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F# framework for rapid prototyping with ASP.NET Core.

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WebFrame

Build Status Latest Published Nuget Version Latest Published Templates Version

F# framework for rapid prototyping with ASP.NET Core.

Fast Travel

Introduction - A Story Time

Some long time ago I used to write web stuff using Python frameworks such as Django. More recently I got deeply into the F#. It satisfies a lot of my requirements. However, I was not satisfied with the current state of the F# web development. Every time I tried to write something quickly, I often had to choose between a heavily functional programming oriented frameworks or extremely tedious ASP.NET Core.

I wanted something quick. Why couldn't I just do the following?

open WebFrame

[<EntryPoint>]
let main _ =
    let app = App ()
    
    app.Get "/" <- fun serv -> serv.EndResponse "Hello World!"
    
    app.Run ()
    
    0 // exit code

So I did write it myself!

Yes, you can just write it and experience the full ASP.NET Core server!

There are a lot of helper methods available and mostly all of them are attached to the only (RequestServices) parameter that is passed to the handler on each request. This setup uses the endpoints api and all the routes can be inspected at any time.

This project is still a work in progress and it is far from being a final product. Therefore - all contributions are absolutely welcome.

Guiding Principles

Here are the guiding principals for the development and vision of the project:

  • The common scenario should require the least amount of code
  • The code should be obvious, self descriptive and visible
  • Prefer existing F# syntax and avoid custom operators. Overloading is OK when it helps with previous points.
  • Be recognisable to non-FP developers and web developers from other languages
  • Make it easy to drop down to raw ASP.NET Core when the case requires it

Therefore, explicit is better than implicit but the speed of prototyping must always be considered. It is a number one priority.

  • And finally, a beautiful code (in my eyes) is a better code.

Setup

Before you begin, make sure that .NET 5.0+ is installed and reachable from your terminal (i.e. it is present in the Path environment variable)

For the first timers

For those who just start with F#, I recommend starting with the following website 'F# for Fun and Profit: F# syntax in 60 seconds'.

Once you familiarise yourself with the syntax and deal with the .Net runtime, you should check the Samples folder.

Install the minimal template:

dotnet new -i RussBaz.WebFrame.Templates::*

Create a new project just like you would normally do in a new directory of your choice:

dotnet new webframe

Once this is done, run the following command (in the same folder where your .fsproj file is) to start the server:

dotnet run

Note: you may need to restore the project before your IDE can correctly work with the project: dotnet restore and dotnet build

Recommended editors by personal preferences for F#:

  • VS Code with Ionide-fsharp extension
  • JetBrains Rider
  • Visual Studio

For an advanced audience

Create a new console or an empty asp core project with F#.

If it is a console project, add Web framework reference.

If it is a Web project, delete the Setup file and clean up the Program file.

Add WebFrame package reference and open it in the main file. It will immediately import all the required stuff for the minimal setup.

Please consider using Paket if you do not mind (it can reference GitHub projects directly)

Update the dependencies if required.

Examples

Please check the Samples folder for examples of most of available apis.

  • Minimal - most basic setup
  • Modules - shows how to modularise the app
  • LocalServer - shows how to work with the static files. It sets up a server that will share the specified folder (first command line argument) on the local network.
  • TestServer - shows how you can access a virtual test server that can be used for testing. You can also check out the WebFrame.Test folder for more details on how to use it.
  • StandardServer - shows common scenarios
  • AdvancedServer - a kitchen sink of most other available apis and helpers from the simplest to the most complicated

Sample Code

The following snippet shows some common scenarios.

open WebFrame
open type WebFrame.Endpoints.Helpers

//Sample exceptions
exception TeapotException

type ItemAlreadyExistsException ( itemName: string ) =
    inherit System.Exception $"Item {itemName} already exists."

[<EntryPoint>]
let main argv =
    let items = [ "todo1"; "todo2"; "todo3" ]
    
    let api = AppModule "/api"
    
    // Whenever a TeapotException is thrown in this module
    // It will be returning code 418
    api.Errors <- Error.codeFor<TeapotException> 418
    
    // And the same with "ItemAlreadyExistsException"
    // You can even catch the automatically captured exceptions
    api.Errors <- Error.codeFor<ItemAlreadyExistsException> 409
    
    // Returning items
    api.Get "/" <- fun serv ->
        serv.EndResponse items
        
    // Adding items
    // By sending an item Name as a string field in a form
    api.Post "/" <- fun serv ->
        // If a required property in user input is not found,
        // then 400 error is issued automatically
        let itemName = serv.Body.Form.Required<string> "name"
        
        // If you need to check the content type, you can try:
        
        // Is it a form? (bool property)
        // serv.Body.Form.IsPresent
        
        // Is it a json conent type? (bool property)
        // serv.Body.Json.IsJsonContentType
        
        // Is it a json (checks the content type)?
        // If yes, try validating it. (bool task method)
        // serv.Body.Json.IsPresent ()
        
        // In all other cases (string property):
        // serv.ContentType
        
        // ContentType is an empty string if the header is missing
        
        // To set a response Content-Type manually and quickly,
        // Just assign the required value to the same property
        // Reading it will still return the content type of the request
        serv.ContentType <- "text/plain"
        
        // This exception was already registered in the module
        // and it will be automatically handled
        if items |> List.contains itemName then raise ( ItemAlreadyExistsException itemName )
        
        if itemName = "coffee" then raise TeapotException
        
        serv.StatusCode <- 201
        printfn $"Faking a successful addition of a new item {itemName}"
    
        serv.EndResponse ()
    
    let app = App argv
    
    // Serving Static Files is disabled by default
    app.Services.StaticFiles.Enabled <- true
    
    // Optionally adding a prefix to all static files
    app.Services.StaticFiles.Route <- "/static"
    
    // Please check the LocalServer sample for more information on the static files
    
    // Overriding config
    app.Config.[ "Hello" ] <- "World"
    // Overriding connecition string for "MyConnection"
    app.Config.ConnectionStrings "MyConnection" <- "host=localhost;"
    
    app.Get "/" <- page "Pages/Index.html"
    app.Get "/About" <- page "Pages/About.html"
    
    app.Get "/Hello" <- fun serv ->
        // Accessing configuration at runtime
        // The field naming syntax is the same as in ASP.NET Core
        let hello = serv.Config.Required<string> "hello"
        // Always present as well as some other web host properties
        let isDevelopment = serv.Config.IsDevelopment
        
        serv.EndResponse $"[ {hello} ] Dev mode: {isDevelopment}"
    
    app.Module "ToDoApi" <- api
    
    app.Run ()
    
    0 // exit code

Documentation

Main App

How to create, build and run a WebFrame app

open WebFrame

[<EntryPoint>]
let main argv =
    // All it takes to create an app
    let app = App ()

    // If you want to pass command line arguments
    // to the underlying ASP.NET Core server
    let app = App argv
 
    // To run an app (blocking mode)
    // If the app is not yet built
    // it will run the build step automatically
    // However, it will not rebuild the app if it is already built
    app.Run ()
    
    // You can also specify directly the connection urls in this step
    // This will override all existing 'urls' configurations
    // Furthermore, it will force the app to be rebuilt even if it is already built
    app.Run [ "http://localhost:5000" ]
    
    // To Build an app manually before running it
    // One can run this optional command
    // Once the app is built, further changes to configs or endpoints
    // will not take place untill the app is rebuilt
    app.Build ()

Request Handling

How to process incoming requests

// There are two types of request handlers
// Each returning the HttpWorkload in some form
// Internally, all the handlers are converted into TaskHttpHandler
type HttpWorkload =
    | EndResponse            // ends the response processing
    | TextResponse of string // the resonse body as string
    | FileResponse of string // filename of the file to be returned
    | JsonResponse of obj    // an obj to be serialised and returned as json

// Internal handlers
type HttpHandler = HttpContext -> HttpWorkload
type TaskHttpHandler = HttpContext -> Task<HttpWorkload>

// User provided handlers, that are converted to the internal representation
type ServicedHandler = RequestServices -> HttpWorkload
type TaskServicedHandler = RequestServices -> Task<HttpWorkload>

// Use EndResponse when you plan to construct the response manually
// And do not want any further processing to be applied after that
// If no response is provided at all, a default empty bodied 200 response is returned
// If you return a workload that contradicts your manual changes to the response object
// Then normally a ServerException would be thrown

// In order to define a request handler,
// Pass a function to an indexed property named after the expected Http Method
// The provided indexer is a string that will be converted into ASP.Net Core RoutePattern
// MS Docs Reference on Route Templating Syntax
// https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/routing?view=aspnetcore-5.0#route-template-reference 
app.Get "/" <- fun serv -> serv.EndResponse ()
app.Post "/" <- fun serv -> serv.EndResponse ()
app.Put "/" <- fun serv -> serv.EndResponse ()
app.Patch "/" <- fun serv -> serv.EndResponse ()
app.Delete "/" <- fun serv -> serv.EndResponse ()
app.Head "/" <- fun serv -> serv.EndResponse ()
app.Options "/" <- fun serv -> serv.EndResponse ()
app.Connect "/" <- fun serv -> serv.EndResponse ()
app.Trace "/" <- fun serv -> serv.EndResponse ()

// If you need to perform an ayncronous computation
app.GetTask "/" <- fun serv -> task { return serv.EndResponse () }
app.PostTask "/" <- fun serv -> task { return serv.EndResponse () }
app.PutTask "/" <- fun serv -> task { return serv.EndResponse () }
app.PatchTask "/" <- fun serv -> task { return serv.EndResponse () }
app.DeleteTask "/" <- fun serv -> task { return serv.EndResponse () }
app.HeadTask "/" <- fun serv -> task { return serv.EndResponse () }
app.OptionsTask "/" <- fun serv -> task { return serv.EndResponse () }
app.ConnectTask "/" <- fun serv -> task { return serv.EndResponse () }
app.TraceTask "/" <- fun serv -> task { return serv.EndResponse () }

// You do not need to use EndResponse convinience method of the RequestService parameter
// Your handler can return an HttpWorkload directly
open WebFrame.Http

app.Get "/home" <- fun _ -> TextResponse "Hello World"
app.PostTask "/home" <- fun _ -> task { return TextResponse "Hello World" }

// Moreover, you do not have to use convinience indexed properties named after their methods
// You can provide a method directly
// You must provide a TaskServicedHandler in this case
open WebFrame.RouteTypes

app.[ Post "/api" ] <- fun serv -> task { return serv.EndResponse () }

// Or even like this
open WebFrame.Http

app.[ Get "/" ] <- fun _ -> task { return EndResponse }

// Each method named indexed property will internally use this property
// Therefore, if the method and the endpoint combination repeats,
// It will immediately raise a ServerException
// However, in some corner cases the duplication may slip through the checks
// In that case the ASP.Net Core will raise its own exception
// and there is no guarantee on what exception and when it will be raised
// It depends on the whims of ASP.Net Core developers

If an InputException is raised during the request handling then a 400 response with the exception message would returned. In case of ServerException, a 500 response is issued instead.

Request Services

RequestServices object is passed to all user defined ServicedHandler and it is the secret sauce of this framework. It contains intuitively named properties to access different parts of the request and the response. Furthermore, it encapsulates configuration, routes and services (DI).

It also provides different helpers for many common scenarios. You can even access the raw HttpRequest and its properties through it if necessary.

The main rule of thumb that Request Services are trying to follow is:

  • When you read a property, you are reading from a request object
  • When you write to a property, then you are writing to a response object
  • The same applies to the methods (where appropriate)
    • Different Gets would normally extract a value from the request
    • Different Sets would normally set a value in the response
    • Etc.

List of available 'services':

// serv: RequestServices

// Raw ASP.NET Core HttpContext
serv.Context

// Request path properties
serv.Path

// Request route parameters services
// Check Route Parts for details
serv.Route

// Request query parameters services
// Check Query Parts for details
serv.Query

// Request and response header services
// Check Header Parts for details
serv.Headers

// Request and response cookie services
// Check Cookies Parts for details
serv.Cookies

// Server configuration services
// Check Config Parts for details
serv.Config

// Request body services
// Check Body Parts for details
serv.Body

// Server route services
serv.AppRoutes

// Set response status code
serv.StatusCode <- 201

// Get request Content-Type
serv.ContentType
// Set response Content-Type
// Overrides all the existing content-type data on the response
serv.ContentType <- "text/plain"

// Get ASP.NET Core service
serv.GetService<IRandomService> ()

// Get the ASP.NET Core endpoint associated with this request
serv.GetEndpoint ()

// Enable request buffering in ASP.NET Core
serv.EnableBuffering ()

// HttpWorkload helpers
// Must be the final result returned by the handler

// Redirect helper
// 302 to '/'
serv.Redirect "/"
// 302 to '/'
serv.Redirect ( "/", false )
// 301 to '/'
serv.Redirect ( "/", true )

// FileResponse
// Return a file named "myfile.txt"
serv.File "myfile.txt"
// Return a file "image.png" and set the content-type manually to "image/png"
serv.File ( "image.png", "image/png" )

// Return a text reponse
serv.EndResponse "hello world"

// Return Json response
// Pass any non-string value and it will try send it as json
// If the object cannot be parsed as a valid json it will attempt serialising it as string instead
serv.EndResponse {| Value = "hello world" |}

// End a response
// Used to send an empty bodied response
// or when manually constructing the response
serv.EndResponse ()

Route Parts

Query Parts

Header Parts

Cookie Parts

Config Parts

Body Parts

Form
Json

System Configuration

Request Helpers

Modules

Testing

Exceptions

Changelog