Azure Table Storage in ASP.NET Core 2.0

• Download source code from GitHub

Problem

How to use Azure Table Storage in ASP.NET Core.

Solution

Create a class library and add NuGet package: WindowsAzure.Storage.

Add a class to encapsulate settings:

public class AzureTableSettings
    {
        public AzureTableSettings(string storageAccount,
                                       string storageKey,
                                       string tableName)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(storageAccount))
                throw new ArgumentNullException("StorageAccount");

            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(storageKey))
                throw new ArgumentNullException("StorageKey");

            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(tableName))
                throw new ArgumentNullException("TableName");

            this.StorageAccount = storageAccount;
            this.StorageKey = storageKey;
            this.TableName = tableName;
        }

        public string StorageAccount { get; }
        public string StorageKey { get; }
        public string TableName { get; }
    }

Add a class to encapsulate storage access. Add a private helper method to access storage:

private async Task<CloudTable> GetTableAsync()
        {
            //Account
            CloudStorageAccount storageAccount = new CloudStorageAccount(
                new StorageCredentials(this.settings.StorageAccount, this.settings.StorageKey), false);

            //Client
            CloudTableClient tableClient = storageAccount.CreateCloudTableClient();

            //Table
            CloudTable table = tableClient.GetTableReference(this.settings.TableName);
            await table.CreateIfNotExistsAsync();

            return table;
        }

Now add public methods for the storage:

public async Task<List<T>> GetList()
        {
            //Table
            CloudTable table = await GetTableAsync();

            //Query
            TableQuery<T> query = new TableQuery<T>();

            List<T> results = new List<T>();
            TableContinuationToken continuationToken = null;
            do
            {
                TableQuerySegment<T> queryResults =
                    await table.ExecuteQuerySegmentedAsync(query, continuationToken);

                continuationToken = queryResults.ContinuationToken;
                results.AddRange(queryResults.Results);

            } while (continuationToken != null);

            return results;
        }
        
        public async Task<List<T>> GetList(string partitionKey)
        {
            //Table
            CloudTable table = await GetTableAsync();

            //Query
            TableQuery<T> query = new TableQuery<T>()
                                        .Where(TableQuery.GenerateFilterCondition("PartitionKey", 
                                                QueryComparisons.Equal, partitionKey));

            List<T> results = new List<T>();
            TableContinuationToken continuationToken = null;
            do
            {
                TableQuerySegment<T> queryResults =
                    await table.ExecuteQuerySegmentedAsync(query, continuationToken);

                continuationToken = queryResults.ContinuationToken;

                results.AddRange(queryResults.Results);

            } while (continuationToken != null);

            return results;
        }
        
        public async Task<T> GetItem(string partitionKey, string rowKey)
        {
            //Table
            CloudTable table = await GetTableAsync();

            //Operation
            TableOperation operation = TableOperation.Retrieve<T>(partitionKey, rowKey);

            //Execute
            TableResult result = await table.ExecuteAsync(operation);

            return (T)(dynamic)result.Result;
        }
        
        public async Task Insert(T item)
        {
            //Table
            CloudTable table = await GetTableAsync();

            //Operation
            TableOperation operation = TableOperation.Insert(item);

            //Execute
            await table.ExecuteAsync(operation);
        }
        
        public async Task Update(T item)
        {
            //Table
            CloudTable table = await GetTableAsync();

            //Operation
            TableOperation operation = TableOperation.InsertOrReplace(item);

            //Execute
            await table.ExecuteAsync(operation);
        }
        
        public async Task Delete(string partitionKey, string rowKey)
        {
            //Item
            T item = await GetItem(partitionKey, rowKey);
            
            //Table
            CloudTable table = await GetTableAsync();

            //Operation
            TableOperation operation = TableOperation.Delete(item);

            //Execute
            await table.ExecuteAsync(operation);
        }

Inject and use storage:

private readonly IAzureTableStorage<Movie> repository;

        public MovieService(IAzureTableStorage<Movie> repository)
        {
            this.repository = repository;
        }

In ASP.NET Core Web Application, configure services:

public void ConfigureServices(
            IServiceCollection services)
        {
            services.AddScoped<IAzureTableStorage<Movie>>(factory =>
            {
                return new AzureTableStorage<Movie>(
                    new AzureTableSettings(
                        storageAccount: Configuration["Table_StorageAccount"],
                        storageKey: Configuration["Table_StorageKey"],
                        tableName: Configuration["Table_TableName"]));
            });
            services.AddScoped<IMovieService, MovieService>();

            services.AddMvc();
        }

Discussion

The sample code will require you to setup Azure account, storage account and table. Instructions for these could be found here.