.NET nanoFramework RAK11200

The RAKwireless RAK11200 WisBlock WiFi Module module is based on an Expressif ESP32 processor which is supported by the .NET nanoFramework. The first step was to mount the RAK11200 on a RAK5005 WisBlock Base Board to get Universal Serial Bus(USB) connectivity.

RAK11200 Mounted on RAK5005 base board

My first attempt “flash” the RAK11200 with the nano Firmware Flasher(nanoff) failed badly

nanoff flashing failure

The RAK11200 documentation described how to upload software developed with the Arduino tools by putting the ESP32 into “bootloader mode” by connecting the BOOT0 and GND pins, then pressing the reset button.

RAK11200 BOOT0 & GND pins connected to

After some “trial and error” the download process worked pretty reliably…

nanoff flashing success

The first step with any embedded development project is to flash a Light Emitting Diode(LED)….

RAK11200 Schematic

The RAK11200 has two LEDs, a blue attached to IO02 and a green one attached to IO12.

//
// Copyright (c) .NET Foundation and Contributors
// See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
//
//
using System;
using System.Device.Gpio;
using System.Threading;
using nanoFramework.Hardware.Esp32;

namespace Blinky
{
   public class Program
   {
      private static GpioController s_GpioController;
      public static void Main()
      {
         s_GpioController = new GpioController();

         // pick a board, uncomment one line for GpioPin; default is STM32F769I_DISCO

         // DISCOVERY4: PD15 is LED6 
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(PinNumber('D', 15), PinMode.Output);

         // ESP32 DevKit: 4 is a valid GPIO pin in, some boards like Xiuxin ESP32 may require GPIO Pin 2 instead.
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(4, PinMode.Output);

         // FEATHER S2: 
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(13, PinMode.Output);

         // F429I_DISCO: PG14 is LEDLD4 
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(PinNumber('G', 14), PinMode.Output);

         // NETDUINO 3 Wifi: A10 is LED onboard blue
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(PinNumber('A', 10), PinMode.Output);

         // QUAIL: PE15 is LED1  
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(PinNumber('E', 15), PinMode.Output);

         // STM32F091RC: PA5 is LED_GREEN
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(PinNumber('A', 5), PinMode.Output);

         // STM32F746_NUCLEO: PB75 is LED2
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(PinNumber('B', 7), PinMode.Output);

         //STM32F769I_DISCO: PJ5 is LD2
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(PinNumber('J', 5), PinMode.Output);

         // ST_B_L475E_IOT01A: PB14 is LD2
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(PinNumber('B', 14), PinMode.Output);

         // STM32L072Z_LRWAN1: PA5 is LD2
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(PinNumber('A', 5), PinMode.Output);

         // TI CC13x2 Launchpad: DIO_07 it's the green LED
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(7, PinMode.Output);

         // TI CC13x2 Launchpad: DIO_06 it's the red LED  
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(6, PinMode.Output);

         // ULX3S FPGA board: for the red D22 LED from the ESP32-WROOM32, GPIO5
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(5, PinMode.Output);

         // Silabs SLSTK3701A: LED1 PH14 is LLED1
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(PinNumber('H', 14), PinMode.Output);

         // RAK11200 on RAK5005
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(Gpio.IO12, PinMode.Output); // LED1 Green
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(Gpio.IO02, PinMode.Output); // LED2 Blue

         // RAK11200 on RAK19001 needs battery connected or power switch in rechargeable position.
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(Gpio.IO12, PinMode.Output); // LED1 Green
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(Gpio.IO02, PinMode.Output); // LED2 Blue

         // RAK2305 
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(Gpio.IO18, PinMode.Output); // LED Green (Test LED) on device

         // RAK2305 On 5005 throws exceptions
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(Gpio.IO34, PinMode.Output); // LED1 Green
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(Gpio.IO35, PinMode.Output); // LED2 Blue

         // RAK2305 On 17001 throws exceptions
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(Gpio.IO34, PinMode.Output); // LED1 Green
         //GpioPin led = s_GpioController.OpenPin(Gpio.IO35, PinMode.Output); // LED2 Blue

         led.Write(PinValue.Low);

         while (true)
         {
            led.Toggle();
            Thread.Sleep(125);
            led.Toggle();
            Thread.Sleep(125);
            led.Toggle();
            Thread.Sleep(125);
            led.Toggle();
            Thread.Sleep(525);
         }
      }

      static int PinNumber(char port, byte pin)
      {
         if (port < 'A' || port > 'J')
            throw new ArgumentException();

         return ((port - 'A') * 16) + pin;
      }
   }
}

I added the RAK11200 configuration to my version of the nanoFramework Blinky sample and could reliably flash either of the LEDs.

.NET nanoFramework RAK3172 Sleep

The RAKwireless RAK3172 module has “AT+SLEEP -Sleep mode command. To see how it worked I modified the BreakOutSerial application to send an AT-SLEEP command.

public static void Main()
{
#if SERIAL_THREADED_READ
	Thread readThread = new Thread(SerialPortProcessor);
#endif

	Debug.WriteLine("devMobile.IoT.LoRaWAN.nanoFramework.RAK3172 BreakoutSerial starting");

	try
	{
		// set GPIO functions for COM2 (this is UART1 on ESP32)
#if ESP32_WROOM
		Configuration.SetPinFunction(Gpio.IO17, DeviceFunction.COM2_TX);
		Configuration.SetPinFunction(Gpio.IO16, DeviceFunction.COM2_RX);
#endif

		Debug.Write("Ports:");
		foreach (string port in SerialPort.GetPortNames())
		{
			Debug.Write($" {port}");
		}
		Debug.WriteLine("");

		using (_SerialPort = new SerialPort(SerialPortId))
		{
			// set parameters
			_SerialPort.BaudRate = 115200;
			_SerialPort.Parity = Parity.None;
			_SerialPort.DataBits = 8;
			_SerialPort.StopBits = StopBits.One;
			_SerialPort.Handshake = Handshake.None;
			_SerialPort.NewLine = "\r\n";
			_SerialPort.ReadTimeout = 1000;

			//_SerialPort.WatchChar = '\n'; // May 2022 WatchChar event didn't fire github issue https://github.com/nanoframework/Home/issues/1035

#if SERIAL_ASYNC_READ
			_SerialPort.DataReceived += SerialDevice_DataReceived;
#endif

			_SerialPort.Open();

			_SerialPort.WatchChar = '\n';

			_SerialPort.ReadExisting(); // Running at 115K2 this was necessary

#if SERIAL_THREADED_READ
			readThread.Start();
#endif

			for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
			{
				string atCommand;
				atCommand = "AT+VER=?";
				//atCommand = "AT+SN=?"; // Empty response?
				//atCommand = "AT+HWMODEL=?";
				//atCommand = "AT+HWID=?";
				//atCommand = "AT+DEVEUI=?";
				//atCommand = "AT+APPEUI=?";
				//atCommand = "AT+APPKEY=?";
				//atCommand = "ATR";
				//atCommand = "AT+SLEEP=4000";
				Debug.WriteLine("");
				Debug.WriteLine($"{DateTime.UtcNow:hh:mm:ss} {i} TX:{atCommand} bytes:{atCommand.Length}--------------------------------");
				_SerialPort.WriteLine(atCommand);

				Thread.Sleep(5000);
			}
		}
#if SERIAL_THREADED_READ
		_Continue = false;
#endif
		Debug.WriteLine("Done");
	}
	catch (Exception ex)
	{
		Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message);
	}
}

#if SERIAL_ASYNC_READ
private static void SerialDevice_DataReceived(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
{
	SerialPort serialPort = (SerialPort)sender;

	switch (e.EventType)
	{
		case SerialData.Chars:
			break;

		case SerialData.WatchChar:
			string response = serialPort.ReadExisting();
			//Debug.Write($"{DateTime.UtcNow:hh:mm:ss} RX:{response} bytes:{response.Length}");
			Debug.Write(response);
			break;
		default:
			Debug.Assert(false, $"e.EventType {e.EventType} unknown");
			break;
	}
}
#endif

I then ran the device in the debugger to see how the AT+SLEEP was handled.

BreakoutSerial application executing AT+SLEEP command

There was limited AT+SLEEP -Sleep mode documentation but it looks like the RAK3172 module sleeps, “wakes up” and then replies with “OK”.

Sparkfun Thing Plus ESP32 WROOM + RAK3172 Idle power consumption

Initially the Sleep method didn’t appear to work, the power consumption didn’t change….

private static void SendMessageTimerCallback(object state)
{
	Rak3172LoRaWanDevice device = (Rak3172LoRaWanDevice)state;

#if PAYLOAD_HEX
	Debug.WriteLine($"{DateTime.UtcNow:hh:mm:ss} port:{MessagePort} payload HEX:{PayloadHex}");
	Result result = device.Send(MessagePort, PayloadHex, SendTimeout);
#endif
#if PAYLOAD_BYTES
	Debug.WriteLine($"{DateTime.UtcNow:hh:mm:ss} port:{MessagePort} payload bytes:{Rak3172LoRaWanDevice.BytesToHex(PayloadBytes)}");
	Result result = device.Send(MessagePort, PayloadBytes, SendTimeout);
#endif
	if (result != Result.Success)
	{
		Debug.WriteLine($"Send failed {result}");
	}

#if SLEEP
	Thread.Sleep(7500); //10000 Works 5000 to short

	Debug.WriteLine($"{DateTime.UtcNow:hh:mm:ss} Sleep period:{SleepPeriod:hh:mm:ss}");
	result = device.Sleep(SleepPeriod);
	if (result != Result.Success)
	{
		Debug.WriteLine($"Sleep failed {result}");
		return;
	}
#endif
}

After some debugging and reading this helpful RAK Wireless forum post I added a short delay before sleeping the RAK3172 module and power consumption reduced.

Sparkfun Thing Plus ESP32 WROOM + RAK3172 Sleep mode power consumption

Initially the Sleep method timed out every time it was called. After some more debugging I figured out that I needed a slightly longer delay for the AutoResetEvent.Waitone as it was timing out just before the “OK” was processed.

public Result Sleep(TimeSpan period)
{
	return Sleep(period, SleepExtensionDefault);
}

public Result Sleep(TimeSpan period, TimeSpan extension)
{
#if DIAGNOSTICS
	Debug.WriteLine($" {DateTime.UtcNow:hh:mm:ss} AT+SLEEP {period.TotalMilliseconds:f0} mSec");
#endif
	Result result = SendCommand("OK", $"AT+SLEEP={period.TotalMilliseconds:f0}", period.Add(extension));
	if (result != Result.Success)
	{
#if DIAGNOSTICS
		Debug.WriteLine($" {DateTime.UtcNow:hh:mm:ss} AT+SLEEP failed {result}");
#endif
		return result;
	}

	return Result.Success;
}

I then disconnected RAK3172 module to see how much power the Sparkfun Thing Plus ESP32 WROOM was using.

The nanoFramework ESP32 support library has a LightSleep and DeepSleep functionality which significantly reduced the power consumption

Sparkfun Thing Plus ESP32 WROOM LightSleep power consumption
Sparkfun Thing Plus ESP32 WROOM DeepSleep power consumption

The Keweisi KWS-MX19 USB Tester DC 4V-30V 0-5A Current Voltage Detector is not a precision laboratory instrument but did show the power consumption of my setup could be reduced by sleeping the RAK3172 module and the Sparkfun Thing Plus ESP32 WROOM.

.NET nanoFramework RAK3172 Factory Reset

The RAKwireless RAK3172 module has “ATR – Restore to Default Parameters” command. To see what settings were “restored” I modified the BreakOutSerial application to send an ATR command to reset the device, then display the DevEUI, JoinEUI, and AppKey.

public static void Main()
{
	Debug.WriteLine("devMobile.IoT.LoRaWAN.nanoFramework.RAK3172 BreakoutSerial starting");

	try
	{
		// set GPIO functions for COM2 (this is UART1 on ESP32)
#if ESP32_WROOM
		Configuration.SetPinFunction(Gpio.IO17, DeviceFunction.COM2_TX);
		Configuration.SetPinFunction(Gpio.IO16, DeviceFunction.COM2_RX);
#endif

		Debug.Write("Ports:");
		foreach (string port in SerialPort.GetPortNames())
		{
			Debug.Write($" {port}");
		}
		Debug.WriteLine("");

		using (_SerialPort = new SerialPort(SerialPortId))
		{
			// set parameters
			_SerialPort.BaudRate = 115200;
			_SerialPort.Parity = Parity.None;
			_SerialPort.DataBits = 8;
			_SerialPort.StopBits = StopBits.One;
			_SerialPort.Handshake = Handshake.None;
			_SerialPort.NewLine = "\r\n";
			_SerialPort.ReadTimeout = 1000;

			//_SerialPort.WatchChar = '\n'; // May 2022 WatchChar event didn't fire github issue https://github.com/nanoframework/Home/issues/1035

#if SERIAL_ASYNC_READ
			_SerialPort.DataReceived += SerialDevice_DataReceived;
#endif

			_SerialPort.Open();

			_SerialPort.WatchChar = '\n';

			_SerialPort.ReadExisting(); // Running at 115K2 this was necessary

...

			for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
			{
				string atCommand;
				atCommand = "AT+VER=?";
				//atCommand = "AT+SN=?"; // Empty response?
				//atCommand = "AT+HWMODEL=?";
				//atCommand = "AT+HWID=?";
				//atCommand = "AT+DEVEUI=?";
				//atCommand = "AT+APPEUI=?";
				//atCommand = "AT+APPKEY=?";
				//atCommand = "ATR";
				//atCommand = "AT+SLEEP=4000";
				Debug.WriteLine("");
				Debug.WriteLine($"{i} TX:{atCommand} bytes:{atCommand.Length}--------------------------------");
				_SerialPort.WriteLine(atCommand);

				Thread.Sleep(5000);
			}
		}
...
		Debug.WriteLine("Done");
	}
	catch (Exception ex)
	{
		Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message);
	}
}

After resetting the device I modified the code to display some of the configuration.

DevEUI after ATR command
JoinEUI after ATR command
AppKey after ATR command

To reconfigure the device I ran the RAK3172LoRaWANDeviceClient application with DEVICE_DEVEUI_SET, OTAA, UNCONFIRMED, REGION_SET and ADR_SET defined. The testrig could then successfully connect to The Things Network and when the device was power cycled the configuration was retained.

public Result FactoryReset()
{
#if DIAGNOSTICS
	Debug.WriteLine($" {DateTime.UtcNow:hh:mm:ss} ATR");
#endif
	Result result = SendCommand("OK", "ATR", CommandTimeoutDefault);
	if (result != Result.Success)
	{
#if DIAGNOSTICS
		Debug.WriteLine($" {DateTime.UtcNow:hh:mm:ss} ATR failed {result}");
#endif
		return result;
	}

	return Result.Success;
}

I have added a “FactoryReset” method to the RAK3172LoRaWANDevice library.

.NET Core web API + Dapper – Readonly query workloads with Data Sync

Azure SQL Data Synchronisation Process

Read-only replicas of an Azure SQL Database database with Active geo-replication are easy to setup but there are some disadvantages. e.g. bi-directional synchronisation is not supported, not all tables or selected columns of some tables might not be needed\should not be accessible for reporting, the overhead of replicating tables used for transaction processing might impact on the performance of the solution etc. Azure SQL Data Sync is a service built on Azure SQL Database that can synchronise selected data bi-directionally across multiple databases, both on-premises and in the cloud.

The first step was to remove all the Microsoft SQL Server features used in the the World Wide Importers database (e.g. Sequence Numbers, Column Store indexes etc.) which are not supported(see general limitiations) by Azure SQL Data Sync. I then used the “Deploy Database Wizard” to copy my modified World Wide Importers database to an Azure SQL Database.

Deploy Database to Microsoft Azure SQL Database running
Microsoft Azure SQL Database Servers with WorldWideImporters and ReadonlyReplicaHub database
Data Sync Group creation onReadOnlyReplicaHub database

For my “read-only replicas” scenario if there are any update conflicts the the source database “wins”.

Data Sync Group created
Data Sync Group configuration database management
Data Sync Group configuration adding “source” database synchronisation to Hub
Data Sync Group configuration adding “destination” database(s) synchronisation from Hub
Data Sync Group selecting source database StockItems table and columns to synchronise
Data Sync Group “destination” databases configured
Initial synchronisation of only StockItems table and seed data
Regular synchronisation of a subset of StockItems columns to destination databases
Source Azure SQL Database regular synchronisation compute utilisation
StockItemsReadOnlyReplicas Controller JSON after first replication completed
Azure application Insights Dependencies showing usage of different synchronised databases
StockItems table in source database with updated RRP
StockItems table in destination database with updated RRP after next scheduled snychronisation
StockItems table in destination database after next scheduled synchronisation

The Azure SQL Database Data Sync was pretty easy to setup (configuration in the hub database tripped me up initially). For a production scenario where only a portion of the database (e.g. shaped by Customer, Geography, security considerations, or a bi-directional requirement) it would be an effective solution, though for some applications the delay between synchronisations might be an issue.

.NET Core web API + Dapper – ADO.Net Retries

Recovering from transient failures with ADO.Net RetryLogicProvider

This post is all about learning from failure, hopefully it will help someone else…

A while ago I wrote DapperTransient which uses Polly to retry SQLConnection and SQLCommand operations if the failure might be “transient”. My DapperTransient code wraps nearly all of the Dapper methods with a Polly RetryPolicy.ExecuteAsync.

public static Task<int> ExecuteWithRetryAsync(
			  this IDbConnection connection,
			  string sql,
			  object param = null,
			  IDbTransaction transaction = null,
			  int? commandTimeout = null,
			  CommandType? commandType = null) => RetryPolicy.ExecuteAsync(() => connection.ExecuteAsync(sql, param, transaction, commandTimeout, commandType));


One company I work for has a 10+year old VB.Net codebase that makes extensive use of ADO.Net calls which we moved to Azure Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS) a few years ago. Every so often they would get a cluster of ADO.Net exceptions when executing stored procedures in their Azure SQL database. While I was investigating how to retry transient failures without a major refactoring of the codebase I stumbled across SqlRetryLogicOption + TransientErrors, SqlRetryLogicBaseProvider and RetryLogicProvider which looked like a viable solution. At the time I also wondered if it would be possible to use the same approach with Dapper.

namespace devMobile.WebAPIDapper.Lists.Controllers
{
    [ApiController]
    [Route("api/[controller]")]
    public class StockItemsRetryADONetController : ControllerBase
    {
        private readonly string connectionString;
        private readonly ILogger<StockItemsRetryADONetController> logger;

        // This is a bit nasty but sufficient for PoC
        private readonly int NumberOfRetries = 3;
        private readonly TimeSpan TimeBeforeNextExecution = TimeSpan.Parse("00:00:01");
        private readonly TimeSpan MaximumInterval = TimeSpan.Parse("00:00:30");
        private readonly List<int> TransientErrors = new List<int>()
        {
            49920, // Cannot process rquest. Too many operations in progress for subscription
			49919, // Cannot process create or update request.Too many create or update operations in progress for subscription
			49918, // Cannot process request. Not enough resources to process request.
			41839, // Transaction exceeded the maximum number of commit dependencies.
			41325, // The current transaction failed to commit due to a serializable validation failure.
			41305, // The current transaction failed to commit due to a repeatable read validation failure.
			41302, // The current transaction attempted to update a record that has been updated since the transaction started.
			41301, // Dependency failure: a dependency was taken on another transaction that later failed to commit.
			40613, // Database XXXX on server YYYY is not currently available. Please retry the connection later.
			40501, // The service is currently busy. Retry the request after 10 seconds
			40197, // The service has encountered an error processing your request. Please try again
			20041, // Transaction rolled back. Could not execute trigger. Retry your transaction.
			17197, // Login failed due to timeout; the connection has been closed. This error may indicate heavy server load.
			14355, // The MSSQLServerADHelper service is busy. Retry this operation later.
			11001, // Connection attempt failed
			10936, // The request limit for the elastic pool has been reached. 
			10929, // The server is currently too busy to support requests.
			10928, // The limit for the database is has been reached
			10922, // Operation failed. Rerun the statement.
			10060, // A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server.
			10054, // A transport-level error has occurred when sending the request to the server.
			10053, // A transport-level error has occurred when receiving results from the server.
			9515, // An XML schema has been altered or dropped, and the query plan is no longer valid. Please rerun the query batch.
			8651, // Could not perform the operation because the requested memory grant was not available in resource pool
			8645, // A timeout occurred while waiting for memory resources to execute the query in resource pool, Rerun the query
			8628, // A timeout occurred while waiting to optimize the query. Rerun the query. 
			4221, // Login to read-secondary failed due to long wait on 'HADR_DATABASE_WAIT_FOR_TRANSITION_TO_VERSIONING'. The replica is not available for login because row versions are missing for transactions that were in-flight when the replica was recycled
			4060, // Cannot open database requested by the login. The login failed.
			3966, // Transaction is rolled back when accessing version store. It was earlier marked as victim when the version store was shrunk due to insufficient space in tempdb. Retry the transaction.
			3960, // Snapshot isolation transaction aborted due to update conflict. You cannot use snapshot isolation to access table directly or indirectly in database
			3935, // A FILESTREAM transaction context could not be initialized. This might be caused by a resource shortage. Retry the operation.
			1807, // Could not obtain exclusive lock on database 'model'. Retry the operation later.
			1221, // The Database Engine is attempting to release a group of locks that are not currently held by the transaction. Retry the transaction.
			1205, // Deadlock
			1204, // The instance of the SQL Server Database Engine cannot obtain a LOCK resource at this time. Rerun your statement.
			1203, // A process attempted to unlock a resource it does not own. Retry the transaction.
			997, // A connection was successfully established with the server, but then an error occurred during the login process.
			921, // Database has not been recovered yet. Wait and try again.
			669, // The row object is inconsistent. Please rerun the query.
			617, // Descriptor for object in database not found in the hash table during attempt to un-hash it. Rerun the query. If a cursor is involved, close and reopen the cursor.
			601, // Could not continue scan with NOLOCK due to data movement.
			233, // The client was unable to establish a connection because of an error during connection initialization process before login.
			121, // The semaphore timeout period has expired.
			64, // A connection was successfully established with the server, but then an error occurred during the login process.
			20, // The instance of SQL Server you attempted to connect to does not support encryption.
		};
...
}

After some experimentation the most reliable way I could reproduce a transient failure (usually SQL Error 11001-“An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server”) was by modifying the database connection string or unplugging the network cable after a connection had been explicitly opened or command executed.

namespace devMobile.WebAPIDapper.Lists.Controllers
{
    [ApiController]
    [Route("api/[controller]")]
    public class StockItemsRetryADONetController : ControllerBase
    {
...
		[HttpGet("Dapper")]
		public async Task<ActionResult<IEnumerable<Model.StockItemListDtoV1>>> GetDapper()
        {
            IEnumerable<Model.StockItemListDtoV1> response = null;

            SqlRetryLogicOption sqlRetryLogicOption = new SqlRetryLogicOption()
            {
                NumberOfTries = NumberOfRetries,
                DeltaTime = TimeBeforeNextExecution,
                MaxTimeInterval = MaximumInterval,
                TransientErrors = TransientErrors,
                //AuthorizedSqlCondition = x => string.IsNullOrEmpty(x) || Regex.IsMatch(x, @"^SELECT", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase),
            };

            SqlRetryLogicBaseProvider sqlRetryLogicProvider = SqlConfigurableRetryFactory.CreateFixedRetryProvider(sqlRetryLogicOption);

            using (SqlConnection db = new SqlConnection(this.connectionString))
            {
                db.RetryLogicProvider = sqlRetryLogicProvider;

                db.RetryLogicProvider.Retrying += new EventHandler<SqlRetryingEventArgs>(OnDapperRetrying);

                await db.OpenAsync(); // Did explicitly so I could yank out the LAN cable.

                response = await db.QueryAsync<Model.StockItemListDtoV1>(sql: @"SELECT [StockItemID] as ""ID"", [StockItemName] as ""Name"", [RecommendedRetailPrice], [TaxRate] FROM [Warehouse].[StockItems]", commandType: CommandType.Text);
            }

            return this.Ok(response);
        }

        protected void OnDapperRetrying(object sender, SqlRetryingEventArgs args)
        {
            logger.LogInformation("Dapper retrying for {RetryCount} times for {args.Delay.TotalMilliseconds:0.} mSec - Error code: {Number}", args.RetryCount, args.Delay.TotalMilliseconds, (args.Exceptions[0] as SqlException).Number);
        }
...
    }
}

For my initial testing I used an invalid Azure SQL Database connection string and in the Visual Studio 2022 Debug output I could see retries.

ADO.Net RetryLogicProvider retrying request 3 times

I then added an OpenAsync just before the Dapper query so I could open the database connection, pause the program with a breakpoint, unplug the LAN cable and then continue execution. The QueryAsync failed without any retries and modifying the AuthorizedSqlCondition didn’t seem change the way different SQL statement failures were handled.

There was limited documentation about how to use ADO.Net retry functionality so I hacked up another method to try and figure out what I had done wrong. The method uses the same SqlRetryLogicOption configuration for retrying connection and command failures.

namespace devMobile.WebAPIDapper.Lists.Controllers
{
    [ApiController]
    [Route("api/[controller]")]
    public class StockItemsRetryADONetController : ControllerBase
    {
...
        [HttpGet("AdoNet")]
        public async Task<ActionResult<IEnumerable<Model.StockItemListDtoV1>>> GetAdoNet()
        {
            List<Model.StockItemListDtoV1> response = new List<Model.StockItemListDtoV1>();

            // Both connection and command share same logic not really an issue for nasty demo
            SqlRetryLogicOption sqlRetryLogicOption = new SqlRetryLogicOption()
            {
                NumberOfTries = NumberOfRetries,
                DeltaTime = TimeBeforeNextExecution,
                MaxTimeInterval = MaximumInterval,
                TransientErrors = TransientErrors,
                //AuthorizedSqlCondition = x => string.IsNullOrEmpty(x) || Regex.IsMatch(x, @"^SELECT", RegexOptions.IgnoreCase),
            };

            SqlRetryLogicBaseProvider sqlRetryLogicProvider = SqlConfigurableRetryFactory.CreateFixedRetryProvider(sqlRetryLogicOption);


            // This ADO.Net is a bit overkill but just wanted to highlight ADO.Net vs. Dapper
            using (SqlConnection sqlConnection = new SqlConnection(this.connectionString))
            {
                sqlConnection.RetryLogicProvider = sqlRetryLogicProvider;
                sqlConnection.RetryLogicProvider.Retrying += new EventHandler<SqlRetryingEventArgs>(OnConnectionRetrying);

                await sqlConnection.OpenAsync(); // Did explicitly so I could yank out the LAN cable.

                using (SqlCommand sqlCommand = new SqlCommand())
                {
                    sqlCommand.Connection = sqlConnection;
                    sqlCommand.CommandText = @"SELECT [StockItemID] as ""ID"", [StockItemName] as ""Name"", [RecommendedRetailPrice], [TaxRate] FROM [Warehouse].[StockItems]";
                    sqlCommand.CommandType = CommandType.Text;

                    sqlCommand.RetryLogicProvider = sqlRetryLogicProvider;
                    sqlCommand.RetryLogicProvider.Retrying += new EventHandler<SqlRetryingEventArgs>(OnCommandRetrying);

                    // Over kill but makes really obvious
                    using (SqlDataReader sqlDataReader = await sqlCommand.ExecuteReaderAsync(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection))
                    {
                        while (await sqlDataReader.ReadAsync())
                        {
                            response.Add(new Model.StockItemListDtoV1()
                            {
                                Id = sqlDataReader.GetInt32("Id"),
                                Name = sqlDataReader.GetString("Name"),
                                RecommendedRetailPrice = sqlDataReader.GetDecimal("RecommendedRetailPrice"),
                                TaxRate = sqlDataReader.GetDecimal("TaxRate"),
                            });
                        }
                    }
                };
            }

            return this.Ok(response);
        }

        protected void OnConnectionRetrying(object sender, SqlRetryingEventArgs args)
        {
            logger.LogInformation("Connection retrying for {RetryCount} times for {args.Delay.TotalMilliseconds:0.} mSec - Error code: {Number}", args.RetryCount, args.Delay.TotalMilliseconds, (args.Exceptions[0] as SqlException).Number);
        }

        protected void OnCommandRetrying(object sender, SqlRetryingEventArgs args)
        {
            logger.LogInformation("Command retrying for {RetryCount} times for {args.Delay.TotalMilliseconds:0.} mSec - Error code: {Number}", args.RetryCount, args.Delay.TotalMilliseconds, (args.Exceptions[0] as SqlException).Number);
        }
    }
}

I also added two RetryLogicProvider.Retrying handlers one for SQLConnection and the other for SQLCommand so I could see what was being retried.

sqlConnection.RetryLogicProvider with a broken connection string
sqlCommand.RetryLogicProvider with the LAN cable unplugged just before executing query

The number of retries when I unplugged the LAN cable wasn’t quite what I was expecting….

I didn’t fully understand the differences between System.Data.Sqlclient and Microsoft.Data.Sqlclient so I downloaded the source code for Dapper and starting hacking. My approach was to modify the Dapper CommandDefinition struct so a caller could pass in a SqlRetryLogicBaseProvider instance.

namespace Dapper
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Represents the key aspects of a sql operation
    /// </summary>
    public struct CommandDefinition
    {
        internal static CommandDefinition ForCallback(object parameters)
        {
            if (parameters is DynamicParameters)
            {
                return new CommandDefinition(parameters);
            }
            else
            {
                return default;
            }
        }

        internal void OnCompleted()
        {
            (Parameters as SqlMapper.IParameterCallbacks)?.OnCompleted();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// The command (sql or a stored-procedure name) to execute
        /// </summary>
        public string CommandText { get; }

        /// <summary>
        /// The parameters associated with the command
        /// </summary>
        public object Parameters { get; }

        /// <summary>
        /// The active transaction for the command
        /// </summary>
        public IDbTransaction Transaction { get; }

        /// <summary>
        /// The effective timeout for the command
        /// </summary>
        public int? CommandTimeout { get; }

        /// <summary>
        /// The type of command that the command-text represents
        /// </summary>
        public CommandType? CommandType { get; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Should data be buffered before returning?
        /// </summary>
        public bool Buffered => (Flags & CommandFlags.Buffered) != 0;

        /// <summary>
        /// 
        /// </summary>
        public SqlRetryLogicBaseProvider SqlRetryLogicProvider { get; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Should the plan for this query be cached?
        /// </summary>
        internal bool AddToCache => (Flags & CommandFlags.NoCache) == 0;

        /// <summary>
        /// Additional state flags against this command
        /// </summary>
        public CommandFlags Flags { get; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Can async queries be pipelined?
        /// </summary>
        public bool Pipelined => (Flags & CommandFlags.Pipelined) != 0;

        /// <summary>
        /// Initialize the command definition
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="commandText">The text for this command.</param>
        /// <param name="parameters">The parameters for this command.</param>
        /// <param name="transaction">The transaction for this command to participate in.</param>
        /// <param name="commandTimeout">The timeout (in seconds) for this command.</param>
        /// <param name="commandType">The <see cref="CommandType"/> for this command.</param>
        /// <param name="flags">The behavior flags for this command.</param>
        /// <param name="sqlRetryLogicProvider">Retry strategy for this command.</param>
        /// <param name="cancellationToken">The cancellation token for this command.</param>
        public CommandDefinition(string commandText, object parameters = null, IDbTransaction transaction = null, int? commandTimeout = null,
                                 CommandType? commandType = null, CommandFlags flags = CommandFlags.Buffered
                                 , SqlRetryLogicBaseProvider sqlRetryLogicProvider = null
                                 , CancellationToken cancellationToken = default
            )
        {
            CommandText = commandText;
            Parameters = parameters;
            Transaction = transaction;
            CommandTimeout = commandTimeout;
            CommandType = commandType;
            Flags = flags;
            SqlRetryLogicProvider = sqlRetryLogicProvider;
            CancellationToken = cancellationToken;
        }
...
}

This didn’t end well, as the Dapper library extends System.Data.IDbConnection which doesn’t “natively” support retry logic. Several hours lost from my life I now understand a bit more about the differences between System.Data.Sqlclient and Microsoft.Data.Sqlclient.

.NET nanoFramework RAK3172 LoRaWAN library ABP Join

After getting my RAKwireless RAK3172 module to reliably connect to The Things Network(TTN) using Over The Air Activation(OTAA) the next step was to built an Activation By Personalisation(ABP) sample application.

SparkFun Thing Plus – ESP32 WROOM, RAK3172 Breakout board

I modified the NetworkJoinOTAA sample(based on the asynchronous version of BreakOutSerial) to send the required sequence of AT commands and displays the responses.

namespace devMobile.IoT.LoRaWAN.nanoFramework.RAK3172
{
	using System;
	using System.Diagnostics;
	using System.IO.Ports;
	using System.Threading;
#if ESP32_WROOM
	using global::nanoFramework.Hardware.Esp32; //need NuGet nanoFramework.Hardware.Esp32
#endif

	public class Program
	{
#if ESP32_WROOM
		private const string SerialPortId = "COM2";
#endif
#if ST_STM32F769I_DISCOVERY
		private const string SerialPortId = "COM6";
#endif
		private const string DevEui = "...";
		private const string DevAddress = "...";
		private const string NwksKey = "...";
		private const string AppsKey = "..."; 
		private const byte MessagePort = 1;
		private const string Payload = "A0EEE456D02AFF4AB8BAFD58101D2A2A"; // Hello LoRaWAN

		public static void Main()
		{
			Debug.WriteLine("devMobile.IoT.LoRaWAN.nanoFramework.RAK3172.NetworkJoinABP starting");

			try
			{
				// set GPIO functions for COM2 (this is UART1 on ESP32)
#if ESP32_WROOM
				Configuration.SetPinFunction(Gpio.IO17, DeviceFunction.COM2_TX);
				Configuration.SetPinFunction(Gpio.IO16, DeviceFunction.COM2_RX);
#endif

				Debug.Write("Ports:");
				foreach (string port in SerialPort.GetPortNames())
				{
					Debug.Write($" {port}");
				}
				Debug.WriteLine("");

				using (SerialPort serialPort = new SerialPort(SerialPortId))
				{
					// set parameters
					serialPort.BaudRate = 115200;
					serialPort.Parity = Parity.None;
					serialPort.DataBits = 8;
					serialPort.StopBits = StopBits.One;
					serialPort.Handshake = Handshake.None;
					serialPort.NewLine = "\r\n";
					serialPort.ReadTimeout = 1000;

					serialPort.DataReceived += SerialDevice_DataReceived;

					serialPort.Open();

					serialPort.WatchChar = '\n';

					serialPort.ReadExisting(); // Running at 115K2 this was necessary

					// Set the Device EUI
					Console.WriteLine("Set Device EUI");
					serialPort.WriteLine($"AT+DEVEUI={DevEui}");

					// Set the Working mode to LoRaWAN
					Console.WriteLine("Set Work mode");
					serialPort.WriteLine("AT+NWM=1");

					// Set the Region to AS923
					Console.WriteLine("Set Region");
					serialPort.WriteLine("AT+BAND=8");

					// Set the JoinMode
					Console.WriteLine("Set Join mode");
					serialPort.WriteLine("AT+NJM=0");

					// Set the DevAddress
					Console.WriteLine("Set Device Address");
					serialPort.WriteLine($"AT+DEVADDR={DevAddress}");

					// Set the Network Session Key
					Console.WriteLine("Set NwksKey");
					serialPort.WriteLine($"AT+NWKSKEY={NwksKey}");

					// Set the Application Session Key
					Console.WriteLine("Set AppsKey");
					serialPort.WriteLine($"AT+APPSKEY={AppsKey}");

					// Set the Confirm flag
					Console.WriteLine("Set Confirm off");
					serialPort.WriteLine("AT+CFM=0");

					// Join the network
					Console.WriteLine("Start Join");
					serialPort.WriteLine("AT+JOIN=1:0:10:2");

					// Wait for the +EVT:JOINED

					while (true)
					{
						Console.WriteLine("Sending");
						serialPort.WriteLine($"AT+SEND={MessagePort}:{Payload}");

						Thread.Sleep(300000);
					}
				}
			}
			catch (Exception ex)
			{
				Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message);
			}
		}

		private static void SerialDevice_DataReceived(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
		{
			SerialPort serialPort = (SerialPort)sender;

			switch (e.EventType)
			{
				case SerialData.Chars:
					break;

				case SerialData.WatchChar:
					string response = serialPort.ReadExisting();
					Debug.Write(response);
					break;
				default:
					Debug.Assert(false, $"e.EventType {e.EventType} unknown");
					break;
			}
		}
	}
}

The NetworkJoinABP application assumes that all of the AT commands succeed.

TTN Console live data tab connection process
Visual Studio Output windows displaying connection process and a D2C message
TTN Console live data tab connection process with a couple of D2C messages
Visual Studio Output windows displaying connection process and a couple of C2D messages

The Activation By Personalisation(ABP) sample was a bit more fragile than I expected. The The Things Network(TTN) Live Data Tab updates were often delayed or required a page refresh to be displayed (July 2022).

.NET nanoFramework RAK3172 LoRaWAN library OTAA Join

When I first tried Over The Air Activation(OTAA) to connect to The Things Network(TTN) with my RAKwireless RAK3172 module it didn’t work. I had flashed my Sparkfun Thing plus ESP32 WROOM with the ESP32 PSRAM binaries (Thanks AlbertK on the nanoFramework Discord).

nanoff --target ESP32_REV0 --serialport COM17 --update
RAK3172 Sparkfun ESP32 WROOM Testrig

I modified the NetworkJoinOTAA sample (based on the asynchronous version of BreakOutSerial) to send the sequence of AT commands to join The Things Network(TTN) and display the responses.

#define ST_STM32F769I_DISCOVERY      // nanoff --target ST_STM32F769I_DISCOVERY --update 
//#define ESP32_WROOM   //nanoff --target ESP32_REV0 --serialport COM17 --update

namespace devMobile.IoT.LoRaWAN.nanoFramework.RAK3172
{
	using System;
	using System.Diagnostics;
	using System.IO.Ports;
	using System.Threading;
#if ESP32_WROOM
	using global::nanoFramework.Hardware.Esp32; //need NuGet nanoFramework.Hardware.Esp32
#endif

	public class Program
	{
#if ESP32_WROOM
		private const string SerialPortId = "COM2";
#endif
#if ST_STM32F769I_DISCOVERY
		private const string SerialPortId = "COM6";
#endif
		private const string DevEui = "...";
		private const string AppEui = "...";
		private const string AppKey = "...";
		private const byte MessagePort = 1;
		private const string Payload = "A0EEE456D02AFF4AB8BAFD58101D2A2A"; // Hello LoRaWAN

		public static void Main()
		{
			Debug.WriteLine("devMobile.IoT.LoRaWAN.nanoFramework.RAK3172 NetworkJoinOTAA starting");

			try
			{
				// set GPIO functions for COM2 (this is UART1 on ESP32)
#if ESP32_WROOM
				Configuration.SetPinFunction(Gpio.IO17, DeviceFunction.COM2_TX);
				Configuration.SetPinFunction(Gpio.IO16, DeviceFunction.COM2_RX);
#endif

				Debug.Write("Ports:");
				foreach (string port in SerialPort.GetPortNames())
				{
					Debug.Write($" {port}");
				}
				Debug.WriteLine("");

				using (SerialPort serialPort = new SerialPort(SerialPortId))
				{
					// set parameters
					serialPort.BaudRate = 115200;
					serialPort.Parity = Parity.None;
					serialPort.DataBits = 8;
					serialPort.StopBits = StopBits.One;
					serialPort.Handshake = Handshake.None;
					serialPort.NewLine = "\r\n";
					serialPort.ReadTimeout = 1000;

					serialPort.DataReceived += SerialDevice_DataReceived;

					serialPort.Open();

					serialPort.WatchChar = '\n';

					serialPort.ReadExisting(); // Running at 115K2 this was necessary

					// Set the devEUI
					Console.WriteLine("Set Dev Eui");
					serialPort.WriteLine($"AT+DEVEUI={DevEui}");

					// Set the Working mode to LoRaWAN
					Console.WriteLine("Set Work mode");
					serialPort.WriteLine("AT+NWM=1");

					// Set the Region to AS923
					Console.WriteLine("Set Region");
					serialPort.WriteLine("AT+BAND=8");

					// Set the JoinMode
					Console.WriteLine("Set Join mode");
					serialPort.WriteLine("AT+NJM=1");

					// Set the appEUI
					Console.WriteLine("Set App Eui");
					serialPort.WriteLine($"AT+APPEUI={AppEui}");

					// Set the appKey
					Console.WriteLine("Set App Key");
					serialPort.WriteLine($"AT+APPKEY={AppKey}");

					// Set the Confirm flag
					Console.WriteLine("Set Confirm off");
					serialPort.WriteLine("AT+CFM=0");

					// Join the network
					Console.WriteLine("Start Join");
					serialPort.WriteLine("AT+JOIN=1:0:10:2");

					// Wait for the +EVT:JOINED

					while (true)
					{
						Console.WriteLine("Sending");
						serialPort.WriteLine($"AT+SEND={MessagePort}:{Payload}");

						Thread.Sleep(300000);
					}
				}
			}
			catch (Exception ex)
			{
				Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message);
			}
		}

		private static void SerialDevice_DataReceived(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
		{
			SerialPort serialPort = (SerialPort)sender;

			switch (e.EventType)
			{
				case SerialData.Chars:
					break;
 
				case SerialData.WatchChar:
					string response = serialPort.ReadExisting();
					Debug.Write(response);
					break;
				default:
					Debug.Assert(false, $"e.EventType {e.EventType} unknown");
					break;
			}
		}
	}
}
Visual Studio Debug Output displaying Configuration-Join-Send
Things Network(TTN) Live Data tab display successful join then D2C message

The NetworkJoinOTAA application assumes that all of the AT commands succeed. I usually step though the application in the debugger so I can monitor progress.

.NET Core web API + Dapper – Readonly query workloads with Geo Replication

Geo Replication process

One of the easiest ways to create read-only replicas of an Azure SQL Database database is with Active geo-replication(it’s also useful for disaster recovery with geo-failure to a geo-secondary in a different Azure Region).

The first step was to remove all the Microsoft SQL Server features used in the The World Wide Importers database (e.g. Memory Optimized tables) which were not supported by the Azure SQL Database tier I was using.

SQL Service Management Studio(SSMS) Deploy to Azure wizard

I then used the “Deploy Database Wizard” to copy my modified World Wide Importers database to an Azure SQL Database.

Azure Portal Primary Database in SQL Service Management Studio(SSMS)

I then created replicas in the same region (if the application had a global customer base creating read only geo replicas in regions close to users might be worth considering) for the read-only queries.

Azure SQL Database no replicas configured
Azure Portal Create Geo Replica

I created four replicas which is the maximum number supported. If more replicas were required a secondary of a secondary (a process known as chaining) could be use to create additional geo-replicas

Azure Portal Primary Database and four Geo-replicas
Azure Portal Primary Database and Geo-replicas in SQL Service Management Studio(SSMS)
Azure Application Insights showing multiple Geo-Replicas being used.

The Azure Database Geo-replication was pretty easy to setup. For a production scenario where only a portion of the database (e.g. shaped by Customer or Geography) is required it might not be the “right hammer”.

WebAPI Dapper Azure Resource Group

The other limitation I encountered was the resources used by the replication of “transaction processing” tables (in the World Wide Importers database tables like the Sales.OrderLines, Sales.CustomerTransactions etc.) which often wouldn’t be required for read-only applications.

.NET Core web API + Dapper – Offloading readonly query workloads.

A Scaling Out Scenario

Initially this was going to be a post about Sharding but after some discussion with my manager at one of the companies I work for it evolved into a post about using the Dapper Object Relational Mapper(ORM) with Azure SQL Database and Active geo-replication or SQL Data Sync for Azure to offload read-only query workloads to improve scalability.

The company builds a Software as a Service(Saas) product for managing portfolios of foreign currency forwardsoptionsswaps etc. Part of the solution has an application which customers use to get an “aggregated” view of their purchases.

The database queries to lookup reference data (forward curves etc.), return a shaped dataset for each supported instrument type, then “aggregating” the information with C# code consumes significant database and processing resources.

The first step was to remove all the Microsoft SQL Server features used in the The World Wide Importers database (e.g. Memory Optimized tables) which were not supported by the Azure SQL Database vCore or DTU tier I had was using.

I then uploaded my modified World Wide Importers database to an Azure SQL Database Server.

Azure SQL Database SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) initial database

I then created read only replicas of the original database to use for scaling out in my demo application.

Azure SQL Database SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) with replicas databases

The configuration strings of the read-only replicas are loaded as the application starts.

// This method gets called by the runtime. Use this method to add services to the container.
public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
	services.AddControllers();

	var errorHandlerSettings = Configuration.GetSection(nameof(ErrorHandlerSettings));
	services.Configure<ErrorHandlerSettings>(errorHandlerSettings);

	var readonlyReplicaServersConnectionStringSettings = Configuration.GetSection("ReadonlyReplicaServersConnectionStringSettings");
	services.Configure<List<string>>(readonlyReplicaServersConnectionStringSettings);

	services.AddResponseCaching();

	services.AddDapperForMSSQL();
#if DAPPER_EXTENSIONS_CACHE_MEMORY
	services.AddDapperCachingInMemory(new MemoryConfiguration
	{
		AllMethodsEnableCache = false
 	});
#endif
#if DAPPER_EXTENSIONS_CACHE_REDIS
	services.AddDapperCachingInRedis(new RedisConfiguration
	{
		AllMethodsEnableCache = false,
		KeyPrefix = Configuration.GetValue<string>("RedisKeyPrefix"),
		ConnectionString = Configuration.GetConnectionString("RedisConnection")
	}); 
#endif
	services.AddApplicationInsightsTelemetry();
}

Then code was added to the controller to randomly select which read-only replica to use. More complex approaches were considered but not implemented for the initial version.

[ApiController]
[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class StockItemsReadonlyReplicasController : ControllerBase
{
    private readonly ILogger<StockItemsReadonlyReplicasController> logger;
    private readonly List<string> readonlyReplicasConnectionStrings;

    public StockItemsReadonlyReplicasController(ILogger<StockItemsReadonlyReplicasController> logger, IOptions<List<string>> readonlyReplicasServerConnectionStrings)
    {
        this.logger = logger;

        this.readonlyReplicasConnectionStrings = readonlyReplicasServerConnectionStrings.Value;
    }

    [HttpGet]
    public async Task<ActionResult<IEnumerable<Model.StockItemListDtoV1>>> Get()
    {
        IEnumerable<Model.StockItemListDtoV1> response = null;

        if (readonlyReplicasConnectionStrings.Count == 0)
        {
            logger.LogError("No readonly replica server Connection strings configured");

            return this.StatusCode(StatusCodes.Status500InternalServerError);
        }

        Random random = new Random(); // maybe this should be instantiated ever call, but "danger here by thy threading"

        string connectionString = readonlyReplicasConnectionStrings[random.Next(0, readonlyReplicasConnectionStrings.Count)];

        logger.LogTrace("Connection string {connectionString}", connectionString);

        using (SqlConnection db = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
        {
            response = await db.QueryAsync<Model.StockItemListDtoV1>(sql: @"SELECT [StockItemID] as ""ID"", [StockItemName] as ""Name"", [RecommendedRetailPrice], [TaxRate] FROM [Warehouse].[StockItems]", commandType: CommandType.Text);
        }

        return this.Ok(response);
    }
}

The Read-only replica server connection string setup template in appsettings.Development.json.

{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information",
      "Microsoft": "Warning",
      "Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime": "Information"
    }
  },
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "WorldWideImportersDatabase": "ThisIsNotTheDatabaseConnectionStringYouAreLookingFor",
    "DefaultConnection": "ThisIsNotTheDefaultDatabaseConnectionStringYouAreLookingFor",
    "RedisConnection": "ThisIsNotTheRedisConnectionStringYouAreLookingFor"
  },
  "ReadonlyReplicaServersConnectionStringSettings": [
    "ThisIsNotTheReadonlyReplicaDatabaseConnectionStringYouAreLookingFor",
    "ThisIsNotTheReadonlyReplicaDatabaseConnectionStringYouAreLookingFor",
    "ThisIsNotTheReadonlyReplicaDatabaseConnectionStringYouAreLookingFor",
    "ThisIsNotTheReadonlyReplicaDatabaseConnectionStringYouAreLookingFor"
  ],
  "ApplicationInsights": {
    "ConnectionString": "ThisIsNotTheApplicationInsightsConnectionStringYouAreLookingFor"
  },
  "ErrorHandlerSettings": {
    "Detail": "Default detail",
    "Title": "Default title",
    "UrlSpecificSettings": {
      "localhost": {
        "Title": "Title for localhost",
        "Detail": "Detail for localhost"
      },
      "127.0.0.1": {
        "Title": "Title for 127.0.0.1",
        "Detail": "Detail for 127.0.0.1"
      }
    }
  }
}

The Manage UserSecrets(Secrets.json) functionality was used for testing on my development machine. In production Azure App Service the array of connections strings was configured with ReadonlyReplicaServersConnectionStringSettings:0, ReadonlyReplicaServersConnectionStringSettings:1 etc. syntax

Sample application Azure App Service Configuration
Azure Application Insights with connections to different read-only replicas highlighted

I had incorrectly configured the firewall on one of the read-only replica database servers so roughly one in four connection attempts failed.

Azure Application Insights failed database connection displayed

The customer’s application was also fairly compute intensive so we configure the Azure App Service to Auto scale based on the CPU load.,

Azure app service horizontal auto scale configuration

I’ll outline the configuration of Active geo-replication or SQL Data Sync for Azure in a couple of future posts.

The current solution works but I need to tidy up few issues like the StockItemsReadonlyReplicasController getting constructor getting a bit “chunky”.

.NET nanoFramework RAK3172 LoRaWAN library basic connectivity

I have been working on a .NET nanoFramework library for the RAKwireless RAK3172 module for the last couple of weeks. The devices had been in a box under my desk for a couple of months so first step was to flash them with the latest firmware using my FTDI test harness.

RAK 3172 STM32F769I Discovery test rig

I use two hardware configurations for testing

My sample code has compile time options for synchronous and asynchronous operation. I also include the different nanoff command lines to make updating the test devices easier.

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Copyright (c) May 2022, devMobile Software
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.
//
// https://docs.rakwireless.com/Product-Categories/WisDuo/RAK4200-Breakout-Board/AT-Command-Manual/
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#define SERIAL_ASYNC_READ
//#define SERIAL_THREADED_READ
#define ST_STM32F769I_DISCOVERY      // nanoff --target ST_STM32F769I_DISCOVERY --update 
//#define ESP32_WROOM   // nanoff --target ESP32_REV0 --serialport COM17 --update
...

namespace devMobile.IoT.LoRaWAN.nanoFramework.RAK3172
{
	using System;
	using System.Diagnostics;
	using System.IO.Ports;
	using System.Threading;
#if ESP32_WROOM
	using global::nanoFramework.Hardware.Esp32; //need NuGet nanoFramework.Hardware.Esp32
#endif

	public class Program
	{
		private static SerialPort _SerialPort;
#if SERIAL_THREADED_READ
		private static Boolean _Continue = true;
#endif
#if ESP32_WROOM
		private const string SerialPortId = "COM2";
#endif
...
#if ST_STM32F769I_DISCOVERY
		private const string SerialPortId = "COM6";
#endif

		public static void Main()
		{
#if SERIAL_THREADED_READ
			Thread readThread = new Thread(SerialPortProcessor);
#endif

			Debug.WriteLine("devMobile.IoT.LoRaWAN.nanoFramework.RAK3172 BreakoutSerial starting");

			try
			{
				// set GPIO functions for COM2 (this is UART1 on ESP32)
#if ESP32_WROOM
				Configuration.SetPinFunction(Gpio.IO16, DeviceFunction.COM2_TX);
				Configuration.SetPinFunction(Gpio.IO17, DeviceFunction.COM2_RX);
#endif

				Debug.Write("Ports:");
				foreach (string port in SerialPort.GetPortNames())
				{
					Debug.Write($" {port}");
				}
				Debug.WriteLine("");

				using (_SerialPort = new SerialPort(SerialPortId))
				{
					// set parameters
					_SerialPort.BaudRate = 115200;
					_SerialPort.Parity = Parity.None;
					_SerialPort.DataBits = 8;
					_SerialPort.StopBits = StopBits.One;
					_SerialPort.Handshake = Handshake.None;
					_SerialPort.NewLine = "\r\n";
					_SerialPort.ReadTimeout = 1000;

					//_SerialPort.WatchChar = '\n'; // May 2022 WatchChar event didn't fire github issue https://github.com/nanoframework/Home/issues/1035

#if SERIAL_ASYNC_READ
					_SerialPort.DataReceived += SerialDevice_DataReceived;
#endif

					_SerialPort.Open();

					_SerialPort.WatchChar = '\n';

#if SERIAL_THREADED_READ
					readThread.Start();
#endif

					for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
					{
						string atCommand;
						atCommand = "AT+VER=?";

                  Debug.WriteLine("");
						Debug.WriteLine($"{i} TX:{atCommand} bytes:{atCommand.Length}--------------------------------");
						_SerialPort.WriteLine(atCommand);

						Thread.Sleep(5000);
					}
				}
				Debug.WriteLine("Done");
			}
			catch (Exception ex)
			{
				Debug.WriteLine(ex.Message);
			}
		}

#if SERIAL_ASYNC_READ
		private static void SerialDevice_DataReceived(object sender, SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
		{
			SerialPort serialPort = (SerialPort)sender;

			switch (e.EventType)
			{
				case SerialData.Chars:
					break;

				case SerialData.WatchChar:
					string response = serialPort.ReadExisting();
					Debug.Write(response);
					break;
				default:
					Debug.Assert(false, $"e.EventType {e.EventType} unknown");
					break;
			}
		}
#endif

#if SERIAL_THREADED_READ
		public static void SerialPortProcessor()
		{

			while (_Continue)
			{
				try
				{
					string response = _SerialPort.ReadLine();
					//string response = _SerialPort.ReadExisting();
					Debug.Write(response);
				}
				catch (TimeoutException ex) 
				{
					Debug.WriteLine($"Timeout:{ex.Message}");
				}
			}
		}
#endif
	}
}

When I requested the RAK3172 version information with “AT+VER=?” the response was spilt over two lines which is a bit of a Pain in the Arse (PitA). The RAK3172 firmware also defaults 115200 baud which seems overkill considering the throughput of a LoRaWAN link.

Visual Studio Debug Output of Breakout Serial Application

While building the test application I encountered a few issues (STM32F769I DISCOVERY SerialPort.GetPortNames() port name text gets shorter, STM32F769I DISCOVERY Inconsistent SerialPort WatchChar behaviour after erase->power cycle->run & erase->run and No SerialPort.WatchChar events if WatchChar set before SerialPort opened) which slowed down development. The speed the nanoFramework team triages then fixes issues is amazing for a team of volunteers dotted around the world.