How to cache data in a MVC application

Question

I have read lots of information about page caching and partial page caching in a MVC application  However  I would like to know how you would cache data   In my scenario I will be using LINQ to Entities  entity framework   On the first call to GetNames  or whatever the method is  I want to grab the data from the database  I want to save the results in cache and on the second call to use the cached version if it exists   Can anyone show an example of how this would work  where this should be implemented  model   and if it would work   I have seen this done in traditional ASP NET apps   typically for very static data

User · Answer

Here s a nice and simple cache helper class service I use     using System Runtime Caching     public class InMemoryCache  ICacheService       public T GetOrSet lt T gt  string cacheKey  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  where T   class               T item   MemoryCache Default Get cacheKey  as T          if  item    null                        item   getItemCallback                MemoryCache Default Add cacheKey  item  DateTime Now AddMinutes 10                      return item           interface ICacheService       T GetOrSet lt T gt  string cacheKey  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  where T   class      Usage   cacheProvider GetOrSet  cache key    delegate method if cache is empty      Cache provider will check if there s anything by the name of  cache id  in the cache  and if there s not  it will call a delegate method to fetch data and store it in cache       Example   var products cacheService GetOrSet  catalog products       gt productRepository GetAll

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I use two classes  First one the cache core object   public class Cacher lt TValue gt      where TValue   class        region Properties     private Func lt TValue gt   init      public string Key   get  private set        public TValue Value               get                       var item   HttpRuntime Cache Get Key  as TValue              if  item    null                                item    init                    HttpContext Current Cache Insert Key  item                             return item                       endregion       region Constructor     public Cacher string key  Func lt TValue gt  init                Key   key           init   init             endregion       region Methods     public void Refresh                 HttpRuntime Cache Remove Key              endregion     Second one is list of cache objects   public static class Caches       static Caches                 Languages   new Cacher lt IEnumerable lt Language gt  gt   Languages        gt                                                                                                                            using  var context   new WordsContext                                                                                                                                      return context Languages ToList                                                                                                                                            public static Cacher lt IEnumerable lt Language gt  gt  Languages   get  private set

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For  NET 4 5  framework  add reference  System Runtime Caching   add using statement   using System Runtime Caching   public string   GetNames          var noms   System Runtime Caching MemoryCache Default  names        if noms    null                     noms   DB GetNames            System Runtime Caching MemoryCache Default  names     noms              return   string   noms          In the  NET Framework 3 5 and earlier versions  ASP NET provided an in-memory cache implementation in the System Web Caching namespace  In previous versions of the  NET Framework  caching was available only in the System Web namespace and therefore required a dependency on ASP NET classes  In the  NET Framework 4  the System Runtime Caching namespace contains APIs that are designed for both Web and non-Web applications     More info    https   msdn microsoft com en-us library dd997357 v vs 110  aspx  https   docs microsoft com en-us dotnet framework performance caching-in-net-framework-applications

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Here s an improvement to Hrvoje Hudo s answer   This implementation has a couple of key improvements    Cache keys are created automatically based on the function to update data and the object passed in that specifies dependencies Pass in time span for any cache duration Uses a lock for thread safety   Note that this has a dependency on Newtonsoft Json to serialize the dependsOn object  but that can be easily swapped out for any other serialization method   ICache cs  public interface ICache       T GetOrSet lt T gt  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  object dependsOn  TimeSpan duration  where T   class      InMemoryCache cs  using System  using System Reflection  using System Runtime Caching  using Newtonsoft Json   public class InMemoryCache   ICache       private static readonly object CacheLockObject   new object         public T GetOrSet lt T gt  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  object dependsOn  TimeSpan duration  where T   class               string cacheKey   GetCacheKey getItemCallback  dependsOn           T item   MemoryCache Default Get cacheKey  as T          if  item    null                        lock  CacheLockObject                                item   getItemCallback                    MemoryCache Default Add cacheKey  item  DateTime Now Add duration                                    return item             private string GetCacheKey lt T gt  Func lt T gt  itemCallback  object dependsOn  where T  class               var serializedDependants   JsonConvert SerializeObject dependsOn           var methodType   itemCallback GetType            return methodType FullName   serializedDependants            Usage   var order    cache GetOrSet           gt   session Set lt Order gt    SingleOrDefault o   gt  o Id    orderId        new   id   orderId         new TimeSpan 0  10  0

User · Answer

I have used it in this way and it works for me  https   msdn microsoft com en-us library system web caching cache add v vs 110  aspx parameters info for system web caching cache add   public string GetInfo          string name   string Empty       if System Web HttpContext Current Cache  KeyName      null                  name   GetNameMethod             System Web HttpContext Current Cache Add  KeyName   name  null  DateTime Noew AddMinutes 5   Cache NoSlidingExpiration  CacheitemPriority AboveNormal  null               else                 name   System Web HttpContext Current Cache  KeyName   as string                return name

User · Answer

You can also try and use the caching built into ASP MVC   Add the following attribute to the controller method you d like to cache    OutputCache Duration 10     In this case the  ActionResult of this will be cached for 10 seconds   More on this here

User · Answer

You can also try and use the caching built into ASP MVC   Add the following attribute to the controller method you d like to cache    OutputCache Duration 10     In this case the  ActionResult of this will be cached for 10 seconds   More on this here

User · Answer

Extending  Hrvoje Hudo s answer     Code   using System  using System Runtime Caching   public class InMemoryCache   ICacheService       public TValue Get lt TValue gt  string cacheKey  int durationInMinutes  Func lt TValue gt  getItemCallback  where TValue   class               TValue item   MemoryCache Default Get cacheKey  as TValue          if  item    null                        item   getItemCallback                MemoryCache Default Add cacheKey  item  DateTime Now AddMinutes durationInMinutes                      return item             public TValue Get lt TValue  TId gt  string cacheKeyFormat  TId id  int durationInMinutes  Func lt TId  TValue gt  getItemCallback  where TValue   class               string cacheKey   string Format cacheKeyFormat  id           TValue item   MemoryCache Default Get cacheKey  as TValue          if  item    null                        item   getItemCallback id               MemoryCache Default Add cacheKey  item  DateTime Now AddMinutes durationInMinutes                      return item           interface ICacheService       TValue Get lt TValue gt  string cacheKey  Func lt TValue gt  getItemCallback  where TValue   class      TValue Get lt TValue  TId gt  string cacheKeyFormat  TId id  Func lt TId  TValue gt  getItemCallback  where TValue   class      Examples  Single item caching  when each item is cached based on its ID because caching the entire catalog for the item type would be too intensive    Product product   cache Get  product  0    productId  10  productData getProductById     Caching all of something  IEnumerable lt Categories gt  categories   cache Get  categories   20  categoryData getCategories     Why TId  The second helper is especially nice because most data keys are not composite  Additional methods could be added if you use composite keys often  In this way you avoid doing all sorts of string concatenation or string Formats to get the key to pass to the cache helper  It also makes passing the data access method easier because you don t have to pass the ID into the wrapper method    the whole thing becomes very terse and consistant for the majority of use cases

User · Answer

Reference the System Web dll in your model and use System Web Caching Cache     public string   GetNames               string   names   Cache  quot names quot   as string          if names    null    not in cache                 names   DB GetNames            Cache  quot names quot     names                return names         A bit simplified but I guess that would work  This is not MVC specific and I have always used this method for caching data

User · Answer

Extending  Hrvoje Hudo s answer     Code   using System  using System Runtime Caching   public class InMemoryCache   ICacheService       public TValue Get lt TValue gt  string cacheKey  int durationInMinutes  Func lt TValue gt  getItemCallback  where TValue   class               TValue item   MemoryCache Default Get cacheKey  as TValue          if  item    null                        item   getItemCallback                MemoryCache Default Add cacheKey  item  DateTime Now AddMinutes durationInMinutes                      return item             public TValue Get lt TValue  TId gt  string cacheKeyFormat  TId id  int durationInMinutes  Func lt TId  TValue gt  getItemCallback  where TValue   class               string cacheKey   string Format cacheKeyFormat  id           TValue item   MemoryCache Default Get cacheKey  as TValue          if  item    null                        item   getItemCallback id               MemoryCache Default Add cacheKey  item  DateTime Now AddMinutes durationInMinutes                      return item           interface ICacheService       TValue Get lt TValue gt  string cacheKey  Func lt TValue gt  getItemCallback  where TValue   class      TValue Get lt TValue  TId gt  string cacheKeyFormat  TId id  Func lt TId  TValue gt  getItemCallback  where TValue   class      Examples  Single item caching  when each item is cached based on its ID because caching the entire catalog for the item type would be too intensive    Product product   cache Get  product  0    productId  10  productData getProductById     Caching all of something  IEnumerable lt Categories gt  categories   cache Get  categories   20  categoryData getCategories     Why TId  The second helper is especially nice because most data keys are not composite  Additional methods could be added if you use composite keys often  In this way you avoid doing all sorts of string concatenation or string Formats to get the key to pass to the cache helper  It also makes passing the data access method easier because you don t have to pass the ID into the wrapper method    the whole thing becomes very terse and consistant for the majority of use cases

User · Answer

I m referring to TT s post and suggest the following approach   Reference the System Web dll in your model and use System Web Caching Cache  public string   GetNames          var noms   Cache  names        if noms    null                     noms   DB GetNames            Cache  names     noms              return   string   noms       You should not return a value re-read from the cache  since you ll never know if at that specific moment it is still in the cache  Even if you inserted it in the statement before  it might already be gone or has never been added to the cache - you just don t know   So you add the data read from the database and return it directly  not re-reading from the cache

User · Answer

Here s a nice and simple cache helper class service I use     using System Runtime Caching     public class InMemoryCache  ICacheService       public T GetOrSet lt T gt  string cacheKey  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  where T   class               T item   MemoryCache Default Get cacheKey  as T          if  item    null                        item   getItemCallback                MemoryCache Default Add cacheKey  item  DateTime Now AddMinutes 10                      return item           interface ICacheService       T GetOrSet lt T gt  string cacheKey  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  where T   class      Usage   cacheProvider GetOrSet  cache key    delegate method if cache is empty      Cache provider will check if there s anything by the name of  cache id  in the cache  and if there s not  it will call a delegate method to fetch data and store it in cache       Example   var products cacheService GetOrSet  catalog products       gt productRepository GetAll

User · Answer

HttpContext Current Cache Insert  subjectlist   subjectlist

User · Answer

Reference the System Web dll in your model and use System Web Caching Cache     public string   GetNames               string   names   Cache  quot names quot   as string          if names    null    not in cache                 names   DB GetNames            Cache  quot names quot     names                return names         A bit simplified but I guess that would work  This is not MVC specific and I have always used this method for caching data

User · Answer

public sealed class CacheManager       private static volatile CacheManager instance      private static object syncRoot   new Object        private ObjectCache cache   null      private CacheItemPolicy defaultCacheItemPolicy   null       private CacheEntryRemovedCallback callback   null      private bool allowCache   true       private CacheManager                 cache   MemoryCache Default          callback   new CacheEntryRemovedCallback this CachedItemRemovedCallback            defaultCacheItemPolicy   new CacheItemPolicy            defaultCacheItemPolicy AbsoluteExpiration   DateTime Now AddHours 1 0           defaultCacheItemPolicy RemovedCallback   callback          allowCache   StringUtils Str2Bool ConfigurationManager AppSettings  AllowCache                 public static CacheManager Instance               get                       if  instance    null                                lock  syncRoot                                        if  instance    null                                                instance   new CacheManager                                                                       return instance                       public IEnumerable GetCache String Key                if  Key    null     allowCache                        return null                     try                       String Key    Key              if  cache Contains Key                                  return  IEnumerable cache Get Key                              else                               return null                                  catch  Exception                        return null                       public void ClearCache string key                AddCache key  null              public bool AddCache String Key  IEnumerable data  CacheItemPolicy cacheItemPolicy   null                if   allowCache  return true          try                       if  Key    null                                return false                             if  cacheItemPolicy    null                                cacheItemPolicy   defaultCacheItemPolicy                             String Key    Key               lock  Key                                 return cache Add Key   data  cacheItemPolicy                                   catch  Exception                        return false                       private void CachedItemRemovedCallback CacheEntryRemovedArguments arguments                String strLog   String Concat  Reason     arguments RemovedReason ToString        Key-Name     arguments CacheItem Key      Value-Object     arguments CacheItem Value ToString             LogManager Instance Info strLog

User · Answer

I use two classes  First one the cache core object   public class Cacher lt TValue gt      where TValue   class        region Properties     private Func lt TValue gt   init      public string Key   get  private set        public TValue Value               get                       var item   HttpRuntime Cache Get Key  as TValue              if  item    null                                item    init                    HttpContext Current Cache Insert Key  item                             return item                       endregion       region Constructor     public Cacher string key  Func lt TValue gt  init                Key   key           init   init             endregion       region Methods     public void Refresh                 HttpRuntime Cache Remove Key              endregion     Second one is list of cache objects   public static class Caches       static Caches                 Languages   new Cacher lt IEnumerable lt Language gt  gt   Languages        gt                                                                                                                            using  var context   new WordsContext                                                                                                                                      return context Languages ToList                                                                                                                                            public static Cacher lt IEnumerable lt Language gt  gt  Languages   get  private set

User · Answer

Here s a nice and simple cache helper class service I use     using System Runtime Caching     public class InMemoryCache  ICacheService       public T GetOrSet lt T gt  string cacheKey  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  where T   class               T item   MemoryCache Default Get cacheKey  as T          if  item    null                        item   getItemCallback                MemoryCache Default Add cacheKey  item  DateTime Now AddMinutes 10                      return item           interface ICacheService       T GetOrSet lt T gt  string cacheKey  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  where T   class      Usage   cacheProvider GetOrSet  cache key    delegate method if cache is empty      Cache provider will check if there s anything by the name of  cache id  in the cache  and if there s not  it will call a delegate method to fetch data and store it in cache       Example   var products cacheService GetOrSet  catalog products       gt productRepository GetAll

User · Answer

Steve Smith did two great blog posts which demonstrate how to use his CachedRepository pattern in ASP NET MVC  It uses the repository pattern effectively and allows you to get caching without having to change your existing code   http   ardalis com Introducing-the-CachedRepository-Pattern  http   ardalis com building-a-cachedrepository-via-strategy-pattern  In these two posts he shows you how to set up this pattern and also explains why it is useful  By using this pattern you get caching without your existing code seeing any of the caching logic  Essentially you use the cached repository as if it were any other repository

User · Answer

For  NET 4 5  framework  add reference  System Runtime Caching   add using statement   using System Runtime Caching   public string   GetNames          var noms   System Runtime Caching MemoryCache Default  names        if noms    null                     noms   DB GetNames            System Runtime Caching MemoryCache Default  names     noms              return   string   noms          In the  NET Framework 3 5 and earlier versions  ASP NET provided an in-memory cache implementation in the System Web Caching namespace  In previous versions of the  NET Framework  caching was available only in the System Web namespace and therefore required a dependency on ASP NET classes  In the  NET Framework 4  the System Runtime Caching namespace contains APIs that are designed for both Web and non-Web applications     More info    https   msdn microsoft com en-us library dd997357 v vs 110  aspx  https   docs microsoft com en-us dotnet framework performance caching-in-net-framework-applications

User · Answer

HttpContext Current Cache Insert  subjectlist   subjectlist

User · Answer

AppFabric Caching is distributed and an in-memory caching technic that stores data in key-value pairs using physical memory across multiple servers  AppFabric provides performance and scalability improvements for  NET Framework applications  Concepts and Architecture

User · Answer

Reference the System Web dll in your model and use System Web Caching Cache     public string   GetNames               string   names   Cache  quot names quot   as string          if names    null    not in cache                 names   DB GetNames            Cache  quot names quot     names                return names         A bit simplified but I guess that would work  This is not MVC specific and I have always used this method for caching data

User · Answer

Steve Smith did two great blog posts which demonstrate how to use his CachedRepository pattern in ASP NET MVC  It uses the repository pattern effectively and allows you to get caching without having to change your existing code   http   ardalis com Introducing-the-CachedRepository-Pattern  http   ardalis com building-a-cachedrepository-via-strategy-pattern  In these two posts he shows you how to set up this pattern and also explains why it is useful  By using this pattern you get caching without your existing code seeing any of the caching logic  Essentially you use the cached repository as if it were any other repository

User · Answer

public sealed class CacheManager       private static volatile CacheManager instance      private static object syncRoot   new Object        private ObjectCache cache   null      private CacheItemPolicy defaultCacheItemPolicy   null       private CacheEntryRemovedCallback callback   null      private bool allowCache   true       private CacheManager                 cache   MemoryCache Default          callback   new CacheEntryRemovedCallback this CachedItemRemovedCallback            defaultCacheItemPolicy   new CacheItemPolicy            defaultCacheItemPolicy AbsoluteExpiration   DateTime Now AddHours 1 0           defaultCacheItemPolicy RemovedCallback   callback          allowCache   StringUtils Str2Bool ConfigurationManager AppSettings  AllowCache                 public static CacheManager Instance               get                       if  instance    null                                lock  syncRoot                                        if  instance    null                                                instance   new CacheManager                                                                       return instance                       public IEnumerable GetCache String Key                if  Key    null     allowCache                        return null                     try                       String Key    Key              if  cache Contains Key                                  return  IEnumerable cache Get Key                              else                               return null                                  catch  Exception                        return null                       public void ClearCache string key                AddCache key  null              public bool AddCache String Key  IEnumerable data  CacheItemPolicy cacheItemPolicy   null                if   allowCache  return true          try                       if  Key    null                                return false                             if  cacheItemPolicy    null                                cacheItemPolicy   defaultCacheItemPolicy                             String Key    Key               lock  Key                                 return cache Add Key   data  cacheItemPolicy                                   catch  Exception                        return false                       private void CachedItemRemovedCallback CacheEntryRemovedArguments arguments                String strLog   String Concat  Reason     arguments RemovedReason ToString        Key-Name     arguments CacheItem Key      Value-Object     arguments CacheItem Value ToString             LogManager Instance Info strLog

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I will say implementing Singleton on this persisting data issue can be a solution for this matter in case you find previous solutions much complicated   public class GPDataDictionary       private Dictionary lt string  object gt  configDictionary   new Dictionary lt string  object gt               lt summary gt          Configuration values dictionary          lt  summary gt      public Dictionary lt string  object gt  ConfigDictionary               get   return configDictionary               private static GPDataDictionary instance      public static GPDataDictionary Instance               get                       if  instance    null                                instance   new GPDataDictionary                              return instance                          private constructor     private GPDataDictionary              singleton

User · Answer

Here s an improvement to Hrvoje Hudo s answer   This implementation has a couple of key improvements    Cache keys are created automatically based on the function to update data and the object passed in that specifies dependencies Pass in time span for any cache duration Uses a lock for thread safety   Note that this has a dependency on Newtonsoft Json to serialize the dependsOn object  but that can be easily swapped out for any other serialization method   ICache cs  public interface ICache       T GetOrSet lt T gt  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  object dependsOn  TimeSpan duration  where T   class      InMemoryCache cs  using System  using System Reflection  using System Runtime Caching  using Newtonsoft Json   public class InMemoryCache   ICache       private static readonly object CacheLockObject   new object         public T GetOrSet lt T gt  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  object dependsOn  TimeSpan duration  where T   class               string cacheKey   GetCacheKey getItemCallback  dependsOn           T item   MemoryCache Default Get cacheKey  as T          if  item    null                        lock  CacheLockObject                                item   getItemCallback                    MemoryCache Default Add cacheKey  item  DateTime Now Add duration                                    return item             private string GetCacheKey lt T gt  Func lt T gt  itemCallback  object dependsOn  where T  class               var serializedDependants   JsonConvert SerializeObject dependsOn           var methodType   itemCallback GetType            return methodType FullName   serializedDependants            Usage   var order    cache GetOrSet           gt   session Set lt Order gt    SingleOrDefault o   gt  o Id    orderId        new   id   orderId         new TimeSpan 0  10  0

User · Answer

AppFabric Caching is distributed and an in-memory caching technic that stores data in key-value pairs using physical memory across multiple servers  AppFabric provides performance and scalability improvements for  NET Framework applications  Concepts and Architecture

User · Answer

I have used it in this way and it works for me  https   msdn microsoft com en-us library system web caching cache add v vs 110  aspx parameters info for system web caching cache add   public string GetInfo          string name   string Empty       if System Web HttpContext Current Cache  KeyName      null                  name   GetNameMethod             System Web HttpContext Current Cache Add  KeyName   name  null  DateTime Noew AddMinutes 5   Cache NoSlidingExpiration  CacheitemPriority AboveNormal  null               else                 name   System Web HttpContext Current Cache  KeyName   as string                return name

User · Answer

You can also try and use the caching built into ASP MVC   Add the following attribute to the controller method you d like to cache    OutputCache Duration 10     In this case the  ActionResult of this will be cached for 10 seconds   More on this here

User · Answer

I m referring to TT s post and suggest the following approach   Reference the System Web dll in your model and use System Web Caching Cache  public string   GetNames          var noms   Cache  names        if noms    null                     noms   DB GetNames            Cache  names     noms              return   string   noms       You should not return a value re-read from the cache  since you ll never know if at that specific moment it is still in the cache  Even if you inserted it in the statement before  it might already be gone or has never been added to the cache - you just don t know   So you add the data read from the database and return it directly  not re-reading from the cache

User · Answer

You can also try and use the caching built into ASP MVC   Add the following attribute to the controller method you d like to cache    OutputCache Duration 10     In this case the  ActionResult of this will be cached for 10 seconds   More on this here

User · Answer

Reference the System Web dll in your model and use System Web Caching Cache     public string   GetNames               string   names   Cache  quot names quot   as string          if names    null    not in cache                 names   DB GetNames            Cache  quot names quot     names                return names         A bit simplified but I guess that would work  This is not MVC specific and I have always used this method for caching data

User · Answer

Here s a nice and simple cache helper class service I use     using System Runtime Caching     public class InMemoryCache  ICacheService       public T GetOrSet lt T gt  string cacheKey  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  where T   class               T item   MemoryCache Default Get cacheKey  as T          if  item    null                        item   getItemCallback                MemoryCache Default Add cacheKey  item  DateTime Now AddMinutes 10                      return item           interface ICacheService       T GetOrSet lt T gt  string cacheKey  Func lt T gt  getItemCallback  where T   class      Usage   cacheProvider GetOrSet  cache key    delegate method if cache is empty      Cache provider will check if there s anything by the name of  cache id  in the cache  and if there s not  it will call a delegate method to fetch data and store it in cache       Example   var products cacheService GetOrSet  catalog products       gt productRepository GetAll

User · Answer

I will say implementing Singleton on this persisting data issue can be a solution for this matter in case you find previous solutions much complicated   public class GPDataDictionary       private Dictionary lt string  object gt  configDictionary   new Dictionary lt string  object gt               lt summary gt          Configuration values dictionary          lt  summary gt      public Dictionary lt string  object gt  ConfigDictionary               get   return configDictionary               private static GPDataDictionary instance      public static GPDataDictionary Instance               get                       if  instance    null                                instance   new GPDataDictionary                              return instance                          private constructor     private GPDataDictionary              singleton

[asp.net-mvc] How to cache data in a MVC application

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