How to Use Message Pack with ASP.NET Core SignalR

This article demonstrates how to use Message Pack as the protocol and SignalR to send messages between various C# console clients. To host the SignalR Hub, an ASP.NET Core web application is utilized.

Configuring the SignalR Message Pack server

To the ASP.NET Core server application hosting the SignalR Hub, add the Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR and Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR.MsgPack NuGet packages. You can accomplish this by using the Visual Studio NuGet Package Manager.

You can also just add it straight to the project file (.csproj).

<PackageReference 
    Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR"
    Version="1.1.0" />
<PackageReference 
    Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR.Protocols.MessagePack"
    Version="7.0.1" />

Establish a SignalR Hub as necessary. The Hub class is implemented to accomplish this.

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR;

namespace AspNetCoreAngularSignalR.SignalRHubs;

public class LoopyHub : Hub
{
    public Task Send(string data)
    {
        return Clients.All.SendAsync("Send", data);
    }
}

To transmit the Message Pack messages, a DTO class is made. You’ll see that the class lacks any Message Pack properties or attributes and is just a standard C# class.

namespace Dtos;

public class MessageDto
{
    public Guid Id { get; set; }

    public string Name { get; set; } = string.Empty;
   
    public int Amount { get; set; }
}

Then add the Message Pack protocol to the SignalR service.

services.AddSignalR().AddMessagePackProtocol();

app.MapHub<LoopyHub>("/loopy");
app.MapHub<NewsHub>("/looney");
app.MapHub<LoopyMessageHub>("/loopymessage");
app.MapHub<ImagesMessageHub>("/zub");

Configuring the SignalR Message Pack client

<PackageReference
    Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR.Client"
    Version="7.0.1" />
<PackageReference
    Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR.Protocols.MessagePack"
    Version="7.0.1" />

public static async Task SetupSignalRHubAsync()
{
    _hubConnection = new HubConnectionBuilder()
         .WithUrl("https://localhost:44324/loopymessage")
         .AddMessagePackProtocol()
         .ConfigureLogging(factory =>
         { 
             factory.AddConsole();
             factory.AddFilter("Console", level => level >= LogLevel.Trace);
         }).Build();

     await _hubConnection.StartAsync();
}

static async Task MainAsync()
{
    await SetupSignalRHubAsync();
    if(_hubConnection != null )
    {
        _hubConnection.On<MessageDto>("Send", (message) =>
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Received Message: {message.Name}");
        });
        Console.WriteLine("Connected to Hub");
        Console.WriteLine("Press ESC to stop");
        do
        {
            while (!Console.KeyAvailable)
            {
                var message = Console.ReadLine();
                if (message != null)
                {
                    await _hubConnection.SendAsync("Send",
                    new MessageDto
                    {
                        Id = Guid.NewGuid(),
                        Name = message,
                        Amount = 7
                    });
                }

                Console.WriteLine("SendAsync to Hub");
            }
        }
        while (Console.ReadKey(true).Key != ConsoleKey.Escape);
    }
}

Conclusion

Now, you have learned about how to use Message Pack in ASP.NET Core SignalR. We hope you enjoy this article and you can always share this tutorial to others.

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Yury Sobolev

Yury Sobolev is Full Stack Software Developer by passion and profession working on Microsoft ASP.NET Core. Also he has hands-on experience on working with Angular, Backbone, React, ASP.NET Core Web API, Restful Web Services, WCF, SQL Server.