Cable

Type-safe client-server communication for C# featuring Bridge.NET and NancyFx. It is a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) implementation for Bridge.NET as the client and Nancy as the Server.

Introducing Cable: Deep Dive Into Building Type-Safe Web Apps in C# with Bridge.NET and Nancy

Cable.ArticleSample Project used in the article to demonstrate Cable. The repo can be used a template for client/server apps. Everything is already set up.

Cable.StandaloneConverter Project that demonstrates using the Cable JSON converter stand-alone without HTTP abstractions

TL;DR

On the Nancy Server

Install Cable.Nancy from nuget

Install-Package Cable.Nancy

Define shared types interfaces in a seperate file SharedTypes.cs

public class Student
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string[] Subjects { get; set; }
    public DateTime DateOfBirth { get; set; }
}

public interface IStudentService
{
    Task<IEnumerable<Student>> GetAllStudents();
    Task<Student> TryFindStudentByName(string name);
}

Register an implementation through a NancyModule:

public class StudentServiceModule : NancyModule
{
    public StudentServiceModule(IStudentService service)
    {
        // automatically generate routes for the provided implementation of IStudentService
        NancyServer.RegisterRoutesFor(this, service);
    }
}

On the Bridge.NET client

Install Cable.Bridge from nuget:

Install-Package Cable.Bridge

Reference the file SharedTypes.cs into your client project, making the types available.

Create a typed proxy and talk to server directly:

using System;
using Cable.Bridge;
using ServerSide;

namespace ClientSide
{
    public class Program
    {
        public static async void Main()
        {
            // resolve a typed proxy
            var studentService = BridgeClient.Resolve<IStudentService>();

            // call server just by calling the function
            var students = await studentService.GetAllStudents();

            // use the results directly
            foreach (var student in students)
            {
                var name = student.Name;
                var age = DateTime.Now.Year - student.DateOfBirth.Year;
                Console.WriteLine($"{name} is {age} years old");
            }
        }
    }
}