BigTable: C# code say hello | My first C# coding learning experience | 60 minutes

August 12, 2021

Here is the article. 

 Example: C# "Hello world" application

This code sample is a "hello world" application written in C#. The sample illustrates how to complete the following tasks:

• Connect to a Cloud Bigtable instance
• Create a new table.
• Write data to the table.
• Read the data back.
• Delete the table.

Running the sample

This code communicates with Cloud Bigtable using the C# Admin API and C# Data API libraries in the Google Cloud Client Libraries for .NET.

To run this sample program, follow the .NET Cloud Bigtable Samples instructions on GitHub. Complete the Build and Run and Quick Start steps to create resources that you can use in your Hello World application. Make sure you edit the HelloWorld.cs file to add the names of the resources you create.

Using the Cloud Client Library with Bigtable

The sample application connects to Bigtable and demonstrates some simple operations.

Connecting to Bigtable

To get started, create two client objects that you can use to connect to Bigtable. The C# Admin API's BigtableTableAdminClient helps you create and delete instances and tables. The C# Data API's BigtableClient helps you read and write table data.

bigtable/api/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.cs

View on GitHub

// BigtableTableAdminClient API lets us create, manage and delete tables.
BigtableTableAdminClient bigtableTableAdminClient = BigtableTableAdminClient.Create();

// BigtableClient API lets us read and write to a table.
BigtableClient bigtableClient = BigtableClient.Create();

Creating a table

Call the admin client's CreateTable() method to generate a Table object that stores the "hello world" greetings. The table has a single column family that retains one version of each value.

bigtable/api/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.cs

View on GitHub

// Create a table with a single column family.
Console.WriteLine($"Create new table: {tableId} with column family: {columnFamily}, instance: {instanceId}");

// Check whether a table with given TableName already exists.
if (!TableExist(bigtableTableAdminClient))
{
    bigtableTableAdminClient.CreateTable(
        new InstanceName(projectId, instanceId),
        tableId,
        new Table
        {
            Granularity = Table.Types.TimestampGranularity.Millis,
            ColumnFamilies =
            {
                {
                    columnFamily, new ColumnFamily
                    {
                        GcRule = new GcRule
                        {
                            MaxNumVersions = 1
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        });
    // Confirm that table was created successfully.
    Console.WriteLine(TableExist(bigtableTableAdminClient)
        ? $"Table {tableId} created successfully\n"
        : $"There was a problem creating a table {tableId}");
}
else
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Table: {tableId} already exists");
}

Writing rows to a table

Use the string array s_greetings[], which contains three simple greetings, as a source of data to write to the table. First, write a single row to the table using MutateRow(). Then loop through the rest of the array to build a MutateRowsRequest object that contains an entry for each greeting. Make the request to write all the entries at once with MutateRows(). Then loop through the returned response to check the status code for each entry to make sure it was written successfully.

bigtable/api/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.cs

View on GitHub

// Initialize Google.Cloud.Bigtable.V2.TableName object.
Google.Cloud.Bigtable.Common.V2.TableName tableName = new Google.Cloud.Bigtable.Common.V2.TableName(projectId, instanceId, tableId);

// Write some rows
/* Each row has a unique row key.

       Note: This example uses sequential numeric IDs for simplicity, but
       this can result in poor performance in a production application.
       Since rows are stored in sorted order by key, sequential keys can
       result in poor distribution of operations across nodes.

       For more information about how to design a Bigtable schema for the
       best performance, see the documentation:

       https://cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/schema-design */

Console.WriteLine($"Write some greetings to the table {tableId}");

// Insert 1 row using MutateRow()
s_greetingIndex = 0;
try
{
    bigtableClient.MutateRow(tableName, rowKeyPrefix + s_greetingIndex, MutationBuilder());
    Console.WriteLine($"\tGreeting:   -- {s_greetings[s_greetingIndex],-18}-- written successfully");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"\tFailed to write greeting: --{s_greetings[s_greetingIndex]}");
    Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
    throw;
}

// Insert multiple rows using MutateRows()
// Build a MutateRowsRequest (contains table name and a collection of entries).
MutateRowsRequest request = new MutateRowsRequest
{
    TableNameAsTableName = tableName
};

s_mapToOriginalGreetingIndex = new List<int>();
while (++s_greetingIndex < s_greetings.Length)
{
    s_mapToOriginalGreetingIndex.Add(s_greetingIndex);
    // Build an entry for every greeting (consists of rowkey and a collection of mutations).
    string rowKey = rowKeyPrefix + s_greetingIndex;
    request.Entries.Add(Mutations.CreateEntry(rowKey, MutationBuilder()));
}

// Make the request to write multiple rows.
MutateRowsResponse response = bigtableClient.MutateRows(request);

// Check the status code of each entry to ensure that it was written successfully.
foreach (MutateRowsResponse.Types.Entry entry in response.Entries)
{
    s_greetingIndex = s_mapToOriginalGreetingIndex[(int)entry.Index];
    if (entry.Status.Code == 0)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"\tGreeting:   -- {s_greetings[s_greetingIndex],-18}-- written successfully");
    }
    else
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"\tFailed to write greeting: --{s_greetings[s_greetingIndex]}");
        Console.WriteLine(entry.Status.Message);
    }
}

Mutation MutationBuilder() =>
    Mutations.SetCell(columnFamily, columnName, s_greetings[s_greetingIndex], new BigtableVersion(DateTime.UtcNow));

Creating a filter

Before you read the data that you wrote, create a filter to limit the data that Bigtable returns. This filter tells Bigtable to return only the most recent version of each value, even if the table contains older cells that are eligible for garbage collection but have not yet been deleted.

bigtable/api/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.cs

View on GitHub

RowFilter filter = RowFilters.CellsPerRowLimit(1);

Reading a row by its row key

Use the ReadRow() method, passing in the filter you just created, to get one version of each value in that row.

bigtable/api/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.cs

View on GitHub

// Read from the table.
Console.WriteLine("Read the first row");

int rowIndex = 0;

// Read a specific row. Apply a filter to return latest only cell value accross entire row.
Row rowRead = bigtableClient.ReadRow(
    tableName, rowKey: rowKeyPrefix + rowIndex, filter: filter);
Console.WriteLine(
    $"\tRow key: {rowRead.Key.ToStringUtf8()} " +
    $"  -- Value: {rowRead.Families[0].Columns[0].Cells[0].Value.ToStringUtf8(),-16} " +
    $"  -- Time Stamp: {rowRead.Families[0].Columns[0].Cells[0].TimestampMicros}");

Scanning all table rows

Call the ReadRows() method, passing in the filter, to get all of the rows in the table. Because you passed in the filter, Bigtable returns only one version of each value.

bigtable/api/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.cs

View on GitHub

Console.WriteLine("Read all rows using streaming");
// stream the content of the whole table. Apply a filter to return latest only cell values accross all rows.
ReadRowsStream responseRead = bigtableClient.ReadRows(tableName, filter: filter);

Task printRead = PrintReadRowsAsync();
printRead.Wait();

async Task PrintReadRowsAsync()
{
    var responseEnumerator = responseRead.GetAsyncEnumerator(default);
    while (await responseEnumerator.MoveNextAsync())
    {
        Row row = responseEnumerator.Current;
        Console.WriteLine(
            $"\tRow key: {row.Key.ToStringUtf8()} " +
            $"  -- Value: {row.Families[0].Columns[0].Cells[0].Value.ToStringUtf8(),-16} " +
            $"  -- Time Stamp: {row.Families[0].Columns[0].Cells[0].TimestampMicros}");
    }
}

Deleting a table

Delete the table with the DeleteTable() method.

bigtable/api/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.cs

View on GitHub

// Clean up. Delete the table.
Console.WriteLine($"Delete table: {tableId}");

bigtableTableAdminClient.DeleteTable(name: tableName);
if (!TableExist(bigtableTableAdminClient))
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Table: {tableId} deleted successfully");
}

Putting it all together

Here is the full code sample without comments.

bigtable/api/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.cs

View on GitHub

// Copyright 2018 Google Inc.


using Google.Cloud.Bigtable.Admin.V2;
using Google.Cloud.Bigtable.V2;
using Grpc.Core;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace GoogleCloudSamples.Bigtable
{
    public class HelloWorld
    {
        private const string projectId = "YOUR-PROJECT-ID";

        private const string instanceId = "YOUR-INSTANCE-ID";

        private const string tableId = "Hello-Bigtable";
        private const string columnFamily = "cf";
        private const string columnName = "greeting";
        private static readonly string[] s_greetings = { "Hello World!", "Hello Bigtable!", "Hello C#!" };
        private static List<int> s_mapToOriginalGreetingIndex;
        private const string rowKeyPrefix = "greeting";
        private static int s_greetingIndex;

        private static void DoHelloWorld()
        {
            try
            {
                BigtableTableAdminClient bigtableTableAdminClient = BigtableTableAdminClient.Create();

                BigtableClient bigtableClient = BigtableClient.Create();

                Console.WriteLine($"Create new table: {tableId} with column family: {columnFamily}, instance: {instanceId}");

                if (!TableExist(bigtableTableAdminClient))
                {
                    bigtableTableAdminClient.CreateTable(
                        new InstanceName(projectId, instanceId),
                        tableId,
                        new Table
                        {
                            Granularity = Table.Types.TimestampGranularity.Millis,
                            ColumnFamilies =
                            {
                                {
                                    columnFamily, new ColumnFamily
                                    {
                                        GcRule = new GcRule
                                        {
                                            MaxNumVersions = 1
                                        }
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        });
                    Console.WriteLine(TableExist(bigtableTableAdminClient)
                        ? $"Table {tableId} created successfully\n"
                        : $"There was a problem creating a table {tableId}");
                }
                else
                {
                    Console.WriteLine($"Table: {tableId} already exists");
                }

                Google.Cloud.Bigtable.Common.V2.TableName tableName = new Google.Cloud.Bigtable.Common.V2.TableName(projectId, instanceId, tableId);


                       Note: This example uses sequential numeric IDs for simplicity, but
                       this can result in poor performance in a production application.
                       Since rows are stored in sorted order by key, sequential keys can
                       result in poor distribution of operations across nodes.

                       For more information about how to design a Bigtable schema for the
                       best performance, see the documentation:

                       https://cloud.google.com/bigtable/docs/schema-design */

                Console.WriteLine($"Write some greetings to the table {tableId}");

                s_greetingIndex = 0;
                try
                {
                    bigtableClient.MutateRow(tableName, rowKeyPrefix + s_greetingIndex, MutationBuilder());
                    Console.WriteLine($"\tGreeting:   -- {s_greetings[s_greetingIndex],-18}-- written successfully");
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine($"\tFailed to write greeting: --{s_greetings[s_greetingIndex]}");
                    Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
                    throw;
                }

                MutateRowsRequest request = new MutateRowsRequest
                {
                    TableNameAsTableName = tableName
                };

                s_mapToOriginalGreetingIndex = new List<int>();
                while (++s_greetingIndex < s_greetings.Length)
                {
                    s_mapToOriginalGreetingIndex.Add(s_greetingIndex);
                    string rowKey = rowKeyPrefix + s_greetingIndex;
                    request.Entries.Add(Mutations.CreateEntry(rowKey, MutationBuilder()));
                }

                MutateRowsResponse response = bigtableClient.MutateRows(request);

                foreach (MutateRowsResponse.Types.Entry entry in response.Entries)
                {
                    s_greetingIndex = s_mapToOriginalGreetingIndex[(int)entry.Index];
                    if (entry.Status.Code == 0)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine($"\tGreeting:   -- {s_greetings[s_greetingIndex],-18}-- written successfully");
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine($"\tFailed to write greeting: --{s_greetings[s_greetingIndex]}");
                        Console.WriteLine(entry.Status.Message);
                    }
                }

                Mutation MutationBuilder() =>
                    Mutations.SetCell(columnFamily, columnName, s_greetings[s_greetingIndex], new BigtableVersion(DateTime.UtcNow));

                RowFilter filter = RowFilters.CellsPerRowLimit(1);

                Console.WriteLine("Read the first row");

                int rowIndex = 0;

                Row rowRead = bigtableClient.ReadRow(
                    tableName, rowKey: rowKeyPrefix + rowIndex, filter: filter);
                Console.WriteLine(
                    $"\tRow key: {rowRead.Key.ToStringUtf8()} " +
                    $"  -- Value: {rowRead.Families[0].Columns[0].Cells[0].Value.ToStringUtf8(),-16} " +
                    $"  -- Time Stamp: {rowRead.Families[0].Columns[0].Cells[0].TimestampMicros}");

                Console.WriteLine("Read all rows using streaming");
                ReadRowsStream responseRead = bigtableClient.ReadRows(tableName, filter: filter);

                Task printRead = PrintReadRowsAsync();
                printRead.Wait();

                async Task PrintReadRowsAsync()
                {
                    var responseEnumerator = responseRead.GetAsyncEnumerator(default);
                    while (await responseEnumerator.MoveNextAsync())
                    {
                        Row row = responseEnumerator.Current;
                        Console.WriteLine(
                            $"\tRow key: {row.Key.ToStringUtf8()} " +
                            $"  -- Value: {row.Families[0].Columns[0].Cells[0].Value.ToStringUtf8(),-16} " +
                            $"  -- Time Stamp: {row.Families[0].Columns[0].Cells[0].TimestampMicros}");
                    }
                }

                Console.WriteLine($"Delete table: {tableId}");

                bigtableTableAdminClient.DeleteTable(name: tableName);
                if (!TableExist(bigtableTableAdminClient))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine($"Table: {tableId} deleted successfully");
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"Exception while running HelloWorld: {ex.Message}");
            }
        }

        private static bool TableExist(BigtableTableAdminClient bigtableTableAdminClient)
        {
            GetTableRequest request = new GetTableRequest
            {
                TableName = new Google.Cloud.Bigtable.Common.V2.TableName(projectId, instanceId, tableId),
                View = Table.Types.View.NameOnly
            };
            try
            {
                var tables = bigtableTableAdminClient.GetTable(request);
                return true;
            }
            catch (RpcException ex)
            {
                if (ex.StatusCode == StatusCode.NotFound)
                {
                    return false;
                }

                throw;
            }
        }

        public static int Main(string[] args)
        {
            if (projectId == "YOUR-PROJECT" + "-ID")
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Edit HelloWorld.cs and replace YOUR-PROJECT-ID with your project ID.");
                return -1;
            }
            if (instanceId == "YOUR-INSTANCE" + "-ID")
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Edit HelloWorld.cs and replace YOUR-INSTANCE-ID with your instance ID.");
                return -1;
            }

            DoHelloWorld();
            return 0;
        }
    }
}