ASP.NET Core C# web framework optimized for building Business Applications

Created as simplified and lightweight alternative to other ASP.NET frameworks like ASP.NET MVC

Features

• simple and straightforward in development and maintenance
• MVC-like
  • code, data, templates are split
  • code consists of: controllers, models, framework core and optional 3rd party libs
  • uses ParsePage template engine
  • data stored by default in SQL Server database using db.net
• RESTful with some practical enhancements
• integrated auth - simple flat access levels auth
• UI based on Bootstrap 5 with minimal custom CSS and themes support - it's easy to customzie or apply your own theme
• use of well-known 3rd party libraries: jQuery, jQuery Form, jGrowl, markdown libs, etc...

Demo

http://demo.engineeredit.com/ - this is how it looks in action right after installation before customizations

Documentation

Development

1. in Visual Studio open osafw-asp.net-core.sln (you may "save as" solution with your project name)
2. press Ctrl+F5 to run (or F5 if you really need debugger)
3. review debug log in /osafw-app/App_Data/logs/main.log
4. edit or create new controllers and models in /osafw-app/App_Code/controllers and /osafw-app/App_Code/models
5. modify templates in /osafw-app/App_Data/template

Deployment

All the details can be found in MS docs https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/host-and-deploy/iis/?view=aspnetcore-6.0 Short summary how to deploy without VS publish (from clone git repo):

1. on the server - install IIS and .NET Core Hosting Bundle
2. install latest .NET 6 SDK to have dotnet CLI
3. create website directory

• make git clone from repo to website directory
• make dotnet publish configuration Release in the direcotry

5. create website in IIS with root directory to /bin/Release/net6/publish
6. set website's app pool to "No managed code" (so pool works like a proxy to app core)
7. open your website address in browser

Directory structure

/osafw-tests         - application tests
/osafw-app           - application
  /App_Code          - all the C# code is here
    /controllers     - your controllers
    /fw              - framework core libs
    /models          - your models
  /App_Data          - non-public directory
    /sql             - initial database.sql script and update sql scripts
    /template        - all the html templates
    /logs/main.log   - application log (ensure to enable write rights to /logs dir for IIS)
  /upload            - upload dir for private files
  /wwwroot           - website public root folder
    /assets          - your web frontend assets
      /css
      /fonts
      /img
      /js
    /upload          - upload dir for public files
    /favicon.ico     - change to your favicon!
    /robots.txt      - default robots.txt (empty)
  /appsettings.json  - settings for db connection, mail, logging and for IIS/.NET stuff too

REST mappings

Controllers automatically directly mapped to URLs, so developer doesn't need to write routing rules:

• GET /Controller - list view IndexAction()
• GET /Controller/ID - one record view ShowAction()
• GET /Controller/ID/new - one record new form ShowFormAction()
• GET /Controller/ID/edit - one record edit form ShowFormAction()
• GET /Controller/ID/delete - one record delete confirmation form ShowDeleteAction()
• POST /Controller - insert new record SaveAction()
• PUT /Controller - update multiple records SaveMultiAction()
• POST/PUT /Controller/ID - update record SaveAction()
• POST/DELETE /Controller/ID - delete record (POST body should be empty) DeleteAction()
• GET/POST /Controller/(Something)[/ID] - call for arbitrary action from the controller SomethingAction()

For example GET /Products will call ProductsController.IndexAction() And this will cause rendering templates from /App_Data/templates/products/index

Request Flow

highlighted as bold is where you could place your code.

• FW.run()
  • FwHooks.initRequest() - place code here which need to be run on request start
• fw.dispatch() - performs REST urls matching and calls controller/action, if no controller found calls HomeController.NotFoundAction(), if no requested action found in controller - calls controller action defined in contoller's route_default_action (either "index" or "show")
  • fw._auth() - check if user can access requested controller/action, also performs basic CSRF validation
  • fw.call_controller()
    • SomeController.init() - place code here which need to be run every time request comes to this controller
    • SomeController.SomeAction() - your code for particular action
      • SomeModel.someMethod() - controllers may call model's methods, place most of your business logic in models
• fw.Finalize()

Examples:

• GET /Admin/Users

  • FwHooks.initRequest()
  • AdminUsers.init()
  • AdminUsers.IndexAction()
  • then ParsePage parses templates from /template/admin/users/index/

• GET /Admin/Users/123/edit

  • FwHooks.initRequest()
  • AdminUsers.init()
  • AdminUsers.ShowFormAction(123)
    • Users.one(123)
  • then ParsePage parses templates from /template/admin/users/showform/

• POST /Admin/Users/123

  • FwHooks.initRequest()
  • AdminUsers.init()
  • AdminUsers.SaveAction(123)
    • Users.update(123)
  • fw.redirect("/Admin/Users/123/edit") //redirect back to edit screen after db updated

Flow in IndexAction

Frequently asked details about flow for the IndexAction() (in controllers inherited from FwAdminController and FwDynamicController):

1. initFilter() - initializes Me.list_filter from query string filter params &f[xxx]=..., note, filters remembered in session
2. setListSorting() - initializes Me.list_orderby based on list_filter("sortby") and list_filter("sortdir"), also uses Me.list_sortdef and Me.list_sortmap which can be set in controller's init() or in config.json
3. setListSearch() - initializes Me.list_where based on list_filter("s") and Me.search_fields
4. setListSearchStatus() - add to Me.list_where filtering by status field if such field defined in the controller's model
5. getListRows() - query database and save rows to Me.list_rows (only current page based on Me.list_filter("pagenum") and Me.list_filter("pagesize")). Also sets Me.list_count to total rows matched by filters and Me.list_pager for pagination if there are more than one page. Uses Me.list_view, Me.list_where, Me.list_orderby

You could either override these particular methods or whole IndexAction() in your specific controller.

The following controller fields used above can be defined in controller's init() or in config.json:

• Me.list_sortdef - default list sorting in format: "sort_name[ asc|desc]"
• Me.list_sortmap - mapping for sort names (from list_filter["sortby"]) to actual db fields, Hashtable sort_name => db_field_name
• Me.search_fields - search fields, space-separated
• Me.list_view - table/view to use in getListRows(), if empty model's table_name used

fw.config()

Application configuration available via fw.config([SettingName]). Most of the global settings defined in appsettings.json appSettings section. But there are several caclulated settings:

SettingName	Description	Example
hostname	set from server variable HTTP_HOST	osalabs.com
ROOT_DOMAIN	protocol+hostname	https://osalabs.com
ROOT_URL	part of the url if Application installed under sub-url	/suburl if App installed under osalabs.com/suburl
site_root	physical application path to the root of public directory	C:\inetpub\somesite\www
template	physical path to the root of templates directory	C:\inetpub\somesite\www\App_Data\template
log	physical path to application log file	C:\inetpub\somesite\www\App_Data\logs\main.log
tmp	physical path to the system tmp directory	C:\Windows\Temp

config.json

In FwDynamicController controller behaviour defined by /template/CONTROLLER/config.json. Sample file can be fount at /template/admin/demosdynamic/config.json This config file allows to define/override several properties of the FwController (for example: as model, save_fields, search_fields, list_view,...) as well as define configuration of Show (show_fields) and ShowForm (showform_fields) screens. Note is_dynamic_show and is_dynamic_showform should be set to true accordingly. There are samples for the one show_fields or showform_fields element:

  //minimal setup to display the field value
  {
      "type": "plaintext",
      "field": "iname",
      "label": "Title"
  },

Renders:

<div class="form-row">
  <label class="col-form-label">Title</label>
  <div class="col">
    <p class="form-control-plaintext">FIELD_VALUE</p>
  </div>
</div>

  //more complex - displays dropdown with values from lookup model
  {
      "type": "select",
      "field": "demo_dicts_id",
      "label": "DemoDicts",
      "lookup_model": "DemoDicts",
      "is_option0": true,
      "class_contents": "col-md-3",
      "class_control": "on-refresh"
  },

Renders:

<div class="form-row">
  <label class="col-form-label">DemoDicts</label>
  <div class="col-md-3">
    <select id="demo_dicts_id" name="item[demo_dicts_id]" class="form-control on-refresh">
      <option value="0">- select -</option>
      ... select options from lookup here...
    </select>
  </div>
</div>

Field name	Description	Example
type	required, Element type, see values in table below	select - renders as <select> html
field	Field name from database.table or arbitrary name for non-db block	demo_dicts_id - in case of select id value won't be displayed, but used to select active list element
label	Label text	Demo Dictionary
lookup_model	Model name where to read lookup values	DemoDicts
is_option0	only for "select" type, if true - includes <option value="0">option0_title</option>	false(default),true
is_option_empty	only for "select" type, if true - includes <option value="">option0_title</option>	false(default),true
option0_title	only for "select" type for is_option0 or is_option_empty option title	"- select -"(default)
required	make field required (both client and server-side validation), for showform_fields only	false(default),true
maxlength	set input's maxlength attribute, for showform_fields only	10
max	set input type="number" max attribute, for showform_fields only	999
min	set input type="number" min attribute, for showform_fields only	0
step	set input type="number" step attribute, for showform_fields only	0.1
placeholder	set input's maxlength attribute, for showform_fields only	"Enter value here"
autocomplete_url	type="autocomplete". Input will get data from autocomplete_url?q=%QUERY where %QUERY will be replaced with input value, for showform_fields only	/Admin/SomeLookup/(Autocompete)
is_inline	type radio or yesno. If true - place all options in one line, for showform_fields only	true(default),false
rows	set textarea rows attribute, for showform_fields only	5
class	Class(es) added to the wrapping div.form-row	mb-2 - add bottom margin under the control block
attrs	Arbitrary html attributes for the wrapping div.form-row	data-something="123"
class_label	Class(es) added to the label.col-form-label	col-md-3(default) - set label width
class_contents	Class(es) added to the div that wraps input control	col(default) - set control width
class_control	Class(es) added to the input control to change appearance/behaviour	"on-refresh" - forms refreshes(re-submits) when input changed
attrs_control	Arbitrary html attributes for the input control	data-something="123"
help_text	Help text displayed as muted text under control block	"Minimum 8 letters and digits required"
admin_url	For type="plaintext_link", controller url, final URL will be: "<~admin_url>/<~lookup_id>"	/Admin/SomeController
lookup_id	to use with admin_url, if link to specific ID required	123
att_category	For type="att_edit", att category new upload will be related to	"general"(default)
validate	Simple validation codes: exists, isemail, isphone, isdate, isfloat	"exists isemail" - input value validated if such value already exists, validate if value is an email

type values

Type	Description
available for both show_fields and showform_fields
plaintext	Plain text
plaintext_link	Plain text with a link to "admin_url"
markdown	Markdown text (server-side rendered)
noescape	Value without htmlescape
float	Value formatted with 2 decimal digits
checkbox	Read-only checkbox (checked if value equal to true value)
date	Date in default format - M/d/yyyy
date_long	Date in logn forma - M/d/yyyy hh:mm:ss
multi	Multi-selection list with checkboxes (read-only)
att	Block for displaying one attachment/file
att_links	Block for displaying multiple attachments/files
added	Added on date/user block
updated	Updated on date/user block
available only showform_fields
group_id	ID with Submit/Cancel buttons block
group_id_addnew	ID with Submit/Submit and Add New/Cancel buttons block
select	select with options html block
input	input type="text" html block
textarea	textaread html block
email	input type="email" html block
number	input type="number" html block
autocomplete	input type="text" with autocomplete using "autocomplete_url"
multicb	Multi-selection list with checkboxes
radio	radio options block
yesno	radio options block with Yes(1)/No(2) only
cb	single checkbox block
date_popup	date selection input with popup calendar block
att_edit	Block for selection/upload one attachment/file
att_links_edit	Block for selection/upload multiple attachments/files

How to Debug

Main and recommended approach - use fw.logger() function, which is available in controllers and models (so no prefix required). Examples: logger("some string to log", var_to_dump), logger(LogLevel.WARN, "warning message") All logged messages and var content (complex objects will be dumped wit structure when possible) written on debug console as well as to log file (default /App_Data/logs/main.log) You could configure log level in web.config - search "log_level" in appSettings

Another debug function that might be helpful is fw.rw() - but it output it's parameter directly into response output (i.e. you will see output right in the browser)

Best Practices / Recommendations

• naming conventions:
  • table name: user_lists (lowercase, underscore delimiters is optional)
  • model name: UserLists (UpperCamelCase)
  • controller name: UserListsController or AdminUserListsController (UpperCamelCase with "Controller" suffix)
  • template path: /template/userlists
• keep all paths without trailing slash, use beginning slash where necessary
• db updates:
  • first, make changes in /App_Data/sql/database.sql - this file is used to create db from scratch
  • then create a file /App_Data/sql/updates/updYYYY-MM-DD[-123].sql with all the CREATE, ALTER, UPDATE... - this will allow to apply just this update to existing database instances
• use fw.route_redirect() if you got request to one Controller.Action, but need to continue processing in another Controller.Action
  • for example, if for a logged user you need to show detailed data and always skip list view - in the IndexAction() just use fw.routeRedirect("ShowForm")
• uploads
  • save all public-readable uploads under /wwwroot/upload (default, see "UPLOAD_DIR" in web.config)
  • for non-public uploads use /upload
  • or S3 model and upload to the cloud
• put all validation code into controller's Validate(). See usage example in AdminDemosController
• use logger() and review /App_Data/logs/main.log if you stuck
  • make sure you have "log_level" set to "DEBUG" in web.config

How to quickly create a Report

• all reports accessed via AdminReportsController
  • IndexAction - shows a list of all available reports (basically renders static html template with a link to specific reports)
  • ShowAction - based on passed report code calls related Report model
• base report model is FwReports, major methods (you may override in the specific report):
  • getReportFilters() - set data for the report filters
  • getReportData() - returns report data, usually based on some sql query (see Sample report)
• ReportSample model (in \App_Code\models\Reports folder) is a sample report implementation, that can be used as a template to build custom reports
• basic steps to create a new report:
  • copy \App_Code\models\Reports\Sample.cs to \App_Code\models\Reports\Cool.cs (to create Cool report)
  • edit Cool.cs and rename "Sample" to "Cool"
  • modify getReportFilters() to match your report filters
  • modify getReportData() to edit sql query and related post-processing
  • copy templates folder \App_Data\template\reports\sample to \App_Data\template\reports\cool
  • edit templates:
    • title.html - report title
    • list_filter.html - for filters
    • report_html.html - for report table/layout/appearance
  • add link to a new report to \App_Data\template\reports\index\main.html