));
                }

                await _database.GetCollection<BsonDocument>(name).Indexes.CreateOneAsync(new CreateIndexModel<BsonDocument>(keys, indexOptions));
            }
        }
    }

    /// <summary>The stored documents a filter finds, as MongoDB's JSON, one line each.</summary>
    public async Task<IReadOnlyList<string>> FindAsync(string collection, string filterJson)
    {
        var documents = await _database.GetCollection<BsonDocument>(collection).Find(BsonDocument.Parse(filterJson)).ToListAsync();
        return documents.Select(x => x.ToJson()).ToList();
    }
}
SecurityGuard.cs

A security check around ARX calls: suspected injection logged as a security event, strikes, blocking.

using ARX.SDK;

namespace ArxSamples.MongoDb;

/// <summary>Where the names (tables, attributes, match columns) in a call come from. It decides what an ARX1017 means.</summary>
public enum NameSource
{
    /// <summary>A name built from what a user sent (a form field, a file header, a query string): ARX1017 is a suspected attack.</summary>
    UserInput,

    /// <summary>A name from your code or configuration: ARX1017 is a bug in your code, not an attack. Nobody is blocked.</summary>
    Code,
}

/// <summary>What the guard did with a call.</summary>
public enum GuardOutcome
{
    /// <summary>The call ran.</summary>
    Done,

    /// <summary>ARX refused the call with ARX1017; the event is logged and the user got a plain message.</summary>
    Refused,

    /// <summary>The user was already blocked: the call wasn't attempted.</summary>
    Blocked,
}

/// <summary>One entry of the security log: a suspected attack, or a bug when the names came from code.</summary>
public sealed record SecurityEvent(DateTimeOffset At, string User, string Action, string Kind, string Detail);

/// <summary>The outcome, the call's result when it ran, and the message to show the user (never the detection details).</summary>
public sealed record GuardResult<T>(GuardOutcome Outcome, T? Value, string ForTheUser);

/// <summary>
/// A security check around ARX calls: the pattern to copy into an application, kept small so it can be read in one
/// go. It lets every ARX error through except <c>ARX1017 SuspectedInjection</c>, which it turns into:
/// <list type="bullet">
/// <item>an entry in the security log (<see cref="Events"/>), with the user, the action and ARX's message (the name is
/// escaped and cut to 64 characters by ARX, so it is safe to log);</item>
/// <item>a plain message for the user that doesn't say what was detected;</item>
/// <item>a strike against the user. After <c>blockAfter</c> strikes the user is blocked and their calls aren't attempted.
/// One strike never blocks anyone, so a single false positive only costs one refused request;</item>
/// <item>no strike when the names came from your own code (<see cref="NameSource.Code"/>): that's a bug to fix, logged
/// as one.</item>
/// </list>
/// A false positive (a harmless name such as a file header <c>E-mail (work)</c> flagged as SQL) is handled by triage:
/// read the event, fix the mapping that let the name through, and <see cref="Unblock"/> the user if needed.
/// In a real application the log goes to your SIEM or security monitoring and the strikes live in a shared store
/// (Redis, the database), not in memory.
/// </summary>
public sealed class SecurityGuard
{
    private const string ATTACK = "suspected attack";
    private const string BUG = "bug";

    private readonly object _gate = new();
    private readonly int _blockAfter;
    private readonly Dictionary<string, int> _strikes = new(StringComparer.Ordinal);
    private readonly List<SecurityEvent> _events = new();

    public SecurityGuard(int blockAfter = 3)
    {
        _blockAfter = blockAfter;
    }

    /// <summary>The security log, oldest first.</summary>
    public IReadOnlyList<SecurityEvent> Events
    {
        get
        {
            lock (_gate)
            {
                return _events.ToArray();
            }
        }
    }

    public bool IsBlocked(string user)
    {
        lock (_gate)
        {
            return _strikes.TryGetValue(user, out var strikes) && strikes >= _blockAfter;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>After triage found the events were a false positive: clears the user's strikes (the log is kept).</summary>
    public void Unblock(string user)
    {
        lock (_gate)
        {
            _strikes.Remove(user);
        }
    }

    /// <summary>Runs <paramref name="call"/> for <paramref name="user"/> unless they are blocked, and handles ARX1017 as described above.</summary>
    public async Task<GuardResult<T>> RunAsync<T>(string user, string action, NameSource names, Func<Task<T>> call)
    {
        if (IsBlocked(user))
        {
            return new GuardResult<T>(GuardOutcome.Blocked, default, "Your access is suspended. Contact support.");
        }

        try
        {
            return new GuardResult<T>(GuardOutcome.Done, await call(), "Done.");
        }
        catch (ArxValidationException error) when (error.Code == ArxErrorCode.SuspectedInjection)
        {
            lock (_gate)
            {
                if (names == NameSource.Code)
                {
                    _events.Add(new SecurityEvent(DateTimeOffset.UtcNow, user, action, BUG, error.Message));
                    return new GuardResult<T>(GuardOutcome.Refused, default, "Something went wrong on our side. It has been reported.");
                }

                _strikes[user] = _strikes.GetValueOrDefault(user) + 1;
                _events.Add(new SecurityEvent(DateTimeOffset.UtcNow, user, action, ATTACK, error.Message));
            }

            return new GuardResult<T>(GuardOutcome.Refused, default, "The request couldn't be processed.");
        }
    }
}