Automapper Circular Reference Infinite loops

Question

I have some problems with AutoMapper, the object that I mapped makes circular reference, and because of this I can't return it JSON to View using ActionResult.

I've made an DTO's object linked with another two.

 public class MasterJobsDTO
{
    public int function_id { get; set; }
    public string function_name { get; set; }
    public bool is_active { get; set; }
    public job_family job_family
    {
        get; set;

    }
    public functional_area functional_area
    {
        get; set;

    }
}

Function mode:

 public partial class function
{
    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
    public function()
    {
        this.t_actual_organization = new HashSet<t_actual_organization>();
        this.t_actual_organization_split_position = new HashSet<t_actual_organization_split_position>();
    }

    public int function_id { get; set; }
    public string function_name { get; set; }
    public bool is_active { get; set; }
    public Nullable<int> job_family_id { get; set; }

    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
    public virtual ICollection<t_actual_organization> t_actual_organization { get; set; }
    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
    public virtual ICollection<t_actual_organization_split_position> t_actual_organization_split_position { get; set; }
    public virtual job_family job_family { get; set; }
}

Job_Family model:

public partial class job_family
{
    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
    public job_family()
    {
        this.t_actual_organization = new HashSet<t_actual_organization>();
        this.t_actual_organization_split_position = new HashSet<t_actual_organization_split_position>();
        this.functions = new HashSet<function>();
    }

    public int job_family_id { get; set; }
    public string job_family_name { get; set; }
    public Nullable<int> functional_area_id { get; set; }

    public virtual functional_area functional_area { get; set; }
    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
    public virtual ICollection<t_actual_organization> t_actual_organization { get; set; }
    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
    public virtual ICollection<t_actual_organization_split_position> t_actual_organization_split_position { get; set; }
    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
    public virtual ICollection<function> functions { get; set; }
}

Automapper config:

cfg.CreateMap<function, MasterJobsDTO>().MaxDepth(1).PreserveReferences()
        .ForMember(x => x.functional_area_id, opts => opts.MapFrom(source => source.job_family.functional_area.functional_area_id))
        .ForMember(x => x.functional_area_extended_name, opts => opts.MapFrom(source => source.job_family.functional_area.functional_area_extended_name))
        .ForMember(x => x.job_family_name, opts => opts.MapFrom(source => source.job_family.job_family_name))
        .ForMember(x => x.functional_area, opts => opts.MapFrom(source => source.job_family.functional_area))
        ;

function_area class:

 public partial class functional_area
{
    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
    public functional_area()
    {
        this.job_family = new HashSet<job_family>();
        this.t_actual_organization = new HashSet<t_actual_organization>();
        this.t_actual_organization_split_position = new HashSet<t_actual_organization_split_position>();
    }

    public int functional_area_id { get; set; }
    public string functional_area_name { get; set; }
    public string functional_area_extended_name { get; set; }

    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
    public virtual ICollection<job_family> job_family { get; set; }
    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
    public virtual ICollection<t_actual_organization> t_actual_organization { get; set; }
    [System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
    public virtual ICollection<t_actual_organization_split_position> t_actual_organization_split_position { get; set; }
}

And the call:

List<MasterJobsDTO> mjd = Mapper.Map<List<function>, List<MasterJobsDTO>>(data);

The error that I get in browser is:

A circular reference was detected while serializing an object of type 'System.Data.Entity.DynamicProxies.job_family_D3FE2013BDB6002B7BE94915E73AEA531401...

Answer 1

In your automapper config you can exclude the offending circular reference pointback.

.ForMember(dest => dest.OffendingVariable, source=> source.Ignore());

The resulting object you get after the automapper finishes will be "smaller" than the "entity" one and can be serialised to JSON without issue.

EDIT: If your true error lies in that you ultimately want to be able to serialise your "infinite" object into JSON, an you don't care about fixing it by fiddling with automapper i can propose "cropping" down the circular point backs of your object with something like this:

List<MasterJobsDTO> mjd = Mapper.Map<List<function>, List<MasterJobsDTO>>(data);

var jsonPrepMJD = new List<MasterJobsDTO>(from m in mjd
                            select new MasterJobsDTO()
                            {
                              id = m.id,
                              ...,
                              pointBackMember = new PointBackMember(){set all but the virtual pointback}
                            }.Cast<MasterJobsDTO>();

If the pointBackMember is a list then select from it and cast it too as deep as you need to go

jsonPrepMJD would then be serialisable.