CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#asp.net-coreasp.net-core-mvc
TheWebGuy
TheWebGuy

Reputation: 12525

Distributed Cache (Redis) in .NET Core

I am trying to setup Distributed Cache in .NET Core using Redis.

I am able to get it implemented but I am having trouble figuring out how to store POCO objects.

In every example I've seen they are storing and retrieving strings. What about more complex data types:

public async Task<string> Get()
{
    var cacheKey = "TheTime";
    var existingTime = _distributedCache.GetString(cacheKey);
    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(existingTime))
    {
        return "Fetched from cache : " + existingTime;
    }
    else
    {
        existingTime = DateTime.UtcNow.ToString();
        _distributedCache.SetString(cacheKey, existingTime);
        return "Added to cache : " + existingTime;
    }
}

I assume I'll need to serialize the objects in json then store the strings? Unless there is another way.

Thank you!

Upvotes: 5

Views: 4495

Answers (3)

skipper_dev
skipper_dev

Reputation: 181

Setting cache:

var serializedPoco = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(poco);
var  encodedPoco = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(serializedPoco);
await distributedCache.SetAsync(cacheKey, encodedPoco, options);

Getting cache:

var encodedPoco = await distributedCache.GetAsync(cacheKey); 
var serializedPoco = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(encodedPoco);

//change the type according to the poco object you are using 
var poco = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<typeof(Poco)>(serializedPoco);

Upvotes: 2

Peter Riesz
Peter Riesz

Reputation: 3396

IDistributedCache stores byte[] and .Net Core 2.0 supports binary serialization so I imagine this would be the most efficient form of storage (instead of JSON). I haven't tested this with Redis but it should work:

First add the Serializable attribute to the POCO:

[Serializable]
public class Poco {
    ...
}

Then to serialize it use the BinaryFormatter:

using(var stream = new MemoryStream()) {
    new BinaryFormatter().Serialize(stream, model);
    var bytes = stream.ToArray();
    cache.Set("cache key", bytes);
}

And to deseralize:

var bytes = cache.get("cache key");
using(var stream = new MemoryStream(bytes)) {
    var model = new BinaryFormatter().Deserialize(stream) as Poco;
}

Upvotes: 6

David Jones
David Jones

Reputation: 3342

IDistributedCache is byte[] based, although extension methods allow you to use strings, because it is a generic interface designed to support many over-the-wire protocols. As a result, you are responsible for serializing your own objects.

Upvotes: 0

Related Questions