Skip to content

Installation

Two packages

Package Reference it from
InfoCarrier.Core your client, and your server
InfoCarrier.Core.AspNetCore your server only

A client references InfoCarrier.Core alone. It adds two dependencies, Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore and Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Relational, and the HTTP transport is inside it. The second is what lets the client model answer relational questions such as GetTableName(); it brings no database driver and no connection. The server endpoint is a second package because it carries a framework reference to Microsoft.AspNetCore.App, which a WPF, MAUI or WebAssembly client should not have to satisfy to restore a data-access library.

A typical solution has three projects:

Shop.Shared     the entity classes and the DbContext        → InfoCarrier.Core
Shop.Client     WPF / Blazor / MAUI / console               → Shop.Shared
Shop.Server     ASP.NET Core and a real EF Core provider    → Shop.Shared,
                                                              InfoCarrier.Core.AspNetCore

The DbContext and the entity classes are shared source. Both halves build the same model from the same code, which is what makes the wire format meaningful. See Your first client and server.

Installing

# In the client project, and in the server project too.
dotnet add package InfoCarrier.Core

# In the server project only.
dotnet add package InfoCarrier.Core.AspNetCore

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="InfoCarrier.Core" Version="10.2.0" />
  <PackageReference Include="InfoCarrier.Core.AspNetCore" Version="10.2.0" />
</ItemGroup>

Install-Package InfoCarrier.Core
Install-Package InfoCarrier.Core.AspNetCore

With Central Package Management, pin the version in Directory.Packages.props and give both packages the same one.

If you are moving an application off 3.1.1, read Upgrading from 3.1. Your model carries over; the wiring around it does not.

Both packages ship symbol packages and SourceLink, so you can step into the provider from a debugger with no extra configuration.

Building from source instead

Nothing beyond the .NET 10 SDK is needed:

git clone https://github.com/azabluda/InfoCarrier.Core.git
cd InfoCarrier.Core
dotnet pack InfoCarrier.Core.slnx -c Release -o artifacts/pack

Both packages land in artifacts/pack. Every other project in the solution opts out of packing.

Requirements
Runtime .NET 10
EF Core 10.0.1 or later
Server-side provider any: SQL Server, PostgreSQL, SQLite, InMemory …
Client platforms anywhere .NET 10 runs, including Blazor WebAssembly

The server's provider is your choice. The server is an ordinary EF Core application and InfoCarrier.Core never sees the connection. The one platform with constraints of its own is the browser: see Blazor WebAssembly.

Versioning

The version tracks EF Core's major, as every EF Core provider does. 10.x targets EF Core 10.