Extension methods that expand on Microsoft.Extension.Caching.

The main focus of this library is on type-specific serialization in a distributed cache using Json.NET BSON.

There are a couple ways to install this package:

• Install the NuGet package
• Download the assembly from the latest release and reference it manually
• Copy the source code directly into your project

This project is available under either of two licenses: MIT or The Unlicense. So if you're able to use the Unlicense, you don't have to provide any kind of attribution if you copy anything into your own project.

This library mostly just adds more extension methods for IDistributedCache or IMemoryCache.

The main feature is handling object serialization with a distributed cache. For example:

using Cachetwo.Distributed;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Distributed;

public static void Sample(IDistributedCache distributedCache)
{
	int[] value = new[] { 1, 2 };
	distributedCache.Set("sample", value, System.TimeSpan.FromMinutes(15));

	int[] storedValue = distributedCache.Get<int[]>("sample");
	System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(System.Linq.Enumerable.SequenceEqual(value, storedValue));
}

There are also methods similar to the GetOrCreate memory cache extension methods:

using Cachetwo.Distributed;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Distributed;

public static void Sample2(IDistributedCache distributedCache)
{
	int[] value = new[] { 1, 2 };
	int[] storedValue = distributedCache.GetOrCreateIfNotDefault("sample", () => value, System.TimeSpan.FromMinutes(15));
	System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(System.Linq.Enumerable.SequenceEqual(value, storedValue));
}

And a few bonus memory cache extension methods are included for specifying options like absoluteExpirationRelativeToNow:

using Cachetwo.Memory;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory;

public static void Sample(IDistributedCache distributedCache)
{
	int[] value = new[] { 1, 2 };
	distributedCache.Set("sample", value, System.TimeSpan.FromMinutes(15));

	int[] storedValue = distributedCache.Get<int[]>("sample");
	System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(System.Linq.Enumerable.SequenceEqual(value, storedValue));
}

Normal objects are serialized using Json.NET BSON to convert the objects to and from BSON. The same limitations apply that you'd have with using [Json.NET] to serialize any object, including:

• Only public properties with getters and setters will be stored in the cache
• A self-referencing loop may cause serialization to fail

Also, custom (non-BSON) serialization is not used for primitive types or for common value types including DateTime, DateTimeOffset, TimeSpan, Guid. Values of type string and byte[] also have special handling.

But as much as possible, you should avoid depending on the exact serialization format. It's possible that it will change if the future if a better serialization strategy comes along.

There is not currently any customization available for the serialization strategy. If you need a custom strategy, your best bet is probably to just make your own copy of this library and modify or replace the BinaryConvert class.