CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#grpc
mortenstarck
mortenstarck

Reputation: 2803

C# GRPC Reference existing object

Im completely new in using GRPC. I have and question regarding setting up the .proto file. In my existing solution i have forexample this class:

    public class Car
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Brand { get; set; }
    public string? Type {get; set;}
}

The Car class is placed in a Core project, since it's used by other logic around the solution. But if i like to return in my GRPC Server, is it really necessary to define it in the .proto file again ala this:

message CarReply {
  int32 Id = 1;
  string Brand = 2;
  string Type = 3;
}

What i liked was an reference to my Car() class. Is this not possible?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 789

Answers (1)

Marc Gravell
Marc Gravell

Reputation: 1062492

If you want to use vanilla "contract first" protobuf, then yes: you need to use a schema and the generated type - it is the generated type that knows how to perform the serialization.

However! There may be an alternative; protobuf-net (and protobuf-net.Grpc) provide an independent implementation of protobuf that supports "code first" usage, which allows you to use your existing type model.

The easiest way to do this with protobuf-net is to annotate your model (using either protobuf-net's attributes, or the framework data-contract attributes - the first option giving more control); for example:

[ProtoContract]
public class Car
{
    [ProtoMember(1)]
    public int Id { get; set; }
    [ProtoMember(2)]
    public string Brand { get; set; }
    [ProtoMember(3)]
    public string? Type {get; set;}
}

It is also possible to configure everything at runtime, but that's a bit harder.

This can also be used fully with gRPC, using interfaces to define the service contract; full guidance is here

Upvotes: 1

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