Migrating your Applications from AppFabric

This section elaborates on the migration options provided by NCache to migrate from AppFabric and how to implement them seamlessly via a series of simple steps.

Migration Options from AppFabric

The two migration options NCache offers are discussed below.

Important

These options are mutually exclusive.

  1. NCache AppFabric Wrapper Approach: This requires no code change and is, thus, the easiest option. Here, you can continue to use the AppFabric API, which are redirected to the relevant NCache API. You can find the complete wrapper implementation on GitHub.

  2. NCache Direct APIs Approach: This requires code change but gives you more control and flexibility. It also enables you to use the extended features of NCache that AppFabric completely lacks as a limited product.

Implementing the Appfabric Wrapper

To migrate from your AppFabric application to NCache using the wrapper, follow these steps and make the appropriate changes in your application code:

  1. Remove the Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.Client NuGet package or references to the following AppFabric libraries from your application's source code:

    • Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.Client.dll
    • Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.Core.dll

  2. Remove the following namespaces from your project:

    • Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching
    • Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.Client
    • Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.Core

  3. Download the NCache AppFabric Wrapper NuGet package in your application and add the Alachisoft.NCache.Data.Caching namespace in your project.

  4. Specify your Cache Configurations as detailed below.

Your application should appear as follows:

using Alachisoft.NCache.Data.Caching;
using System;
using System.Configuration;

namespace NCacheAppFabricConsoleUI
{
    class Program
    {
        static DataCacheFactory myCacheFactory;
        internal static string myObjectForCaching = "This is my Object";
        internal static DataCache myDefaultCache;
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            try
            {
                PrepareClient();
                RunSampleTest();
            }
            catch (Exception exp)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(exp.ToString());
            }

            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
   }   ...

Implementing the Direct APIs Approach

As mentioned above this approach requires certain code changes, i.e., you will be required to implement NCache API's to let your application use them. You can learn more about the differences between NCache and AppFabric API, through further exploring our documentation.

Note

If you do not have NCache installed on your client machine, you can use the client.ncconf file added to your application project when you install the NCache AppFabric wrapper NuGet package to configure the cache client to access the NCache cluster. If you have NCache installed on your machine, you can find this file at %NCHOME%\config.

  1. Install the Alachisoft.NCache.SDK in your application.

  2. Add the Alachisoft.NCache.Client namespace in your project as detailed here.

  3. Specify your Cache Configurations using in-line coding or using cache configurations as detailed below.

  4. Implement NCache API's.

Note

To learn more about implementing NCache API's, please refer to our Programmer's Guide.

Your application should appear as follows:

using System;
using System.Configuration;
using Alachisoft.NCache.Client;

namespace NCacheAppFabricConsoleUI
{
    class Program
    {
        internal static ICache cache;
        internal static string myObjectForCaching = "This is my Object";
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            try
            {
                PrepareClient();
                RunSampleTest();
            }
            catch (Exception exp)
            {

                Console.WriteLine(exp.ToString());
            }

            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}
...

Specify Cache Configurations

  • After you have installed the NuGet package and edited the namespaces, you need to configure the appSettings section of your App.config. Add the following keys and values to the appSettings:
    • <add key="Default" value="name-of-the-default-cache-here"/>
      Where Default is the ID of the default cache to use. This property is required if your application is calling the default cache.
    • <add key="Expirable" value="True"/>
      Where Expirable is a boolean value flag that determines whether the cached objects should have an expiry set on them. By default, this tag is set to True. If you do not want to set an expiry on your cached items, then set this flag to False.
    • <add key="TTL" value="hh:mm:ss"/>
      Where TTL is the expiration time set on cached items.

Your appSettings file should contain the following:

<appSettings>
    <add key="Default" value="myDefaultCache"/>
    <add key="Expirable" value="True"/>
    <add key="TTL" value="00:15:00"/>
</appSettings>


Note
  • The TTL will not affect the cached items if the Expirable tag is False.
  • If the Expirable is set to True and no TTL is given, then the default expiration time of 15 min will be used on all cached items.
  • Ensure the client.ncconf file has its cacheName set for you to configure a cache client that can access the cache.

Additional Resources

NCache provides an AppFabric wrapper application and sample application on GitHub.

See Also

.NET: Alachisoft.NCache.Client namespace.
Java: com.alachisoft.ncache.client namespace.
Node.js: Cache class.
Python: ncache.client class.