Add actionETL Manually

Note

The recommended way to create a new actionETL projects is to use a template as described in the Getting Started instructions as well as in Dotnet Templates.

To add actionETL to an existing project, use the actionetl.addtoproject template.

This article also creates a new project, in this case for a .NET Framework console project, and adds actionETL to it. It doesn't however use any templates, and instead performs each step explicitly, in this case using Visual Studio.

1. Create Project

  • In Visual Studio, use File > New > Project... to create an empty C# Console App (.Net Framework) project, picking Framework .NET Framework 4.6.1 or higher. This will also create a new "Solution", to which we can later add further projects. New Project
  • Other project types (Windows Forms etc.) are also supported, but a console application is usually appropriate for a typical batch oriented ETL application.

2. Add License File

Add an "actionetl.license.json" license file to the root of the project.

Right-click the file, select Properties, and set:

  • Build Action = "Content"
  • Copy To Output Directory = "PreserveNewest"

3. Add "app.config" Settings

Although optional (and without effect for this trivial application), adding the highlighted runtime section below to "app.config" can significantly improve dataflow performance (more details at .NET Framework Run-time Settings):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <startup>
    <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.6.1" />
  </startup>
  <runtime>
    <gcConcurrent enabled="false"/>
    <gcServer enabled="true"/>
  </runtime>
</configuration>

4. Modify Project Properties

Uncheck Prefer 32-bit

Although optional (and irrelevant for this trivial application), best practice when requiring large amounts of memory (such as with high volume dataflows) is to uncheck Prefer 32-bit on the project properties Build page, which will make the application run as 64-bit if the operating system is 64-bit. This gives the application access to all available memory, avoiding out of memory issues as far as possible.

Note
  • actionETL is compiled for the Any CPU platform, which allows the consuming application to be compiled for either of the Any CPU, x86, or x64 platforms.
  • Any CPU performance running as a 64-bit process is very similar to x64 performance. Both are somewhat faster than x86 or Any CPU running as a 32-bit process for large volume dataflows.

Set C# v7.2 or Higher

Visual Studio 2019 already defaults to the latest C# version. For Visual Studio 2017, perform the following:

The actionETL API uses recent C# features. Set Project Properties > Build > Advanced... > Language Version to:

  • "C# 7.2" or later version, or
  • "C# latest minor version (latest)"

5. Install Packages

Open Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Package Manager Console and execute:

Install-Package actionETL

This will also automatically install the package dependencies.

Note
  • The package manager requires an internet connection to retrieve actionETL and dependent packages from nuget.org
  • If the package manager can't find the actionETL package, double check that "nuget.org" (actual link https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json) is enabled as a package source.

6. Modify Code

Replace "Program.cs"

Replace the default content of the "Program.cs" file with the following:

using actionETL;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace MyCompany.ETL.FileExists
{
    static class Program
    {
        static async Task Main()
        {
            // Example worker system: test if file exists
            var outcomeStatus = await new WorkerSystem()
                .Root(ws =>
                {
                    // Example worker: check filename loaded from "actionetl.aconfig.json"
                    _ = new FileExistsWorker(ws, "File exists", ws.Config["TriggerFile"]);
                })
                .StartAsync();

            // Exit with success or failure code
            outcomeStatus.Exit();
        }
    }
}

Add "actionetl.aconfig.json"

Add the configuration file "actionetl.aconfig.json" to the root project folder, and ensure it gets copied to the output directory:

  • Right-click the project, Add > New Item... > General > Text File, and add "actionetl.aconfig.json"
  • Right-click "actionetl.aconfig.json", Properties:
    • Build Action = "Content"
    • Copy To Output Directory = "PreserveNewest"
  • Add this content:
{
  "configurations": [
    { "TriggerFile": "C:/Temp/Trigger.trg" } // Note forward slash to avoid escaping
  ]
}

Add "nlog.config"

Add this NLog configuration to an "nlog.config" file in the root project folder, and ensure it gets copied to the output directory:

  • Right-click the project, Add > New Item... > General > Text File, and add "nlog.config"
  • Right-click "nlog.config", Properties:
    • Build Action = "Content"
    • Copy To Output Directory = "PreserveNewest"

7. Build and Run Project

Build and run the project as described in Getting Started - 2. Build and Run Project.

See Also