Modularity

Introduction

ABP Framework was designed to support to build fully modular applications and systems where every module may have entities, services, database integration, APIs, UI components and so on;

• This document introduces the basics of the module system.
• Module development best practice guide explains some best practices to develop re-usable application modules based on DDD principles and layers. A module designed based on this guide will be database independent and can be deployed as a microservice if needed.
• Pre-built application modules are ready to use in any kind of application.
• Module startup template is a jump start way to create a new module.
• ABP CLI has commands to support modular development.
• All other framework features are compatible to the modularity system.

Module Class

Every module should define a module class. The simplest way of defining a module class is to create a class derived from AbpModule as shown below:

public class BlogModule : AbpModule
{
            
}

Configuring Dependency Injection & Other Modules

ConfigureServices Method

ConfigureServices is the main method to add your services to the dependency injection system and configure other modules. Example:

These methods have Async versions too, and if you want to make asynchronous calls inside these methods, override the asynchronous versions instead of the synchronous ones.

public class BlogModule : AbpModule
{
    public override void ConfigureServices(ServiceConfigurationContext context)
    {
        //...
    }
}

You can register dependencies one by one as stated in Microsoft's documentation. But ABP has a conventional dependency registration system which automatically register all services in your assembly. See the dependency Injection documentation for more about the dependency injection system.

You can also configure other services and modules in this way. Example:

public class BlogModule : AbpModule
{
    public override void ConfigureServices(ServiceConfigurationContext context)
    {
        //Configure default connection string for the application
        Configure<AbpDbConnectionOptions>(options =>
        {
            options.ConnectionStrings.Default = "......";
        });
    }
}

ConfigureServices method has an asynchronous version too: ConfigureServicesAsync. If you want to make asynchronous calls (use the await keyword) inside this method, override the asynchronous version instead of the synchronous one. If you override both asynchronous and synchronous versions, only the asynchronous version will be executed.

See the Configuration document for more about the configuration system.

Pre & Post Configure Services

AbpModule class also defines PreConfigureServices and PostConfigureServices methods to override and write your code just before and just after ConfigureServices. Notice that the code you have written into these methods will be executed before/after the ConfigureServices methods of all other modules.

These methods have asynchronous versions too. If you want to make asynchronous calls inside these methods, override the asynchronous versions instead of the synchronous ones.

Application Initialization

Once all the services of all modules are configured, the application starts by initializing all modules. In this phase, you can resolve services from IServiceProvider since it's ready and available.

OnApplicationInitialization Method

You can override OnApplicationInitialization method to execute code while application is being started.

Example:

public class BlogModule : AbpModule
{
    public override void OnApplicationInitialization(
        ApplicationInitializationContext context)
    {
        var myService = context.ServiceProvider.GetService<MyService>();
        myService.DoSomething();
    }
}

OnApplicationInitialization method has an asynchronous version too. If you want to make asynchronous calls (use the await keyword) inside this method, override the asynchronous version instead of the synchronous one.

Example:

public class BlogModule : AbpModule
{
    public override Task OnApplicationInitializationAsync(
        ApplicationInitializationContext context)
    {
        var myService = context.ServiceProvider.GetService<MyService>();
        await myService.DoSomethingAsync();
    }
}

If you override both asynchronous and synchronous versions, only the asynchronous version will be executed.

OnApplicationInitialization is generally used by the startup module to construct the middleware pipeline for ASP.NET Core applications.

Example:

[DependsOn(typeof(AbpAspNetCoreMvcModule))]
public class AppModule : AbpModule
{
    public override void OnApplicationInitialization(ApplicationInitializationContext context)
    {
        var app = context.GetApplicationBuilder();
        var env = context.GetEnvironment();

        if (env.IsDevelopment())
        {
            app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
        }

        app.UseMvcWithDefaultRoute();
    }
}

You can also perform startup logic if your module requires it

Pre & Post Application Initialization

AbpModule class also defines OnPreApplicationInitialization and OnPostApplicationInitialization methods to override and write your code just before and just after OnApplicationInitialization. Notice that the code you have written into these methods will be executed before/after the OnApplicationInitialization methods of all other modules.

These methods have asynchronous versions too, and if you want to make asynchronous calls inside these methods, override the asynchronous versions instead of the synchronous ones.

Application Shutdown

Lastly, you can override OnApplicationShutdown method if you want to execute some code while application is being shutdown.

This methods has asynchronous version too. If you want to make asynchronous calls inside this method, override the asynchronous version instead of the synchronous one.

Module Dependencies

In a modular application, it's not unusual for one module to depend upon another module(s). An ABP module must declare a [DependsOn] attribute if it does have a dependency upon another module, as shown below:

[DependsOn(typeof(AbpAspNetCoreMvcModule))]
[DependsOn(typeof(AbpAutofacModule))]
public class BlogModule
{
    //...
}

You can use multiple DependsOn attribute or pass multiple module types to a single DependsOn attribute depending on your preference.

A depended module may depend on another module, but you only need to define your direct dependencies. ABP investigates the dependency graph for the application at startup and initializes/shutdowns modules in the correct order.

Additional Module Assemblies

ABP automatically registers all the services of your module to the dependency injection system. It finds the service types by scanning types in the assembly that defines your module class. That assembly is considered as the main assembly of your module.

Typically, every assembly contains a separate module class definition. Then modules depend on each other using the DependsOn attribute as explained in the previous section. However, in some rare cases, your module may consist of multiple assemblies, and only one of them defines a module class, and you want to make the other assemblies parts of your module. In that case, you can use the AdditionalAssembly attribute as shown below:

[DependsOn(...)] // Your module dependencies as you normally do
[AdditionalAssembly(typeof(BlogService))] // A type in the target assembly
public class BlogModule
{
    //...
}

In this example, we assume that the BlogService class is inside one assembly (csproj) and the BlogModule class is inside another assembly (csproj). With the AdditionalAssembly definition, ABP will load the assembly containing the BlogService class as a part of the blog module.

Notice that BlogService is only an arbitrary selected type in the target assembly. It is just used to indicate the related assembly. You could use any type in the assembly.

WARNING: If you need to use the AdditionalAssembly, be sure that you don't design your system in a wrong way. With this example above, the BlogService class' assembly should normally have its own module class and the BlogModule should depend on it using the DependsOn attribute. Do not use the AdditionalAssembly attribute when you can already use the DependsOn attribute.

Framework Modules vs Application Modules

There are two types of modules. They don't have any structural difference but categorized by functionality and purpose:

• Framework modules: These are core modules of the framework like caching, emailing, theming, security, serialization, validation, EF Core integration, MongoDB integration... etc. They do not have application/business functionalities but makes your daily development easier by providing common infrastructure, integration and abstractions.
• Application modules: These modules implement specific application/business functionalities like blogging, document management, identity management, tenant management... etc. They generally have their own entities, services, APIs and UI components. See pre-built application modules.

See Also

• Video tutorial