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Areas Requiring Clarification

This document lists aspects of the EasyAF framework that require additional clarification or decisions from the development team.

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Type System Assumptions

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1. User ID Type Hardcoding

Location: EntityManager.cs lines 114, 154, 610, 620 The code currently assumes Guid for user IDs in several places: 
// TODO: RWM: This probably need to figure out how to check the type and make sure we don't just assume GUIDs.
(entity as ICreatorTrackable<Guid>).CreatedById = ClaimsPrincipal.Current.GetIdClaim();
Questions:
  • Should the framework support different ID types for users (int, string, etc.)?
  • How should the type be determined at runtime?
  • Should this be a generic parameter on the manager?

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2. ClaimsPrincipal.Current Usage

Location: Throughout EntityManager The framework relies on ClaimsPrincipal.Current which may not be available in all contexts (e.g., background jobs, non-web contexts). Questions:
  • Should there be an abstraction for user context?
  • How should the framework handle missing user context?
  • Should there be a way to manually provide user context?

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State Machine Error Handling

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3. SetFailedAsync Parameters

Location: StateMachineEntityManager.cs line 110 The method accepts errorMessage and errorDetail parameters but doesn’t use them: 
public virtual async Task<bool> SetFailedAsync(TEntity entity, string errorMessage = "", string errorDetail = "")
{
    return await UpdateStateAsync(entity, 99);  // Parameters ignored
}
Questions:
  • Should these parameters be stored somewhere?
  • Should there be an IHasErrorInfo interface?
  • How should error information be persisted?

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Missing XML Documentation

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4. Incomplete Documentation

Several properties and methods lack XML documentation comments:
  • DbObservableObject.IsGraphChanged (line 38)
  • DbObservableObject.OriginalValues (line 44)
  • Multiple interface comments say “who created” when they mean “when created”
Questions:
  • What level of documentation detail is required?
  • Should examples be included in all XML comments?

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Performance Considerations

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5. Interface Dictionary Caching

Location: EntityManager.cs line 63 The static InterfaceDictionary grows unbounded as new entity types are encountered. Questions:
  • Should there be a maximum cache size?
  • Should the cache be cleared periodically?
  • Is memory usage a concern for large applications?

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6. Deep Graph Traversal

Location: DbObservableObject.cs RecurseGraphInternal methods Deep tracking can be expensive for large object graphs. Questions:
  • Should there be a maximum depth limit?
  • Should there be cycle detection beyond the HashSet?
  • Should there be performance warnings for large graphs?

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Entity Framework Version Support

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7. Conditional Compilation

The code uses #if EFCORE to support both EF6 and EF Core. Questions:
  • Which versions specifically need to be supported?
  • Are there version-specific features being missed?
  • Should EF6 support be deprecated?

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Missing Features

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8. Bulk Operations

The framework lacks true bulk insert/update operations. Questions:
  • Should EFCore.BulkExtensions be integrated?
  • What performance targets exist for bulk operations?
  • Should there be batch size limits?

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9. Concurrency Control

No built-in optimistic concurrency support. Questions:
  • Should IVersionable be part of the core interfaces?
  • How should concurrency conflicts be handled?
  • Should RowVersion be automatically managed?

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10. Soft Delete

No built-in soft delete pattern. Questions:
  • Should ISoftDeletable be a core interface?
  • How should soft-deleted entities be filtered?
  • Should there be a restore capability?

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Architecture Questions

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11. MessagePublisher Requirement

All managers require an IMessagePublisher even if events aren’t used. Questions:
  • Should MessagePublisher be optional?
  • Should there be a NullMessagePublisher implementation?
  • Should event publishing be a separate concern?

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12. Direct Operations Audit Trail

DirectUpdate and DirectDelete bypass audit trail creation. Questions:
  • Should there be a way to include audit fields in direct operations?
  • Should this limitation be more prominently documented?
  • Are there scenarios where this is problematic?

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Integration Points

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13. OData Compatibility

The ClearRelationships() method suggests OData usage. Questions:
  • Should there be specific OData integration features?
  • How should circular references be handled for serialization?
  • Should there be DTO generation support?

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14. Dependency Injection

No clear DI container integration guidance. Questions:
  • Should managers be registered as scoped or transient?
  • How should DbContext lifetime be managed?
  • Should there be extension methods for popular DI containers?

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Testing Support

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15. Testability Concerns

Static ClaimsPrincipal.Current and DateTime.UtcNow make testing difficult. Questions:
  • Should there be abstractions for time and user context?
  • Should there be test helpers or mocks provided?
  • How should integration tests handle audit fields?

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Migration and Versioning

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16. Database Migration Strategy

No guidance on migrating existing data to use status/state enums. Questions:
  • Should there be migration helpers?
  • How should existing foreign keys be converted?
  • What about data consistency during migration?

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17. Breaking Changes

No clear versioning or upgrade path documentation. Questions:
  • How should breaking changes be communicated?
  • Should there be compatibility layers?
  • What is the deprecation policy?

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Configuration

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18. Global Settings

No apparent way to configure framework behavior globally. Questions:
  • Should there be an EasyAFOptions configuration class?
  • How should defaults be overridden?
  • Should behavior be configurable per-entity or globally?

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Recommendations for Next Steps

  1. Create a configuration system for framework-wide settings
  2. Abstract user context to support different authentication schemes
  3. Add time provider abstraction for testability
  4. Document version support matrix for Entity Framework
  5. Implement soft delete as a first-class feature
  6. Add concurrency control interfaces and support
  7. Create NullMessagePublisher for scenarios without events
  8. Provide DI registration helpers for common containers
  9. Add performance guidance documentation
  10. Create migration guides for existing databases