Russkyc.MinimalApi.Framework 0.2.0

Russkyc.MinimalApi.Framework - A generic MinimalApi Crud Generator for EntityFrameworkCore

This dynamically generates a generic CRUD API implementation backed with Entity Framework Core and Minimal API. This can be used for quick prototyping and for small apps that only require CRUD operations.

Sample project

All entity classes should inherit from the DbEntity<TKeyType> abstract class. Where TKeyType is the Id type of the entity. and all properties that need to be supported in the api query params during filtering should be marked with the [Queryable] attribute

SampleEntity Class

public class SampleEntity : DbEntity<int>
{
    [Queryable]
    public string Property { get; set; }
    public virtual SampleEmbeddedEntity EmbeddedEntity { get; set; }
}

SampleEmbeddedEntity Class

public class SampleEmbeddedEntity : DbEntity<int>
{
    public string Property2 { get; set; }
}

Program setup

Option 1: Entity registration

var builder = youbApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddEndpointsApiExplorer();
builder.Services.AddSwaggerGen();

// Add required db services
builder.Services.AddEntityServices<SampleEntity>(options => options.UseInMemoryDatabase("sample"));
builder.Services.AddEntityServices<SampleEmbeddedEntity>(options => options.UseInMemoryDatabase("sample"));

var app = builder.Build();

if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseSwagger();
    app.UseSwaggerUI();
}

app.UseHttpsRedirection();

// Map CRUD endpoints
app.MapGroup("api")
        .MapEntityEndpoints<SampleEntity,int>();
        .MapEntityEndpoints<SampleEmbeddedEntity,int>();

app.Run();

Option 2: Automatic entity discovery using reflection

var builder = youbApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddEndpointsApiExplorer();
builder.Services.AddSwaggerGen();
var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();

// Add required db services
builder.Services.AddAllEntityServices(assembly, options => options.UseInMemoryDatabase("sample"));

var app = builder.Build();

if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseSwagger();
    app.UseSwaggerUI();
}

app.UseHttpsRedirection();

// Map CRUD endpoints
app.MapGroup("api")
        .MapAllEntityEndpoints<int>(assembly);

app.Run();

Generated output

With that, this swagger definition is automatically generated and the CRUD endpoints are now useable. You should see something like this when you run the project.

<img src="Resources/preview.jpeg" style="width: 100%;" />

Advanced Querying

Apart from the standard CRUD api functionality, there is also some support for advanced querying.

Entity Framework Core Navigation Properties

If you do a get requrest to the endpoint /api/sampleentity you will recieve a response that looks like this:

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "property": "Entity 1",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "property": "Entity 2",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  },
  {
    "id": 3,
    "property": "Entity 3",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  },
  {
    "id": 4,
    "property": "Entity 4",
    "embeddedEntity": null
  }
]

This is because navigation properties for referenced entities are not automatically included (for performance purposes). you can use the include query parameter to include the referenced entity when needed.

GET /api/sampleentity?include=embeddedentity

Then you will have this result:

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "property": "Entity 1",
    "embeddedEntity": {
      "id": 1,
      "property2": "Embedded Entity 1"
    }
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "property": "Entity 2",
    "embeddedEntity": {
      "id": 2,
      "property2": "Embedded Entity 2"
    }
  },
  {
    "id": 3,
    "property": "Entity 3",
    "embeddedEntity": {
      "id": 3,
      "property2": "Embedded Entity 3"
    }
  },
  {
    "id": 4,
    "property": "Entity 4",
    "embeddedEntity": {
      "id": 4,
      "property2": "Embedded Entity 4"
    }
  }
]

Filter query support

Querying entities based on the property values can be done in this format ?filters=PROPERTNAME=VALUE. As an example:

GET /api/sampleentity?filters=property=Example

Wildcards support in filters parameter

Wildcards are supported in the filters query parameter to perform more flexible searches:

• CONTAINS: Matches entities where the property contains the specified value.

  GET /api/sampleentity?filters=property=CONTAINS(Example)
  

• STARTSWITH: Matches entities where the property starts with the specified value.

  GET /api/sampleentity?filters=property=STARTSWITH(Exa)
  

• ENDSWITH: Matches entities where the property ends with the specified value.

  GET /api/sampleentity?filters=property=ENDSWITH(mple)
  

• GREATERTHAN: Matches entities where the property is greater than the specified value.

  GET /api/sampleentity?filters=property=GREATERTHAN(10)
  

• LESSTHAN: Matches entities where the property is less than the specified value.

  GET /api/sampleentity?filters=property=LESSTHAN(20)
  

• GREATERTHANOREQUAL: Matches entities where the property is greater than or equal to the specified value.

  GET /api/sampleentity?filters=property=GREATERTHANOREQUAL(20)
  

• LESSTHANOREQUAL: Matches entities where the property is less than or equal to the specified value.

  GET /api/sampleentity?filters=property=LESSTHANOREQUAL(20)
  

• NOTEQUALS: Matches entities where the property is not equal to the specified value.

  GET /api/sampleentity?filters=property=NOTEQUALS(20)
  

Potential use-cases for this project

• Quick API prototyping
• Small projects that only require CRUD functionality
• Frontend Testing (if a backend API is needed)

Important things to consider before using this project

• When using generic implementations like this on the server side, business logic is now moved into the client and becomes a client concern.
• If your API needs to do complex business logic over the CRUD functionality, please consider implementing custom endpoints instead of using generic endpoints such as this.
• There is currently no implementation for validation and DTO mapping, this can be added later as the project updates.