Configuration classes

A configuration class is a static class with two public static methods having the signature as below, that can add services to the Firely Server dependency injection system, and add middleware to the pipeline.

[VonkConfiguration (order: xyz)] //xyz is an integer
public static class MyVonkConfiguration
{
   public static void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
   {
      //add services here to the DI system of ASP.NET Core
   }

   public static void Configure(IApplicationBuilder builder)
   {
      //add middleware to the pipeline being built with the builder
   }
}

As you may have noticed, the methods resemble those in an ASP.NET Core Startup class. That is exactly where they are ultimately called from. We’ll explain each of the parts in more detail.

VonkConfiguration

This is an attribute defined by Firely Server (package Vonk.Core, namespace Vonk.Core.Pluggability). It tells Firely Server to execute the methods in this configuration class. The order property determines where in the pipeline the middleware will be added. You can see the order of the plugins in the log at startup.

MyVonkConfiguration

You can give the class any name you want, it will be recognized by Firely Server through the attribute, not the classname. We do advise you to choose a name that actually describes what is configured. It is also better to have multiple smaller configuration classes than one monolith adding all your plugins, so you allow yourself to configure your plugins individually afterwards.

ConfigureServices

The main requirements for this method are:

• It is public static;

• It has a first formal argument of type Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.IServiceCollection;

• It is the only method in this class matching the first two requirements.

This also means that you can give it a different name. Beyond that, you may add formal arguments for services that you need during configuration. You can only use services that are available from the ASP.NET Core hosting process, not any services you have added yourself earlier. Usual services to request are:

• IConfiguration

• IHostingEnvironment

These services will be injected automatically by Firely Server.

Configure

The main requirements for this method are:

• It is public static;

• It has a first formal argument of type Microsoft.AspNetCore.Buider.IApplicationBuilder;

• It is the only method in this class matching the first two requirements.

This also means that you can give it a different name. Beyond that, you may add formal arguments for services that you may need during configuration. Here you can use services that are available from the ASP.NET Core hosting process and any services you have added yourself earlier. For services in request scope please note that this method is not run in request scope. These services will be injected automatically by Firely Server.

We provided an example of this: creating your own landing page.