Getting Started with Redis Client APIs

Below is a simple example to give you a flavour of how easy it is to use some of Redis's advanced data structures - in this case Redis Lists: Full source code of this example is viewable online

using var redisClient = new RedisClient();
//Create a 'strongly-typed' API that makes all Redis Value operations to apply against Shippers
IRedisTypedClient<Shipper> redis = redisClient.As<Shipper>();

//Redis lists implement IList<T> while Redis sets implement ICollection<T>
var currentShippers = redis.Lists["urn:shippers:current"];
var prospectiveShippers = redis.Lists["urn:shippers:prospective"];

currentShippers.Add(
    new Shipper {
        Id = redis.GetNextSequence(),
        CompanyName = "Trains R Us",
        DateCreated = DateTime.UtcNow,
        ShipperType = ShipperType.Trains,
        UniqueRef = Guid.NewGuid()
    });

currentShippers.Add(
    new Shipper {
        Id = redis.GetNextSequence(),
        CompanyName = "Planes R Us",
        DateCreated = DateTime.UtcNow,
        ShipperType = ShipperType.Planes,
        UniqueRef = Guid.NewGuid()
    });

var lameShipper = new Shipper {
    Id = redis.GetNextSequence(),
    CompanyName = "We do everything!",
    DateCreated = DateTime.UtcNow,
    ShipperType = ShipperType.All,
    UniqueRef = Guid.NewGuid()
};

currentShippers.Add(lameShipper);

Dump("ADDED 3 SHIPPERS:", currentShippers);

currentShippers.Remove(lameShipper);

Dump("REMOVED 1:", currentShippers);

prospectiveShippers.Add(
    new Shipper {
        Id = redis.GetNextSequence(),
        CompanyName = "Trucks R Us",
        DateCreated = DateTime.UtcNow,
        ShipperType = ShipperType.Automobiles,
        UniqueRef = Guid.NewGuid()
    });

Dump("ADDED A PROSPECTIVE SHIPPER:", prospectiveShippers);

redis.PopAndPushBetweenLists(prospectiveShippers, currentShippers);

Dump("CURRENT SHIPPERS AFTER POP n' PUSH:", currentShippers);
Dump("PROSPECTIVE SHIPPERS AFTER POP n' PUSH:", prospectiveShippers);

var poppedShipper = redis.PopFromList(currentShippers);
Dump("POPPED a SHIPPER:", poppedShipper);
Dump("CURRENT SHIPPERS AFTER POP:", currentShippers);

//reset sequence and delete all lists
redis.SetSequence(0);
redis.Remove(currentShippers, prospectiveShippers);
Dump("DELETING CURRENT AND PROSPECTIVE SHIPPERS:", currentShippers);

EXAMPLE OUTPUT:

ADDED 3 SHIPPERS:
Id:1,CompanyName:Trains R Us,ShipperType:Trains,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.7169323Z,UniqueRef:d17c5db0415b44b2ac5da7b6ebd780f5
Id:2,CompanyName:Planes R Us,ShipperType:Planes,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.799937Z,UniqueRef:e02a73191f4b4e7a9c44eef5b5965d06
Id:3,CompanyName:We do everything!,ShipperType:All,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.8009371Z,UniqueRef:d0c249bbbaf84da39fc4afde1b34e332

REMOVED 1:
Id:1,CompanyName:Trains R Us,ShipperType:Trains,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.7169323Z,UniqueRef:d17c5db0415b44b2ac5da7b6ebd780f5
Id:2,CompanyName:Planes R Us,ShipperType:Planes,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.799937Z,UniqueRef:e02a73191f4b4e7a9c44eef5b5965d06

ADDED A PROSPECTIVE SHIPPER:
Id:4,CompanyName:Trucks R Us,ShipperType:Automobiles,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.8539401Z,UniqueRef:67d7d4947ebc4b0ba5c4d42f5d903bec

CURRENT SHIPPERS AFTER POP n' PUSH:
Id:4,CompanyName:Trucks R Us,ShipperType:Automobiles,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.8539401Z,UniqueRef:67d7d4947ebc4b0ba5c4d42f5d903bec
Id:1,CompanyName:Trains R Us,ShipperType:Trains,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.7169323Z,UniqueRef:d17c5db0415b44b2ac5da7b6ebd780f5
Id:2,CompanyName:Planes R Us,ShipperType:Planes,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.799937Z,UniqueRef:e02a73191f4b4e7a9c44eef5b5965d06

PROSPECTIVE SHIPPERS AFTER POP n' PUSH:

POPPED a SHIPPER:
Id:2,CompanyName:Planes R Us,ShipperType:Planes,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.799937Z,UniqueRef:e02a73191f4b4e7a9c44eef5b5965d06

CURRENT SHIPPERS AFTER POP:
Id:4,CompanyName:Trucks R Us,ShipperType:Automobiles,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.8539401Z,UniqueRef:67d7d4947ebc4b0ba5c4d42f5d903bec
Id:1,CompanyName:Trains R Us,ShipperType:Trains,DateCreated:2010-01-31T11:53:37.7169323Z,UniqueRef:d17c5db0415b44b2ac5da7b6ebd780f5

DELETING CURRENT AND PROSPECTIVE SHIPPERS:

More examples are available in the [RedisExamples Redis examples page] and in the comprehensive test suite

Speed

One of the best things about Redis is the speed - it is quick.

This example below stores and gets the entire Northwind database (3202 records) in less 1.2 secs - we've never had it so quick!

(Running inside a VS.NET/R# unit test on a 3 year old iMac)

using var client = new RedisClient();

var before = DateTime.Now;
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.Categories);
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.Customers);
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.Employees);
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.Shippers);
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.Orders);
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.Products);
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.OrderDetails);
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.CustomerCustomerDemos);
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.Regions);
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.Territories);
client.StoreAll(NorthwindData.EmployeeTerritories);

Console.WriteLine("Took {0}ms to store the entire Northwind database ({1} records)",
    (DateTime.Now - before).TotalMilliseconds, totalRecords);

before = DateTime.Now;
var categories = client.GetAll<Category>();
var customers = client.GetAll<Customer>();
var employees = client.GetAll<Employee>();
var shippers = client.GetAll<Shipper>();
var orders = client.GetAll<Order>();
var products = client.GetAll<Product>();
var orderDetails = client.GetAll<OrderDetail>();
var customerCustomerDemos = client.GetAll<CustomerCustomerDemo>();
var regions = client.GetAll<Region>();
var territories = client.GetAll<Territory>();
var employeeTerritories = client.GetAll<EmployeeTerritory>();

Console.WriteLine("Took {0}ms to get the entire Northwind database ({1} records)",
    (DateTime.Now - before).TotalMilliseconds, totalRecords);
/*
== EXAMPLE OUTPUT ==

Took 1020.0583ms to store the entire Northwind database (3202 records)
Took 132.0076ms to get the entire Northwind database (3202 records)
*/

Note: The total time taken includes an extra Redis operation for each record to store the id in a Redis set for each type as well as serializing and de-serializing each record using Service Stack's TypeSerializer.

Lex Operations

The new ZRANGEBYLEX sorted set operations allowing you to query a sorted set lexically have been added. A good showcase for this is available on autocomplete.redis.io.

These new operations are available as a 1:1 mapping with redis-server on IRedisNativeClient:

public interface IRedisNativeClient
{
    ...
    byte[][] ZRangeByLex(string setId, string min, string max, int? skip, int? take);
    long ZLexCount(string setId, string min, string max);
    long ZRemRangeByLex(string setId, string min, string max);
}

And the more user-friendly APIs under IRedisClient:

public interface IRedisClient
{
    ...
    List<string> SearchSortedSet(string setId, string start=null, string end=null);
    long SearchSortedSetCount(string setId, string start=null, string end=null);
    long RemoveRangeFromSortedSetBySearch(string setId, string start=null, string end=null);
}

Just like NuGet version matchers, Redis uses [ char to express inclusiveness and ( char for exclusiveness. Since the IRedisClient APIs defaults to inclusive searches, these two APIs are the same:

Redis.SearchSortedSetCount("zset", "a", "c")
Redis.SearchSortedSetCount("zset", "[a", "[c")

Alternatively you can specify one or both bounds to be exclusive by using the ( prefix, e.g:

Redis.SearchSortedSetCount("zset", "a", "(c")
Redis.SearchSortedSetCount("zset", "(a", "(c")

More API examples are available in LexTests.cs.

HyperLog API

The development branch of Redis server (available when v3.0 is released) includes an ingenious algorithm to approximate the unique elements in a set with maximum space and time efficiency. For details about how it works see Redis's creator Salvatore's blog who explains it in great detail. Essentially it lets you maintain an efficient way to count and merge unique elements in a set without having to store its elements. A Simple example of it in action:

redis.AddToHyperLog("set1", "a", "b", "c");
redis.AddToHyperLog("set1", "c", "d");
var count = redis.CountHyperLog("set1"); //4

redis.AddToHyperLog("set2", "c", "d", "e", "f");

redis.MergeHyperLogs("mergedset", "set1", "set2");

var mergeCount = redis.CountHyperLog("mergedset"); //6

Scan APIs

Redis v2.8 introduced a beautiful new SCAN operation that provides an optimal strategy for traversing a redis instance entire keyset in managable-size chunks utilizing only a client-side cursor and without introducing any server state. It's a higher performance alternative and should be used instead of KEYS in application code. SCAN and its related operations for traversing members of Sets, Sorted Sets and Hashes are now available in the Redis Client in the following APIs:

public interface IRedisClient
{
    ...
    IEnumerable<string> ScanAllKeys(string pattern = null, int pageSize = 1000);
    IEnumerable<string> ScanAllSetItems(string setId, string pattern = null, int pageSize = 1000);
    IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, double>> ScanAllSortedSetItems(string setId, string pattern = null, int pageSize = 1000);
    IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, string>> ScanAllHashEntries(string hashId, string pattern = null, int pageSize = 1000);    
}

public interface IRedisClientAsync
{
    IAsyncEnumerable<string> ScanAllKeysAsync(string pattern = null, int pageSize, CancellationToken ct);
    IAsyncEnumerable<string> ScanAllSetItemsAsync(string setId, string pattern = null, int pageSize, CancellationToken ct);
    IAsyncEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, double>> ScanAllSortedSetItemsAsync(string setId, string pattern = null, int pageSize, ct);
    IAsyncEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, string>> ScanAllHashEntriesAsync(string hashId, string pattern = null, int pageSize, ct);
}

//Low-level API
public interface IRedisNativeClient
{
    ...
    ScanResult Scan(ulong cursor, int count = 10, string match = null);
    ScanResult SScan(string setId, ulong cursor, int count = 10, string match = null);
    ScanResult ZScan(string setId, ulong cursor, int count = 10, string match = null);
    ScanResult HScan(string hashId, ulong cursor, int count = 10, string match = null);
}

public interface IRedisNativeClientAsync 
{
    ValueTask<ScanResult> ScanAsync(ulong cursor, int count = 10, string match = null, CancellationToken ct);
    ValueTask<ScanResult> SScanAsync(string setId, ulong cursor, int count = 10, string match = null, CancellationToken ct);
    ValueTask<ScanResult> ZScanAsync(string setId, ulong cursor, int count = 10, string match = null, CancellationToken ct);
    ValueTask<ScanResult> HScanAsync(string hashId, ulong cursor, int count = 10, string match = null, CancellationToken ct);
}

The IRedisClient provides a higher-level API that abstracts away the client cursor to expose a lazy Enumerable sequence to provide an optimal way to stream scanned results that integrates nicely with LINQ, e.g:

var scanUsers = Redis.ScanAllKeys("urn:User:*");
var sampleUsers = scanUsers.Take(10000).ToList(); //Stop after retrieving 10000 user keys

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Getting Started with Redis Client APIs

Speed​

Lex Operations​

HyperLog API​

Scan APIs​

On This Page

Speed

Lex Operations

HyperLog API

Scan APIs