Working With ASP.NET 6 IDistributedCache Provider For NCache

Introduction

The IDistributedCache is a built-in interface in ASP.NET Core that provides a way to cache data in a distributed environment. NCache is an enterprise-grade distributed caching solution for .NET applications. Here’s how you can work with IDistributedCache using NCache as the caching provider in ASP.NET Core 6 with an example:

Step 1: Install Required Packages

First, install the NCache provider for IDistributedCache using NuGet:

dotnet add package Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.NCache

Step 2: Configure NCache in appsettings.json

Configure NCache settings in the appsettings.json file:

"NCache": {
  "CacheName": "MyCache",
  "Servers": "localhost:8250"
}

Modify the CacheName and Servers values as needed.

Step 3: Configure Services

In the Startup.cs file, configure NCache as the IDistributedCache provider:

using Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.NCache;
using NCache.SessionState;

public class Startup
{
    public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
    {
        services.AddControllersWithViews();

        // Add NCache distributed cache
        services.AddDistributedNCache(options =>
        {
            options.CacheName = Configuration["NCache:CacheName"];
            options.EnableLogging = true;
            options.UseNCacheSessionState = false; // Set to true if using NCache for session state
        });

        // ...
    }

    // ...
}

Step 4: Use IDistributedCache

Now you can inject and use IDistributedCache in your controllers or services. Here’s an example of using IDistributedCache to cache data:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Distributed;
using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class CacheController : Controller
{
    private readonly IDistributedCache _cache;

    public CacheController(IDistributedCache cache)
    {
        _cache = cache;
    }

    public async Task<IActionResult> Index()
    {
        // Check if data is in cache
        var cachedData = await _cache.GetAsync("myCachedData");

        if (cachedData == null)
        {
            // Data not in cache, fetch and cache it
            var data = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("This is cached data");
            var options = new DistributedCacheEntryOptions
            {
                AbsoluteExpirationRelativeToNow = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(10)
            };

            await _cache.SetAsync("myCachedData", data, options);

            ViewBag.CachedData = "Data not in cache. Fetched and cached.";
        }
        else
        {
            ViewBag.CachedData = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(cachedData);
        }

        return View();
    }
}

In this example, we’re using the IDistributedCache service to check if data is in the cache. If it’s not, we fetch the data and cache it with a 10-minute expiration. If it is in the cache, we retrieve and display it.

Step 5: Create a View

Create a corresponding Razor view for the Index action to display the cached data.

Step 6: Test the Application

Run your ASP.NET Core 6 application and navigate to the /Cache route (assuming you have created a corresponding controller and view). The first time you access the route, the data will be fetched and cached. Subsequent requests will retrieve the data from the cache.

This example demonstrates how to use NCache as a IDistributedCache provider in ASP.NET Core 6. You can extend and customize caching logic based on your application’s requirements.