ASP.NET Core 2.1 introduces new application host for Windows services. We can now run ASP.NET Core applications as Windows services with minimal effort. This blog post introduces how it is done and how to build and run Windows services on ASP.NET Core without any need for dirty hacks. 

One very important design aspect when creating a new table is the decision to create or not create a clustered index.  A table that does not have a clustered index is referred to as a HEAP and a table that has a clustered index is referred to as a clustered table.   

Version 9.1 of Angular Now Available — TypeScript 3.8, faster builds, and more 

Use HTTP Keep Alive - It is another hidden gem which resides in response header and helps in improving the performance of our web applications significantly.

using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;

namespace BlazorWasmUpload.Shared
{
    public class User
    {
        [Required]
        public string Name { get; set; }

        [Required]
        [Range(18, 90)]
        public int Age { get; set; }
    }
}

namespace BlazorWasmUpload.Server.Controllers
{
    [ApiController]
    [Route("api/[controller]/[action]")]
    public class FilesController : ControllerBase
    {
        [HttpPost]
        public async Task<IActionResult> CreateUser(
            [FromForm] User userModel,
            [FromForm] IList<IFormFile> inputFiles = null)

using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Text;
using System.Text.Json;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Forms;

namespace BlazorWasmUpload.Client.Services
{
    public interface IFilesManagerService
    {
        Task<HttpResponseMessage> PostModelWithFilesAsync<T>(string requestUri,
            IEnumerable<IBrowserFile> browserFiles,
            string fileParameterName,
            T model,
            string modelParameterName);
    }

    public class FilesManagerService : IFilesManagerService
    {
        private readonly HttpClient _httpClient;

        public FilesManagerService(HttpClient httpClient)
        {
            _httpClient = httpClient;
        }

        public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> PostModelWithFilesAsync<T>(
            string requestUri,
            IEnumerable<IBrowserFile> browserFiles,
            string fileParameterName,
            T model,
            string modelParameterName)
        {
            var requestContent = new MultipartFormDataContent();
            requestContent.Headers.ContentDisposition = new ContentDispositionHeaderValue("form-data");

            if (browserFiles?.Any() == true)
            {
                foreach (var file in browserFiles)
                {
                    var stream = file.OpenReadStream(maxAllowedSize: 512000 * 1000);
                    requestContent.Add(content: new StreamContent(stream, (int)file.Size), name: fileParameterName, fileName: file.Name);
                }
            }

            requestContent.Add(
                content: new StringContent(JsonSerializer.Serialize(model), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json"),
                name: modelParameterName);

            var result = await _httpClient.PostAsync(requestUri, requestContent);
            result.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
            return result;
        }
    }
}

namespace BlazorWasmUpload.Client
{
    public class Program
    {
        public static async Task Main(string[] args)
        {
            var builder = WebAssemblyHostBuilder.CreateDefault(args);
            // ...

            builder.Services.AddScoped<IFilesManagerService, FilesManagerService>();

            // ...
        }
    }
}

@code
{
    IReadOnlyList<IBrowserFile> SelectedFiles;
    User UserModel = new User();
    bool isProcessing;
    string UploadErrorMessage;

@page "/"

@using System.IO
@using BlazorWasmUpload.Shared
@using BlazorWasmUpload.Client.Services

@inject IFilesManagerService FilesManagerService

<h3>Post a model with files</h3>

<EditForm Model="UserModel" OnValidSubmit="CreateUserAsync">
    <DataAnnotationsValidator />
    <div>
        <label>Name</label>
        <InputText @bind-Value="UserModel.Name"></InputText>
        <ValidationMessage For="()=>UserModel.Name"></ValidationMessage>
    </div>
    <div>
        <label>Age</label>
        <InputNumber @bind-Value="UserModel.Age"></InputNumber>
        <ValidationMessage For="()=>UserModel.Age"></ValidationMessage>
    </div>
    <div>
        <label>Photos</label>
        <InputFile multiple disabled="@isProcessing" OnChange="OnInputFileChange" />
        @if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(UploadErrorMessage))
        {
            <div>
                @UploadErrorMessage
            </div>
        }
        @if (SelectedFiles?.Count > 0)
        {
            <table>
                <thead>
                    <tr>
                        <th>Name</th>
                        <th>Size (bytes)</th>
                        <th>Last Modified</th>
                        <th>Type</th>
                    </tr>
                </thead>
                <tbody>
                    @foreach (var selectedFile in SelectedFiles)
                    {
                        <tr>
                            <td>@selectedFile.Name</td>
                            <td>@selectedFile.Size</td>
                            <td>@selectedFile.LastModified</td>
                            <td>@selectedFile.ContentType</td>
                        </tr>
                    }
                </tbody>
            </table>
        }
    </div>
    <div>
        <button disabled="@isProcessing">Create user</button>
    </div>
</EditForm>

    private void OnInputFileChange(InputFileChangeEventArgs args)
    {
        var files = args.GetMultipleFiles(maximumFileCount: 15);
        if (args.FileCount == 0 || files.Count == 0)
        {
            UploadErrorMessage = "Please select a file.";
            return;
        }

        var allowedExtensions = new List<string> { ".jpg", ".png", ".jpeg" };
        if(!files.Any(file => allowedExtensions.Contains(Path.GetExtension(file.Name), StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)))
        {
            UploadErrorMessage = "Please select .jpg/.jpeg/.png files only.";
            return;
        }

        SelectedFiles = files;
        UploadErrorMessage = string.Empty;
    }

    private async Task CreateUserAsync()
    {
        try
        {
            isProcessing = true;
            await FilesManagerService.PostModelWithFilesAsync(
                        requestUri: "api/Files/CreateUser",
                        browserFiles: SelectedFiles,
                        fileParameterName: "inputFiles",
                        model: UserModel,
                        modelParameterName: "userModel");
            UserModel = new User();
        }
        finally
        {
            isProcessing = false;
            SelectedFiles = null;
        }
    }

using System.IO;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using BlazorWasmUpload.Shared;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
using System.Text.Json;
using BlazorWasmUpload.Server.Utils;
using System.Linq;

namespace BlazorWasmUpload.Server.Controllers
{
    [ApiController]
    [Route("api/[controller]/[action]")]
    public class FilesController : ControllerBase
    {
        private const int MaxBufferSize = 0x10000;

        private readonly IWebHostEnvironment _webHostEnvironment;
        private readonly ILogger<FilesController> _logger;

        public FilesController(
            IWebHostEnvironment webHostEnvironment,
            ILogger<FilesController> logger)
        {
            _webHostEnvironment = webHostEnvironment;
            _logger = logger;
        }

        [HttpPost]
        public async Task<IActionResult> CreateUser(
            //[FromForm] string userModel, // <-- this is the actual form of the posted model
            [ModelBinder(BinderType = typeof(JsonModelBinder)), FromForm] User userModel,
            [FromForm] IList<IFormFile> inputFiles = null)
        {
            /*var user = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<User>(userModel);
            _logger.LogInformation($"userModel.Name: {user.Name}");
            _logger.LogInformation($"userModel.Age: {user.Age}");*/

            _logger.LogInformation($"userModel.Name: {userModel.Name}");
            _logger.LogInformation($"userModel.Age: {userModel.Age}");

            var uploadsRootFolder = Path.Combine(_webHostEnvironment.WebRootPath, "Files");
            if (!Directory.Exists(uploadsRootFolder))
            {
                Directory.CreateDirectory(uploadsRootFolder);
            }

            if (inputFiles?.Any() == true)
            {
                foreach (var file in inputFiles)
                {
                    if (file == null || file.Length == 0)
                    {
                        continue;
                    }

                    var filePath = Path.Combine(uploadsRootFolder, file.FileName);
                    using var fileStream = new FileStream(filePath,
                                                            FileMode.Create,
                                                            FileAccess.Write,
                                                            FileShare.None,
                                                            MaxBufferSize,
                                                            useAsync: true);
                    await file.CopyToAsync(fileStream);
                    _logger.LogInformation($"Saved file: {filePath}");
                }
            }

            return Ok();
        }
    }
}

[ModelBinder(BinderType = typeof(JsonModelBinder)), FromForm] User userModel,

using System;
using System.Text.Json;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ModelBinding;

namespace BlazorWasmUpload.Server.Utils
{
    public class JsonModelBinder : IModelBinder
    {
        public Task BindModelAsync(ModelBindingContext bindingContext)
        {
            if (bindingContext == null)
            {
                throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(bindingContext));
            }

            var valueProviderResult = bindingContext.ValueProvider.GetValue(bindingContext.ModelName);
            if (valueProviderResult != ValueProviderResult.None)
            {
                bindingContext.ModelState.SetModelValue(bindingContext.ModelName, valueProviderResult);

                var valueAsString = valueProviderResult.FirstValue;
                var result = JsonSerializer.Deserialize(valueAsString, bindingContext.ModelType);
                if (result != null)
                {
                    bindingContext.Result = ModelBindingResult.Success(result);
                    return Task.CompletedTask;
                }
            }

            return Task.CompletedTask;
        }
    }
}

[HttpPost]
public async Task<IActionResult> CreateUser(
            [FromForm] string userModel, // <-- this is the actual form of the posted model
            [FromForm] IList<IFormFile> inputFiles = null)
{
  var user = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<User>(userModel);

Mercury is currently 99.9% compatible with Visual Basic.NET, and already adds a wide range of language extensions and support for C# 9.0 features that will make the VB developers lives easier. The extras include support for pointers and unsafe code, lazy properties, and C# 9's new records. 

With the new Version 7, Entity Framework is moving away from legacy systems and duplications which have accumulated in recent years. As a slim-line new development it will be available for .NET Core, and therefore also WinRT, whilst in addition allowing access to NoSQL databases.This session will show exactly what has changed and how you can benefit from the new possibilities. 

Use of the MONEY and SMALLMONEY datatypes can lead to unintentional loss of precision, due to rounding errors, during calculations. It is generally far better to use the DECIMAL, a.k.a. NUMERIC, type.