Simplify.Web

Lightweight and fast .NET web-framework based on MVC and OWIN


Keywords
.NET, DI, MVC, OWIN, web-framework, api-framework, backend-for-frontend, backend-framework, c-sharp, dot-net, dot-net-core, fast, mono-support, simplify, web-application-framework
License
LGPL-3.0
Install
Install-Package Simplify.Web -Version 4.0.2

Documentation

Simplify.Web

Simplify

Nuget Version Nuget Download Issues Board Build Package Libraries.io dependency status for latest release CodeFactor Grade Platform PRs Welcome

Simplify.Web is an open-source, lightweight, fast and highly customizable server-side .NET web-framework based on ASP.NET Core for building HTTP based web-applications, RESTful APIs etc.

Framework can be used as:

  • An API backend framework
  • As a mix of API backend + some SPA front end like Angular
  • As an old way backend generated web-site

Can be hosted:

  • The same way as an ApsNetCore MVC application (On IIS, or as a console application)
  • Inside a windows service

Main features

  • Comes as Microsoft.AspNetCore middleware
  • Can be used as an API backend only with front-end frameworks
  • Based on MVC and MVVM patterns
  • Lightweight & Fast
  • Uses switchable IOC container for itself and controllers, views constructor injection (Simplify.DI)
  • Support async controllers
  • Supports controllers which can be run on any request
  • Localization-friendly (supports templates, strings and data files localization by default)
  • Uses fast templates engine (Simplify.Templates)
  • Mocking-friendly
  • Mono-friendly

Quick start

There is a templates package available at nuget.org for Simplify.Web. It contains a couple of templates which can be a good starting point for your application.

Installing a templates package:

dotnet new -i Simplify.Web.Templates
Template Short Name
Angular template sweb.angular
Api template sweb.api
Minimal template sweb.minimal
Windows service hosted api template sweb.api.windowsservice

Use the short name to create a project based on selected template:

dotnet new sweb.angular -n HelloWorldApplication

Then just run project via F5 (it will download all required nuget and npm packages at first build).

Detailed documentation

API outgoing JSON controller example

[Get("api/v1/weatherTypes")]
public class SampleDataController : Controller
{
    private static readonly string[] Summaries =
    {
        "Freezing", "Bracing", "Chilly", "Cool", "Mild", "Warm", "Balmy", "Hot", "Sweltering", "Scorching"
    };

    public override ControllerResponse Invoke()
    {
        try
        {
            return new Json(items);
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(e);

            return StatusCode(500);
        }
    }
}

API ingoing JSON controller example

[Post("api/v1/sendMessage")]
public class SampleDataController : Controller<SampleModel>
{
    public override ControllerResponse Invoke()
    {
        try
        {
            Trace.WriteLine($"Object with message received: {Model.Message}");

            return NoContent();
        }
        catch (Exception e) when (e is ModelValidationException || e is Newtonsoft.Json.JsonException)
        {
            return StatusCode(400, e.Message);
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(e);

            return StatusCode(500, "Site error!");
        }
    }
}

public class SampleModel
{
    [Required]
    public string Message { get; set; }
}

Some simple HTML generation controllers example

Static page controller

// Controller will be executed only on HTTP GET request like http://mysite.com/about
[Get("about")]
public class AboutController : Controller
{
    public override ControllerResponse Invoke()
    {
        // About.tpl content will be inserted into {MainContent} in Master.tpl
        return new StaticTpl("Static/About", StringTable.PageTitleAbout);
    }
}

Any page controller with high run priority example

Runs on any request and adds login panel to a pages

// Controller will be executed on any request and will be launched before other controllers (because they have Priority = 0 by default)
[Priority(-1)]
public class LoginPanelController : AsyncController
{
    public override async Task<ControllerResponse> Invoke()
    {
        return Context.Context.Authentication.User == null
            // Data from GuestPanel.tpl will be inserted into {LoginPanel} in Master.tpl
            ? new InlineTpl("LoginPanel", await TemplateFactory.LoadAsync("Shared/LoginPanel/GuestPanel"))
            // Data from LoggedUserPanelView will be inserted into {LoginPanel} in Master.tpl
            : new InlineTpl("LoginPanel", await GetView<LoggedUserPanelView>().Get(Context.Context.Authentication.User.Identity.Name));
    }
}

View example

public class LoggedUserPanelView : View
{
    public async Task<ITemplate> Get(string userName)
    {
        // Loading template from LoggedUserPanel.tpl asynchronously
        var tpl = await TemplateFactory.LoadAsync("Shared/LoginPanel/LoggedUserPanel");

        // Setting userName into {UserName} variable in LoggedUserPanel.tpl
        tpl.Add("UserName", userName);

        return tpl;
    }
}

Example applications

Below is the list of sample applications showing different variations of Simplify.Web usage:

Simplify

Contributing

There are many ways in which you can participate in the project. Like most open-source software projects, contributing code is just one of many outlets where you can help improve. Some of the things that you could help out with are:

  • Documentation (both code and features)
  • Bug reports
  • Bug fixes
  • Feature requests
  • Feature implementations
  • Test coverage
  • Code quality
  • Sample applications

Related Projects

Additional extensions to Simplify.Web live in their own repositories on GitHub. For example:

License

Licensed under the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE