Overview

Welcome to the Seeq Connector SDK for C#!

This SDK is intended for developers that wish to write a Seeq datasource connector that can be loaded by a Seeq agent and facilitate access to data in Seeq.

Seeq connectors can be written in Java or C# but this repository is intended to be used for developing C# Connectors. C# development requires Windows operating system.

It is recommended that you initially test with a "test" version of your Seeq Remote Agent. This will separate your production connections from your test connections, allowing you to restart the remote agent without impacting users. This repository contains an embedded remote agent that allows your development environment to interactively debug your connector.

Environment Setup

The Build Environment

The C# version of the SDK depends upon Microsoft Visual Studio for building and debugging. This SDK is tested with Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 - 2022.

The C# SDK also depends on .NET version 4.8. When upgrading .NET, you may need to restart your machine for the new version to take effect.

To begin using the SDK:

1. Launch the Windows Command Prompt.
2. Change directory to the root directory of this SDK.
3. At the prompt, execute the environment script: Type environment.

Throughout this document, we will refer to the build environment, which is simply a command prompt or terminal window where you've executed the environment script as described.

Verifying your Environment

Before doing anything else, we recommend that you build the connector template and ensure that it is fully working with your private system.

From the root directory, execute the build command. This command will download dependencies from the web, so make sure you have a good internet connection. If you have any non-obvious issues building this project, please post your issue along with any error messages on the Seeq Developer Club forum.

From your build environment, execute the ide command. This command will launch Microsoft Visual Studio (VS), which you will use for development and debugging.

Take the following steps to confirm a properly configured development environment:

1. Once VS is finished loading, right click on the Seeq.Link.SDK.Debugging.Agent project in Solution Explorer and select Set as Startup Project.
2. In the solution configuration dropdown, select 'Debug'. This step is required to ensure the necessary files are built for debugging.
3. Select Build > Build Solution from the main menu.
4. Wait for building to finish.
5. Confirm that no compile errors occurred.
6. Open the EntryPoint.cs file in the Seeq.Link.SDK.Debugging.Agent project.
7. Modify the URL on the line const string seeqHostUrl = "https://yourserver.seeq.host" to match your Seeq server
8. Pre-provision this agent on your Seeq server by logging in as a Seeq Administrator and navigating to the Agents tab on the Administration page. Click the "Add Agent" button and fill the presented fields. Provide the machine name and ".NET Connector SDK Debugging Agent" as the agent name. Click "Add Agent". Wait for pre-provisioning to complete. Copy the displayed one-time password.
9. Replace <your_agent_one_time_password> in the agent.otp file in the /data/keys/ directory with the one-time password obtained from the previous step.
10. Set a breakpoint (Debug > Toggle Breakpoint) on the first line of the Main() function.
11. Select Debug > Start Debugging to launch the debugger.
12. You should hit the breakpoint you set. This verifies that VS built your project correctly and can launch it in its debugger.
13. With execution paused at the breakpoint, open the MyConnector.cs file in the MyCompany.Seeq.Link.Connector.MyConnector and put a breakpoint on the first line of the Initialize() function. Because the connector is loaded dynamically, this breakpoint may appear broken until it is actually hit.
14. Click Debug > Continue. You should hit the next breakpoint. This verifies that the debugging agent can load the template connector correctly.
15. Click Debug > Delete All Breakpoints and then Debug > Continue.
16. Bring up Seeq Workbench and click on the connections section at the top of the screen. You should see My Connector Type: My First Connection in the list of connections, with 5000 items indexed.
17. In Seeq Workbench's Data tab, search for simulated.
18. A list of simulated signals should appear in the results. Click on any of the results.
19. The signal should be added to the Details pane and a repeating waveform should be shown in the trend. This verifies that the template connector is able to index its signals and respond to data queries.

Now you're ready to start development!

Troubleshooting hint: Within the connector project in the SDK folder, there should be a bin/Debug folder containing a .pdb file and a .dll file as a result of building the solution. If these files are not present, it will not be possible to debug the connector.

Developing your Connector

We recommend that you just modify the template connector directly. This shields you from having to recreate all of the configuration that is required to correctly build and debug a new project. Visual Studio has excellent renaming/refactoring features that make it easy. For example, you can click on any item in VS's Solution Explorer and press F2 to change it to something appropriate for your company and this particular connector.

Once you are ready to start developing, just open the MyConnector.cs and MyConnection.cs files in VS and start reading through the heavily-annotated source code. The template connector uses a small class called DatasourceSimulator. You'll know you've removed all of the template-specific code when you can delete this file from the project and still build without errors.

Any log messages you create using the Log property on ConnectorServiceV2 and DatasourceConnectionServiceV2 will go to the console window and to the csharp/Seeq.Link.SDK.Debugging.Agent/bin/Debug/log/net-debugging-agent.log file.

Deploying your Connector

When you are ready to deploy your connector to a production environment, execute the package command. A zip file will be created in the dist folder.

1. Shut down the Seeq Remote Agent - execute seeq stop in the Seeq CLI`
2. Copy the generated zip file to the plugins/connectors folder within Seeq's data folder (The data folder is usually C:\ProgramData\Seeq\data)
3. Extract the contents of the zip file.
4. Start the Seeq Remote Agent - execute seeq start in the Seeq CLI

You should see your connector show up in Seeq when you go to add a datasource in the Seeq Administration Panel and you choose your remote agent.

Once deployed, log messages you create using the Log property on ConnectorServiceV2 and DatasourceConnectionServiceV2 will go to log\net-link.log file in the Seeq data folder.

CPU Architecture

If you use the template connector project, your connector DLL will be compiled using the Any CPU architecture, which means it can be loaded by a 64-bit or 32-bit .NET Agent. If you have a dependency on an architecture-specific library (most often that means the library is x86) you may have to change the platform of your connector DLL to be x86 (or x64 in rare cases). If you do that, then your connector can only be loaded by a 32-bit .NET Agent, which means it will have to be a Remote Agent. Contact Seeq Support for more information.