following my previous post about my game server, I've decided that I want to create a web-based server, and not a WPF one.
Currently, the server is a console application. I run the server, it has a TcpListener, and I interact with TcpClients, and the only real console-y thing I have, is a bunch of Console.WriteLines that I intend to get rid of. The server itself is part of a class library, which contains all the server logic, so that it'll be easy to wrap it in whatever platform I need.
Say I have a library with all my server-side logic, and I want the GUI of the server to be a web client, while still having a server that runs in the background and keeps the game running - How do I do that with ASP.NET?
Since all my code is C#, it's natural that I would pick ASP.NET, and use MVC with Razor, allowing me to use my original classes as data in the website.
I can handle the website part of the ASP.NET, but what I need advice with is how I create a server that acts like my previous one (runs in the background, has some sort of GUI, for input, commands and etc), and also has a website as the GUI.
Thanks in advance!
for reference, all my ConsoleApplication code is here, showing just how little the platform that runs the server has to do.
And regardless, this is the link to my game code, if anyone is interested. I'm always interested in opinions and constructive criticism!
This is an article about self hosting webapi and static files in a console application using Owin, no support for MVC. Asp.Net Core has a similar work flow (though it's not called Owin anymore), and MVC is available. Asp.Net Core apps are actually self hosted in a console application using Kestrel. When you host asp.net core in IIS all IIS does is act as a proxy.
Related
I've developed a Windows service. It installs, runs and serves its purpose. To view the results it produces, I'd like to add a simple web page with Select * from the database the services works with.
Would someone please elaborate on how to make Windows service serve a web page?
Ideally, I'd like to learn from the code of a similar project
ps. IIS is already installed on the host where the service runs
Turned out easier than I thought https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUPg41kG_kw&ab_channel=BoostMyTool
I've achieved something like this by making use of the Worker Services in .NET Core and configuring the service to run as a Windows Service.
And because I had a worker service in .NET Core, I could easily add HTTP workloads like MVC or Blazor.
In my example, I had a windows service running worker tasks as well as a Blazor UI to show the details of what was happening (I scaffolded the Blazor code fist and then added the worker via AddHostedService).
The benefit of this is that the .NET Core is acting as the server do this process didn't need IIS on the platform plus both areas of the system are part of the same process.
If the above isn't suitable (or requires a huge migration to .NET Core), then I'd suggest using Named Pipes to communication from one process (your windows service) to another (your web-app).
Are there any way to do a project using pwa concept in ASPX page? I am using HTML with PWA, it was working fine but I moved into the ASP .NET. It doesn't work anymore and the JSON file is not loaded.
You will maybe found this SO post useful.
After testing, i was successful at implementing the functionality by
adding the serviceworker and manifest to a ASP.NET MVC application.
Since the view (HTML) gets rendered in the backend, it's only possible
to cache an static version of your web application. So preferable you
should use angular etc to generate your HTML.
A progressive web app works on IIS and apache web server.
progressive web app is a general concept. It has nothing to do with your web server. Please give more details about your code architecture etc
you can also use swtoolbox plugin for handing client side caching
mybe your problem is client-side caching. however PWA concepts are as follows, neither of them has nothing to do with web server type
Progressive - Works for every user regardless of their browser
Responsive - The app works on any form factor whether it's desktop, mobile, or tablet.
Connectivity-independent - Allows the user to use the web app even if it's offline.
Native Look-and-feel - Acts and feels like a native application, but is strictly web-based.
Safe - Always served up to the client through HTTPS.
Discoverable - Even though it's an "application," it can be indexed into a search engine.
Re-engageable - Allows re-engagement through features like push notifications.
Zero-Deploy hassle - Allows users to add the web app onto their home screen without the issues with app stores.
Link-friendly - Allows you to reshare using a Url.
Yes finally I able to accomplish this. PWA now works not only on ASP.NET webform but On any framework.
https://github.com/cpbenipal/PWA_Aspx
I'm trying to understand if there is a way to make a web application run on the local computer(browser) without IIS.
My main objective is to transform my web application (that is on the internet) to a software that runs on the local computer without using the internet and without IIS.
My idea is to distributed my webapp between my colleagues and not forcing them to work online and not needing an internet connection.
I have a MVC web app with 3 pages and a couple of methods on the server side.
The idea of the application is to get proprieties from a form that I implemented on one of the pages of my web application and transform the proprieties on the client side to JSON and send it to the server, the server will generate XML file according to the JSON object and let the client download the XML file that were generated.
The flow of it:
1.The Client fill the form in my site.
2.The form become JSON object on the client side.
3.The JSON object that stored the properties of the form(filled by the client) is send to the server.
4.The server get the JSON object and generated XML document from it.
5.The client download the generated XML file.
Very simple web application.
I know that I can run HTML page by clicking it and the page will display on the browser but I need the server side to be working too to carry out actions.
So my question is : How can I make my web application run without internet ?
With the constrains:
No IIS required.
Working with .NET 4.0. (OWIN 2.0 - Not good)
No internet require.
No installation required to the computer ill pass this web app.
The server side code wont be expose when I send this application to my friends.
I read a couple of articles about OWIN, SingalR, Cassini and WCF but its all very vague...
If someone could provide me with a guide lines it will be very helpful.
Thanks a lot.
You can definitely self host a .NET web application using OWIN. Unfortunately documentation and information about it is vague and confusing at best. The fact that you're using MVC makes it somewhat easier as you may be able to directly use the self-host packages from Nuget for self hosting Web API. There may be similar packages for MVC.
I don't have recent experience but a Nuget search for "MVC Self Host" should yield some results.
Below is a link with an example. But the term you are looking for is definitely "self host". It can be done via a console window or (more complex) a windows service. It will likely use some form of OWIN but you can probably find some startup code to copy and paste into your project, usually in the form of a Startup.cs file.
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/4b0136/working-with-owin-hosting-and-self-hosting-in-Asp-Net/
Background
I have a windows console app written in C# which needs UI. I started using WPF, but as I come from a web background, I want to use html, and some features of html5, including web sockets for real time communication with another application.
Initially, I'll use a web browser as the UI, though I may later host a web browser in the main app. This bit doesn't concern me at the moment.
After a lot of googling/reading, I'm going round in circles. It looks like WCF can be used to serve html, json based web services, and possibly web socket streams.
A lot of googled info relates to pre .NET 4.0 community projects. Even post 4.0 there are several NuGet packages which seem to me to overlap what is already in the framework. To a WCF noob, it's all a minefield.
So, what areas of .NET 4.0 WCF and the various open source projects should I be concentrating my efforts on.
Requirements
I require a lightweight self hosted web server. It cannot be IIS based, as users will not have it installed. The server (or servers) must:
Be able to server complete web pages, including html, linked images, css and js files. C# MiniHttpd does the job well, but is not based on http.sys. HttpListener seems to be the core of what I want, but I haven't found a complete web server project based on it.
[optionally] Be able to parse those pages through asp.net or razor
Be able to respond to web service call via json. This bit I have a working example using System.ServiceModel. Is this the right way to go?
Be able to work with the emerging Web Sockets standard. SuperWebSocket is actively developed, but doesn't appear to be http.sys or wcf based.
Preferences
I would prefer to stick to one basic stack for all 3 of my main requirements - and I suspect WCF may be that platform.
I would prefer an http.sys based approach for all three requirements, so I can reserve the relevant url/port/namespace combinations and prevent conflicts with other web servers or services
Although other SO questions may help with individual aspects of my requirements, I need advice on a more holistic approach.
Ok, answering my own question feels wrong, but...
I have since found a great CodeProject article that provides an easy to use self hosted web server for serving the html, css, js and images, and serves the json requests.
Developing Web 2.0 User Interface for Self Hosted WCF Services using HTML5, CSS3 and JQuery
I still have to settle on a WebSockets solution, but the above project is as close to what I need as is possible at the moment. It doesn't support rendering asp.net or razor, but these were my lowest priorities, as I'm happy to use only pure html and javascript for the front end.
I'll try to post more specific questions in the future :)
Except for your WebSocket support requirement, the OpenRasta framework currently supports what you describe. It definitely can run in http.sys and can be used for both creating REST services and as a web app platform. It also supports Razor and other view engines. The link page has a good comparison chart toward the middle that compares it with ASP.NET MVC & WCF.
In March 2014, a solution which fits my original requirements is ASP.NET Web Api. It can be self hosted, and can apparently be set up to serve html etc as well.
Is it possible to serve a web page from a self hosted web API in a windows service?
I wish to build a Windows application that will generally run in the background, but have a configurable front-end Windows Forms GUI. I also would like this program to publish a small web page which can be accessed from other machines/devices and interact or call functions of the server application.
I'd rather not deploy a full-fledged ASP.NET web site with IIS, etc. I just need something simple.
So how would I go about doing this?
Take a look at Kayak. It's a relatively small and lightweight HTTP server that you can embed into your application and should provide all the functionality you're looking for.
FWIW, I am in no way associated with this project.
Maybe it's just because i've been doing asp dev for years, but I really think you should go the iis asp route as its very simple and built into windows. I can't imagine a more straightforward way of serving a webpage that has c# behind it to programmatically effect the host system.
Thanks to Kev in the comments on my question, he pointed me to this question, in which I found a link to a lightweight C# HTTP server component I could just drop in to my application: http://webserver.codeplex.com/
Works well for little stuff like I was doing.