PostgresDoc now works with C#

PostgresDoc is a simple F# library for working with document data in Postgresql. Recently, I have been experimenting with ways to use it from C#.

Using an F# Library from C#

It is certainly possible to use an F# library from C#, but the syntax can be difficult. To ease the pain I experimented with ways to make the API more C# friendly, and ultimately gave up.

Wrapping an F# Library for C# consumers

The approach that ultimately worked for me was to create a new C# project that wraps the F# version of PostgresDoc and provides an API that is optimised for C#. The unit of work is represented by a Queue. New operations are added via the Enqueue method, and created via static factory methods on the Operation class, like so:

unitOfWork.Enqueue(Operation.Insert(ernesto._id, ernesto));

The PostgresDocCs C# API

Here is a simple example of working with a document from C#:

public class Person 
{
    public Guid _id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public string[] FavouriteThings { get; set; }
}

var ernesto = new Person
        {
            _id = Guid.NewGuid(),
            Name = "Ernesto",
            Age = 31,
            FavouriteThings = new[] { "Pistachio Ice Cream", "Postgresql", "F#" }
        };
var connString = "Server=127.0.0.1;Port=5432;User Id=******;Password=*****;Database=testo;";

var unitOfWork = new Queue<Operation<Guid>>();

// insert a document
unitOfWork.Enqueue(Operation.Insert(ernesto._id, ernesto));

// modify a document
ernesto.Age = 32;
unitOfWork.Enqueue(Do.Update(ernesto._id, ernesto));

// persist the changes in a transaction
UnitOfWork.Commit(connString, unitOfWork)

Querying

var ernesto = Query<Person>.For(
            connString, 
            "select data from Person where id = :id", 
            new Dictionary<string, object> { {"id", ernesto._id} });