Odex.AspNetCore.Caching.Redis 0.1.0

Odex.AspNetCore.Caching.Redis

Odex.AspNetCore.Caching.Redis is a pragmatic wrapper around ASP.NET Core's IDistributedCache (backed by Redis + StackExchange.Redis). It simplifies the most common caching tasks with JSON serialization, automatic key hashing, and flexible TTL management.

FEATURES

• ✅ Async-first API – GetAsync, SetAsync, InvalidateAsync
• ✅ Built‑in JSON serialization (System.Text.Json)
• ✅ Safe key generation – SHA256 hashing avoids Redis key length limits & special characters
• ✅ Namespace isolation – key prefix + cache name to share Redis across applications
• ✅ Conditional registration – if Redis connection string is empty/missing, nothing is registered (ideal for optional caching)
• ✅ Custom expiration per entry – accepts DistributedCacheEntryOptions
• ✅ Minimal dependencies – only Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.StackExchangeRedis and Microsoft.Extensions.Options.ConfigurationExtensions

INSTALLATION

dotnet add package Odex.AspNetCore.Caching.Redis

Or using the .NET CLI:

Install-Package Odex.AspNetCore.Caching.Redis

QUICK START

1. Configure Redis in appsettings.json

{
  "Redis": {
    "Configuration": "localhost:6379,abortConnect=false",
    "KeyPrefix": "MyApp",
    "DefaultExpirationMinutes": 60
  }
}

• Configuration – Redis connection string. If null or empty, Redis is disabled.
• KeyPrefix – (optional) prepended to every Redis key.
• DefaultExpirationMinutes – (optional) default TTL. Default = 1440 (1 day).

2. Register the service in Program.cs

using Odex.AspNetCore.Caching.Redis;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// Adds Redis cache only if Redis:Configuration is present and non‑empty
builder.Services.AddOclarcRedis(builder.Configuration);

var app = builder.Build();

3. Inject IOclarcRedis and use it

public class ProductService
{
    private readonly IOclarcRedis _cache;

    public ProductService(IOclarcRedis cache)
    {
        _cache = cache;
    }

    public async Task<Product?> GetProductAsync(int id)
    {
        string cacheKey = _cache.BuildKey($"product:{id}");
        return await _cache.GetAsync<Product>(cacheKey);
    }

    public async Task SetProductAsync(int id, Product product)
    {
        string cacheKey = _cache.BuildKey($"product:{id}");
        await _cache.SetAsync(cacheKey, product); // uses default TTL from config
    }

    public async Task RemoveProductAsync(int id)
    {
        string cacheKey = _cache.BuildKey($"product:{id}");
        await _cache.InvalidateAsync(cacheKey);
    }
}

ADVANCED USAGE

Custom expiration per cached item

var options = new DistributedCacheEntryOptions
{
    AbsoluteExpirationRelativeToNow = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(10),
    SlidingExpiration = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(2)
};
await _cache.SetAsync("key", data, options);

Disable Redis conditionally (e.g., in development)

Simply omit the "Configuration" key or set it to empty:

{
  "Redis": {
    "Configuration": ""
  }
}

AddOclarcRedis will then skip all registrations. If your code still attempts to resolve IOclarcRedis, an exception will be thrown. To handle this gracefully, use optional injection:

public class MyService
{
    private readonly IOclarcRedis? _cache;

    public MyService(IServiceProvider services)
    {
        _cache = services.GetService<IOclarcRedis>();
    }

    public async Task DoWorkAsync()
    {
        if (_cache != null)
        {
            await _cache.SetAsync("key", "value");
        }
        else
        {
            // Fallback to no caching
        }
    }
}

Override default cache name

When you manually construct OclarcRedis, you can provide a custom cacheName. But when using the DI registration, the cache name is automatically set to "oclarcredis" (derived from the type name). This is used inside BuildKey to create a namespace.

Key generation algorithm

BuildKey(string value) produces:

{KeyPrefix}:{cacheName}:{SHA256(value)}

Example:

_cache.BuildKey("user:42")
// returns: "MyApp:oclarcredis:9a7b4c3d... (64 chars)"

This guarantees:

• Fixed length – no Redis key length issues
• No invalid characters – only alphanumeric and colon
• Collision resistance – SHA256 ensures uniqueness for different inputs

API REFERENCE

interface IOclarcRedis

class OclarcRedisOptions

Bound to "Redis" configuration section.

static class ServiceCollectionExtension

ERROR HANDLING & EDGE CASES

DEPENDENCIES

• Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.StackExchangeRedis (>= 6.0.0)
• Microsoft.Extensions.Options.ConfigurationExtensions (>= 6.0.0)
• Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions (>= 6.0.0)

No direct dependency on StackExchange.Redis – it's pulled transitively.

CONFIGURATION BINDING DEEP DIVE

The library binds to the "Redis" section. You can also provide configuration via environment variables or command line.

Example using appsettings.json with multiple environments:

{
  "Redis": {
    "Configuration": "localhost:6379",
    "KeyPrefix": "Dev",
    "DefaultExpirationMinutes": 5
  }
}

Or via environment variable:

Redis__Configuration="mycache.redis.cache.windows.net:6380,password=..."
Redis__KeyPrefix="Prod"
Redis__DefaultExpirationMinutes="120"

TESTING WITHOUT A REAL REDIS

You can use the in‑memory MemoryDistributedCache for testing. Just swap the registration before calling AddOclarcRedis:

services.AddDistributedMemoryCache(); // replaces StackExchangeRedis
services.AddOclarcRedis(configuration); // still works, but uses memory cache

However, note that if Redis:Configuration is empty, AddOclarcRedis will add nothing. For testing purposes, you may want to override configuration:

var config = new ConfigurationBuilder()
    .AddInMemoryCollection(new Dictionary<string, string?>
    {
        ["Redis:Configuration"] = "localhost:6379"
    })
    .Build();

services.AddOclarcRedis(config);

CONTRIBUTING

Contributions are welcome. Guidelines:

1. Fork the repo, create a feature branch.
2. Write or adapt tests.
3. Follow existing code style.
4. Open a pull request.

For bugs or feature requests, open an issue on GitHub.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

• Built on StackExchange.Redis – the high-performance Redis client for .NET.
• Inspired by IDistributedCache and the need for key hashing and JSON serialization.