Dormito.DomainEvents 5.0.0

Library to help implement transactional events in domain bounded context.

Use domain events to explicitly implement side effects of changes within your domain. In other words, and using DDD terminology, use domain events to explicitly implement side effects across multiple aggregates.

What is a Domain Event?

An event is something that has happened in the past. A domain event is, something that happened in the domain that you want other parts of the same domain (in-process) to be aware of. The notified parts usually react somehow to the events.

The domain events and their side effects (the actions triggered afterwards that are managed by event handlers) should occur almost immediately, usually in-process, and within the same domain.

It's important to ensure that, just like a database transaction, either all the operations related to a domain event finish successfully or none of them do.

Figure below shows how consistency between aggregates is achieved by domain events. When the user initiates an order, the Order Aggregate sends an OrderStarted domain event. The OrderStarted domain event is handled by the Buyer Aggregate to create a Buyer object in the ordering microservice (bounded context). Please read Domain Events for more details.

Two Approaches to Use DomainEvents

Approach 1: Using Publisher and Handler Directly

Define, publish, and subscribe to events using IPublisher and IHandler.

1. Define an Event

public class CustomerCreated : IDomainEvent
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
}

2. Create a Handler

public class CustomerCreatedHandler : IHandler<CustomerCreated>
{
    public Task HandleAsync(CustomerCreated @event)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Customer created: {@event.Name}");
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

3. Register Services

services.AddDomainEvents(typeof(CustomerCreatedHandler).Assembly);

4. Publish Events

var publisher = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService<IPublisher>();
await publisher.RaiseAsync(new CustomerCreated { Name = "John Doe" });

Approach 2: Using Interception (Aggregate + Factory)

Raise events automatically from domain aggregates using Castle DynamicProxy interception.

1. Define an Event

public class OrderPlaced : IDomainEvent
{
    public string OrderId { get; set; }
    public decimal Amount { get; set; }
}

2. Create an Aggregate (Publisher)

public class OrderAggregate : Aggregate
{
    public void PlaceOrder(decimal amount)
    {
        // Business logic here...
        
        var @event = new OrderPlaced
        {
            OrderId = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
            Amount = amount
        };
        Raise(@event);
    }
}

public class WarehouseAggregate : Aggregate, ISubscribes<OrderPlaced>
{
    public Task HandleAsync(OrderPlaced @event)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Order created: {@event.OrderId}");
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

3. Register Services

services.AddDomainEvents(typeof(OrderPlacedHandler).Assembly);

4. Create Aggregate and Raise Event

var factory = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService<IAggregateFactory>();
var order = await factory.CreateAsync<OrderAggregate>();
order.PlaceOrder(100.00m);  // Event is automatically dispatched to handlers

Architecture Flow

Event Processing Flow

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     PUBLISHING PHASE                                           │
│                (Aggregate.Raise() → Queue.Enqueue)                             │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

  Aggregate.Raise()
        │
        ▼
  ┌───────────┐     ┌───────────┐     ┌────────────┐      ┌────────────┐
  │ Aggregate │────▶│Interceptor│────▶│ Middleware│────▶│ Dispatcher │
  │           │     │  (Proxy)  │     │(OnDispatch)│      │            │
  └───────────┘     └───────────┘     └────────────┘      └─────┬──────┘
                                                               │
                                                               ▼
                                                        ┌───────────────┐
                                                        │     Queue     │
                                                        │  (In-Memory)  │
                                                        └───────────────┘

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     SUBSCRIPTION PHASE                                         │
│                   (Queue → Listener → Handler)                                 │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

  Queue notifies Listener
        │
        ▼
  ┌───────────┐      ┌────────────┐     ┌───────────┐      ┌───────────┐
  │ Listener  │────▶│ Middleware │────▶│ Resolver  │────▶│  Handler  │
  │           │      │(OnHandling)│     │           │      │           │
  └───────────┘      └────────────┘     └─────┬─────┘      └───────────┘
                                              │
                                              ▼
                                    ┌──────────────────┐
                                    │ IHandler<T>      │
                                    │ ISubscribes<T>   │
                                    │ (includes        │
                                    │  aggregates)     │
                                    └──────────────────┘

Flow Summary

1. PUBLISHING PHASE - Aggregate.Raise() → Interceptor → Middleware.OnDispatching() → Dispatcher → Queue.Enqueue() → Middleware.OnDispatched()
2. SUBSCRIPTION PHASE - Queue notifies Listener → Middleware.OnHandling() → Resolver (finds handlers) → Handler.HandleAsync() (includes ISubscribes<T>) → Middleware.OnHandled()

Note: ISubscribes - Aggregates can implement ISubscribes<TEvent> to handle events they raise. The proxy ensures both business logic AND handler execute.

Components:

• Aggregate - Domain aggregate that raises events via Raise() or RaiseAsync(). Can also implement ISubscribes<TEvent>.
• Interceptor - Castle DynamicProxy that intercepts Raise()/RaiseAsync() and dispatches events.
• Middleware - Custom plugins: OnDispatching, OnDispatched, OnHandling, OnHandled.
• Dispatcher - Enqueues events to the queue.
• Queue - In-memory queue (fire-and-forget).
• Listener - Processes events from queue asynchronously.
• Resolver - Resolves handlers for events.
• Handler - Handles events: IHandler<T> or ISubscribes<T>.

Event Middleware

Custom plugins that run at various points in the event pipeline:

public class MyMiddleware : IEventMiddleware
{
    public Task<bool> OnDispatchingAsync(EventContext context)
    {
        // Runs before event is dispatched
        return Task.FromResult(true);
    }

    public Task OnDispatchedAsync(EventContext context)
    {
        // Runs after event is dispatched
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }

    public Task<bool> OnHandlingAsync(EventContext context)
    {
        // Runs before each handler processes the event
        return Task.FromResult(true);
    }

    public Task OnHandledAsync(EventContext context)
    {
        // Runs after each handler processes the event
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

Registration:

services.AddDomainEvents(assembly); // auto-registers handlers and middlewares which have parameter-less constructor. For types with parameterized constructor, you need to explicitly register as below.  
services.AddSingleton<IEventMiddleware, MyMiddleware>(); 

AggregateFactory Methods

The IAggregateFactory provides multiple methods to create proxied aggregates:

Example - Using CreateFromServiceProviderAsync:

// Register aggregate with DI (constructor dependencies auto-resolved)
services.AddTransient<OrderAggregate>();

var factory = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService<IAggregateFactory>();

// Creates proxy, resolves OrderAggregate from DI, wraps in proxy
var order = await factory.CreateFromServiceProviderAsync<OrderAggregate>();
order.PlaceOrder(100.00m);  // Events dispatched automatically

Note: When using CreateFromServiceProviderAsync, all constructor dependencies must be registered with the IoC container. The factory uses reflection to find the constructor with most parameters and resolves them from the service provider.

Interface Summary

Package Information

• Package ID: Dormito.DomainEvents
• Target Frameworks: netstandard2.0, netstandard2.1, net8.0, net9.0, net10.0
• License: MIT