Build MVC Applications with Connectivity to Short.io Data

In this article, we will guide you through the process of utilizing wizards within Visual Studio to seamlessly integrate the CData ADO.NET Provider for Short.io into a basic MVC (Model, View, Controller) project.

Create the Entity Framework Model

Follow the steps below to save connection properties and map tables to entities in the data model.

1. Create a new MVC project in Visual Studio. In this example, the project name is MvcAPIApp.

2. If you are using Entity Framework 6, you will need to take the preliminary step of registering the Short.io Entity Framework provider for your project. See the "LINQ and Entity Framework" chapter in the help documentation for a guide.

   Note that MVC 3 scaffolding and MVC 4 scaffolding do not support Entity Framework 6. You can use your scaffolding with Entity Framework 6 by upgrading to the latest version of MVC.
3. To add the .edmx file from the designer, right-click your Models folder and click Add New Item. Select ADO.NET Entity Data Model, name the model, and click Add. In this example, the name of the model is APIModel.
4. In the Entity Data Model wizard, select the option 'EF Designer from database'. The Entity Data Model wizard is displayed.
5. Click New Connection. Select CData Short.io Data Source in the dialog that is displayed.

6. Specify the required connection string properties.

   Using API Key Authentication

   Short.io uses API Key authentication. To obtain your API key:

   1. Log in to your Short.io account
   2. Navigate to Settings > Integrations & API > API
   3. Click Create API Key and copy your API key

   After obtaining the API key, you are ready to connect:

   • AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
   • APIKey: Set this to your Short.io API key obtained from Settings > Integrations & API > API.

   Example connection string:

   Profile=C:\profiles\ShortIo.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';
   

   Available Tables

   The Short.io profile provides access to the following tables:

   • Domains - Short.io domains associated with the authenticated account
   • Links - Short links for a domain
   • LinkExpand - Expand a short link by domain and path
   • LinksByOriginalUrl - Retrieve multiple short links matching a given original destination URL
   • Folders - Link folders within a specific domain
   • LinkPermissions - Permission records for a specific link within a domain
   • CountryTargeting - Country-based redirect targeting rules for a specific short link
   • RegionTargeting - Region-based redirect targeting rules for a specific short link
   • Regions - List of available regions/states for a given country code
   • DomainStatistics - Aggregated click and traffic statistics for a Short.io domain
   • LinkStatistics - Aggregated click and traffic statistics for a specific Short.io link

   A typical connection string is below:

   Profile=C:\profiles\ShortIo.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key';

   

7. Name the connection and select whether to include sensitive information, such as connection credentials, in the connection string. For simplicity, this example saves sensitive information in Web.config. The connection settings are saved as APIEntities.

   
8. Select the views you need. In this example, Domains is imported. Also, the option to pluralize object names is deselected in this example. Click Finish to create the .edmx file.
9. Build your project to complete this step.

Scaffold the Controller and Views

Once you've established the model and completed the project build, you can employ ASP.NET Scaffolding wizards to generate both the controller and the views.

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the controllers folder and click Add -> Controller. Select MVC 5 Controller with views, using Entity Framework.
2. In the Add Controller dialog that is then displayed, select the following options:
   • Model class: Select a table you imported; for example, Domains.
   • Data context class: Select your context class.
3. Leave the default values for the other fields.

You can now access the list of Domains records at http://MySite/Domains. With every state change the site picks up any data changes.