Russkyc.MinimalApi.Framework - A Generic API Crud Generator for EntityFrameworkCore

Dynamically generates a generic CRUD API implementation backed with Entity Framework Core and Minimal API. This can be used to create a quick backend for prototyping apps that use CRUD operations.

✨ What's New:

• Realtime support using SignalR learn more...
• Advanced querying with filtering, ordering, and pagination learn more...
• Batch endpoints for adding, updating, and deleting multiple entities learn more...

Potential use-cases

• Quick API prototyping
• Small projects that only require CRUD functionality
• Frontend Testing (if a backend API is needed)

Getting Started

Installation

To install the Russkyc.MinimalApi.Framework package, you can use the NuGet Package Manager or the .NET CLI.

Using .NET CLI

Run the following command in your terminal:

dotnet add package Russkyc.MinimalApi.Framework

Setup

Follow these steps to set up the Russkyc.MinimalApi.Framework in your project.

1. Create a new ASP.NET Core Web API project if you don't already have one.

2. Add the required services and API endpoint mappings in the Program.cs file:

   using System.Reflection;
   using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
   using Russkyc.MinimalApi.Framework;
   
   var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
   
   builder.Services.AddEndpointsApiExplorer();
   builder.Services.AddSwaggerGen();
   
   var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
   
   // Add Entity Context Services
   builder.Services.AddDbContextService(assembly, options => options.UseInMemoryDatabase("sample"));
   
   // Uncomment to enable realtime events
   // by default the endpoint used is "/crud-events"
   // this can be changed by providing a string parameter, eg; `MapRealtimeHub("/api-events")`
   builder.Services.AddRealtimeService();
   
   var app = builder.Build();
   
   if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
   {
       app.UseSwagger();
       app.UseSwaggerUI();
   }
   
   app.UseHttpsRedirection();
   
   // Map Entity CRUD Endpoints
   app.MapGroup("api")
       .MapAllEntityEndpoints<int>(assembly);
   
   // Map Realtime Hub
   app.MapRealtimeHub();
   
   app.Run();

Setting-up entity classes

All entity classes should inherit from the DbEntity abstract class. Where TKeyType is the Id type of the entity.

SampleEntity Class

public class SampleEntity : DbEntity<int>
{
    public string Property { get; set; }
    public virtual SampleEmbeddedEntity EmbeddedEntity { get; set; }
}

SampleEmbeddedEntity Class

public class SampleEmbeddedEntity : DbEntity<int>
{
    public string Property2 { get; set; }
}

You now have a fully working EntityFrameworkCore backed MinimalApi CRUD project.

Advanced Setup

Custom DbContext (Useful for migrations support)

To support database migrations, we can create a custom dbcontext class that inherits from BaseDbContext

using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
using Russkyc.MinimalApi.Framework;

namespace SampleProject;

public class CustomDbContext : BaseDbContext
{
    public CustomDbContext(DbContextOptions options) : base(options)
    {
    }
    
    // Entity collections are required to be defined
    // using the naming convention `<ClassName>Collection`
    
    public DbSet<SampleEmbeddedEntity> SampleEmbeddedEntityCollection { get; set; }
    public DbSet<SampleEntity> SampleEntityCollection { get; set; }
}

Database Initialization

These are different database action types that can be defined in the AddAllEntityServices or AddEntityServices extensions using the databaseAction parameter:

• None - Default Action
• DatabaseAction.EnsureCreated - Run Database.EnsureCreated()
• DatabaseAction.DeleteAndCreate - Run Database.EnsureDeleted() before Database.EnsureCreated()

As an example:

builder.Services.AddDbContextService(assembly,
    options => options.UseSqlite("Data Source=test.sqlite"),
    databaseAction: DatabaseAction.DeleteAndCreate);

This ensures that a fresh database is used in every run. If you only need to set the database once, DatabaseAction.EnsureCreated is the recommended option

Advanced Route Options

You can modify the endpoint options using the routeOptionsAction parameter. For example, to require authorization for all endpoints:

app.MapGroup("api")
    .MapAllEntityEndpoints<int>(assembly, routeOptions => routeOptions.RequireAuthorization());

Advanced Querying

Apart from the standard CRUD api functionality, there is also some support for advanced querying.

Entity Framework Core Navigation Properties

If you do a get request to the endpoint /api/sampleentity you will receive a response that looks like this:

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "property": "Entity 1",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "property": "Entity 2",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  },
  {
    "id": 3,
    "property": "Entity 3",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  },
  {
    "id": 4,
    "property": "Entity 4",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  }
]

This is because navigation properties for referenced entities are not automatically included (for performance purposes). you can use the include query parameter to include the referenced entity when needed.

GET /api/sampleentity?include=embeddedentity

Then you will have this result:

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "property": "Entity 1",
    "embeddedEntity": {
      "id": 1,
      "property2": "Embedded Entity 1"
    }
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "property": "Entity 2",
    "embeddedEntity": {
      "id": 2,
      "property2": "Embedded Entity 2"
    }
  },
  {
    "id": 3,
    "property": "Entity 3",
    "embeddedEntity": {
      "id": 3,
      "property2": "Embedded Entity 3"
    }
  },
  {
    "id": 4,
    "property": "Entity 4",
    "embeddedEntity": {
      "id": 4,
      "property2": "Embedded Entity 4"
    }
  }
]

Filter query support (with the help of DynamicExpressionParser in System.Linq.Dynamic.Core)

Entities can now be filtered with the filter queryParam and supports standard expressions. Parameters should be prefixed with @ in order to be valid, eg; a parameter named Content should be used as @Content. Here are a few examples:

GET /api/sampleentity?filter=@Content.StartsWith("hello")

GET /api/sampleentity?filter=@Content.StartsWith("hi") && !@Content.Contains("user")

GET /api/sampleentity?filter=@Count == 1 || @Count > 8

GET /api/sampleentity?filter=@ContactPerson != null

These are visualized for readability, in actual use, the filter value should be URL Encoded.

Ordering Support

Entities can now be ordered using the orderBy and orderByDescending query parameters. Multiple properties can be specified for ordering, separated by commas. The first property will be ordered using OrderBy or OrderByDescending, and subsequent properties will be ordered using ThenBy or ThenByDescending.

GET /api/sampleentity?orderBy=property,embeddedEntity.property2&orderByDescending=true

the orderBy query param will define what properties are taken into consideration in ordering. the orderByDescending query param is a bool property that changes the behavior to descending when set to true.

Pagination

By default, pagination is disabled and the query collection response returns something like this

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "property": "Entity 1",
    "embeddedEntity": {
      "id": 1,
      "property2": "Embedded Entity 1"
    }
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "property": "Entity 2",
    "embeddedEntity": {
      "id": 2,
      "property2": "Embedded Entity 2"
    }
  }
]

To enable pagination, set the paginate query param to true and set the page, pageSize query params as needed. as an example:

GET /api/sampleentity?paginate=true&page=1&pageSize=1

This will now return a PaginatedCollection object with this JSON schema:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "property": "Entity 1",
      "embeddedEntity": null,
      "id": "84e93f60-b2bc-4303-af0a-c51c205addb9"
    }
  ],
  "page": 1,
  "pageSize": 1,
  "totalRecords": 2,
  "totalPages": 2
}

Batch Endpoints

Batch endpoints are supported for adding, updating, and deleting multiple entities at once.

Batch Insert

POST /api/sampleentity/batch
Content-Type: application/json

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "property": "Entity 1",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "property": "Entity 2",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  }
]

Batch Update

PUT /api/sampleentity/batch
Content-Type: application/json

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "property": "Updated Entity 1",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "property": "Updated Entity 2",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  }
]

Batch Update with Filters and Dynamic Fields

PATCH /api/sampleentity/batch?filter=@property.Contains("Old")
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "property": "Updated Value"
}

Batch Delete

DELETE /api/sampleentity/batch?filter=@Count > 8

Realtime Support

To enable realtime events support, add the AddRealtimeService method to your service collection and map the realtime hub using MapRealtimeHub in your Program.cs file:

using System.Reflection;
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
using Russkyc.MinimalApi.Framework;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddEndpointsApiExplorer();
builder.Services.AddSwaggerGen();

var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();

// Add Entity Context Services
builder.Services.AddDbContextService(assembly, options => options.UseInMemoryDatabase("sample"));

// Add Realtime Service
builder.Services.AddRealtimeService();

var app = builder.Build();

if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseSwagger();
    app.UseSwaggerUI();
}

app.UseHttpsRedirection();

// Map Entity CRUD Endpoints
app.MapGroup("api")
    .MapAllEntityEndpoints<int>(assembly);

// Map Realtime Hub
app.MapRealtimeHub();

app.Run();

The default websocket endpoint is /crud-events but can be changed by adding a string parameter of the desired endpint in the MapRealtimeHub method, eg; .MapRealtimeHub("/api-events").

Each event returned is an EntityEvent<T> type, where T is the type of data returned by the resource event that triggered the websocket message. Eg; when creating a SampleEntity using post the EntityEvent being sent in realtime is of type EntityEvent<SampleEntity>.

EntityEvent Class

public class EntityEvent<T>
{
    public string Resource { get; set; }
    public string Type { get; set; }
    public T? Data { get; set; }
}

Schema Information

• The Resource property will be the name of the entity in lowercase, eg; "sampleentity".
• The Type property will be the type of event, eg; created, updated, deleted, batch-created, batch-updated, batch-deleted
• The Data property contains the data being returned by that resource method.

Important things to consider

• When using generic implementations like this on the server side, business logic is now moved into the client and becomes a client concern.
• If your API needs to do complex business logic over the CRUD functionality, please consider implementing custom endpoints instead of using generic endpoints such as this.
• There is currently no implementation for validation and DTO mapping, this can be added later as the project updates.