How to store list element in Redis cache

Question

I have used StackExchange.Redis for c# redis cache.

cache.StringSet("Key1", CustomerObject);

but I want to store data like

cache.StringSet("Key1", ListOfCustomer);

so that one key has all Customer List stored and it is easy to search,group,filter customer Data also inside that List

Answers are welcome using ServiceStack.Redis or StackExchange.Redis

Answer 1

If you use Stackechange.Redis, you can use the List methods on its API. Here is a naive implementation of IList using a redis list to store the items.

Hopefully it can help you to understand some of the list API methods:

public class RedisList<T> : IList<T>
{
    private static ConnectionMultiplexer _cnn;
    private string key;
    public RedisList(string key)
    {
        this.key = key;
        _cnn = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect("localhost");
    }
    private IDatabase GetRedisDb()
    {
        return _cnn.GetDatabase();
    }
    private string Serialize(object obj)
    {
        return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);
    }
    private T Deserialize<T>(string serialized)
    {
        return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<T>(serialized);
    }
    public void Insert(int index, T item)
    {
        var db = GetRedisDb();
        var before = db.ListGetByIndex(key, index);
        db.ListInsertBefore(key, before, Serialize(item));
    }
    public void RemoveAt(int index)
    {
        var db = GetRedisDb();
        var value = db.ListGetByIndex(key, index);
        if (!value.IsNull)
        {
            db.ListRemove(key, value);
        }
    }
    public T this[int index]
    {
        get
        {
            var value = GetRedisDb().ListGetByIndex(key, index);
            return Deserialize<T>(value.ToString());
        }
        set
        {
            Insert(index, value);
        }
    }
    public void Add(T item)
    {
        GetRedisDb().ListRightPush(key, Serialize(item));
    }
    public void Clear()
    {
        GetRedisDb().KeyDelete(key);
    }
    public bool Contains(T item)
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < Count; i++)
        {
            if (GetRedisDb().ListGetByIndex(key, i).ToString().Equals(Serialize(item)))
            {
                return true;
            }
        }
        return false;
    }
    public void CopyTo(T[] array, int arrayIndex)
    {
        GetRedisDb().ListRange(key).CopyTo(array, arrayIndex);
    }
    public int IndexOf(T item)
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < Count; i++)
        {
            if (GetRedisDb().ListGetByIndex(key, i).ToString().Equals(Serialize(item)))
            {
                return i;
            }
        }
        return -1;
    }
    public int Count
    {
        get { return (int)GetRedisDb().ListLength(key); }
    }
    public bool IsReadOnly
    {
        get { return false; }
    }
    public bool Remove(T item)
    {
        return GetRedisDb().ListRemove(key, Serialize(item)) > 0;
    }
    public IEnumerator<T> GetEnumerator()
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < this.Count; i++)
        {
            yield return Deserialize<T>(GetRedisDb().ListGetByIndex(key, i).ToString());
        }
    }
    System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < this.Count; i++)
        {
            yield return Deserialize<T>(GetRedisDb().ListGetByIndex(key, i).ToString());
        }
    }
}

Note the use of Newtonsoft.Json for the serialization. You will need the following nu-get packages:

Install-Package Newtonsoft.Json
Install-Package StackExchange.Redis

After reading your question and comments, since you want to access elements by key, I think you're looking for Redis Hashes, which are maps composed of fields associated with values.

So you can have a Redis Key for a Hash containing all your Customers, each one being a Value associated to a Field. You can choose the CustomerId as the Field, so you can then get a customer by its id in O(1).

I think implementing IDictionary is a good way to see it working. So a RedisDictionary class similar to the RedisList but using a Redis Hash could be:

public class RedisDictionary<TKey, TValue> : IDictionary<TKey, TValue>
{
    private static ConnectionMultiplexer _cnn;
    private string _redisKey;
    public RedisDictionary(string redisKey)
    {
        _redisKey = redisKey;
        _cnn = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect("localhost");
    }
    private IDatabase GetRedisDb()
    {
        return _cnn.GetDatabase();
    }
    private string Serialize(object obj)
    {
        return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);
    }
    private T Deserialize<T>(string serialized)
    {
        return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<T>(serialized);
    }
    public void Add(TKey key, TValue value)
    {
        GetRedisDb().HashSet(_redisKey, Serialize(key), Serialize(value));
    }
    public bool ContainsKey(TKey key)
    {
        return GetRedisDb().HashExists(_redisKey, Serialize(key));
    }
    public bool Remove(TKey key)
    {
        return GetRedisDb().HashDelete(_redisKey, Serialize(key));
    }
    public bool TryGetValue(TKey key, out TValue value)
    {
        var redisValue = GetRedisDb().HashGet(_redisKey, Serialize(key));
        if (redisValue.IsNull)
        {
            value = default(TValue);
            return false;
        }
        value = Deserialize<TValue>(redisValue.ToString());
        return true;
    }
    public ICollection<TValue> Values
    {
        get { return new Collection<TValue>(GetRedisDb().HashValues(_redisKey).Select(h => Deserialize<TValue>(h.ToString())).ToList()); }
    }
    public ICollection<TKey> Keys
    {
        get { return new Collection<TKey>(GetRedisDb().HashKeys(_redisKey).Select(h => Deserialize<TKey>(h.ToString())).ToList()); }
    }
    public TValue this[TKey key]
    {
        get
        {
            var redisValue = GetRedisDb().HashGet(_redisKey, Serialize(key));
            return redisValue.IsNull ? default(TValue) : Deserialize<TValue>(redisValue.ToString());
        }
        set
        {
            Add(key, value);
        }
    }
    public void Add(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> item)
    {
        Add(item.Key, item.Value);
    }
    public void Clear()
    {
        GetRedisDb().KeyDelete(_redisKey);
    }
    public bool Contains(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> item)
    {
        return GetRedisDb().HashExists(_redisKey, Serialize(item.Key));
    }
    public void CopyTo(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>[] array, int arrayIndex)
    {
        GetRedisDb().HashGetAll(_redisKey).CopyTo(array, arrayIndex);
    }
    public int Count
    {
        get { return (int)GetRedisDb().HashLength(_redisKey); }
    }
    public bool IsReadOnly
    {
        get { return false; }
    }
    public bool Remove(KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue> item)
    {
        return Remove(item.Key);
    }
    public IEnumerator<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>> GetEnumerator()
    {
        var db = GetRedisDb();
        foreach (var hashKey in db.HashKeys(_redisKey))
        {
            var redisValue = db.HashGet(_redisKey, hashKey);
            yield return new KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>(Deserialize<TKey>(hashKey.ToString()), Deserialize<TValue>(redisValue.ToString()));
        }
    }
    System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
    {
        yield return GetEnumerator();
    }
    public void AddMultiple(IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<TKey, TValue>> items)
    {
        GetRedisDb()
            .HashSet(_redisKey, items.Select(i => new HashEntry(Serialize(i.Key), Serialize(i.Value))).ToArray());
    }
}

And here are some examples to use it:

// Insert customers to the cache            
var customers = new RedisDictionary<int, Customer>("customers");
customers.Add(100, new Customer() { Id = 100, Name = "John" });
customers.Add(200, new Customer() { Id = 200, Name = "Peter" });

// Or if you have a list of customers retrieved from DB:
IList<Customer> customerListFromDb;
customers.AddMultiple(customerListFromDb.ToDictionary(k => k.Id));

// Query a customer by its id
var customers = new RedisDictionary<int, Customer>("customers");
Customer customer100 = customers[100];

Update (Oct 2015)

A better implementation of these collections can be found on CachingFramework.Redis library.

Here is the code.

Answer 2

You can use ServiceStack.Redis high-level IRedisTypedClient Typed API for managing rich POCO Types.

First get a typed Redis client for Customers with:

var redisCustomers = redis.As<Customer>();

Which will resolve a high-level typed API for managing Customer POCO's that then lets you persist a single Customer with:

redisCustomers.SetEntry("Customer1", CustomerObject);

Or a list of Customers with:

redisCustomers.Lists["Customers"].AddRange(ListOfCustomer);