Data layer for Azure Mobile App - azure

We have ASP.NET MVC5 application. We have used entity framework DB first approach for the data layer. Now we are planning to build Xamarin mobile app.
I'm looking for the options for developing back-end of the app. In Azure Mobile app it seems you have to derive your entity from EntityData. Also I read somewhere that DB first approach is not supported.
Do I need to create each entities for my existing table manually (code first)? It would be great if someone can help in guiding to the right path.

Doing DB first is harder, but not impossible. I'd recommend reading my chapter on data https://adrianhall.github.io/develop-mobile-apps-with-csharp-and-azure/chapter3/dataconcepts/ - there is a section that deals with DB first explicitly.

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How to start developing a web app to store data to CosmosDB in Azure

How do I get started the best way if I want to develop a quite simple web application that will store some user data into an Azure CosmosDB.
The web application should contain user authorization and everything should run in Azure. Furthermore I am pretty good in PHP and C#, which I prefer as development language.
My Question: Can any of you point me to a good tutorial or LinkedIn-Learning-Course?
I would prefer using Visual Studio Code as my primary environment.
Seems you are trying to develop a web application using cosmos db which can be run on azure portal.
Here is the nice official document you could learn step by step.
If you need code sample you can check here for code snippet
You can also find this sample for CRUD operation.
Note: I would suggest you to finish each of the document from beginning to end. So that later on you can easily grab others
tutorial.
If you still have any query feel free to share. Thanks and happy coding!

Which is the more suitable approach for database support in Website? "Class Library" or "Web API"

I plan to build website using asp.net mvc 5. But can't use databse direct in application as per my criteria. So now i have two ways, either use Web API or Class Library for database operation.
Note that this website will have to many forms and have lots of database operations.
Please help me to get best decision.
Thanks in advance.
Create a second class library project in your solution, you would still need to do this even if you use WebAPI, encapsulate your database access code in the class library and reference it from your application project. This is encapsulation 101, look up repository pattern.

Set up Google Analytics to track a command line Node app

I'd like to use Google Analytics to track usage of a command line Node app. Tracking will be strictly opt-in. I'd like to track basic usage, plus which operating system and version of Node was used.
I've found the Measurement Protocol, but I'm wondering whats the best way to set up Google Analytics.
You can choose from Web or App - App seems the best fit, but then I'm sent to Firebase to set up an iOS, Android or Web app. None of these are correct. So is 'Web' the best way to track my app usage? Or is Google Analytics not the right approach?
Seems like the best approach is Google Measurement Protocol. There's a Node library for it.
Really Google Analytics is completely designed around web apps and more recently mobile apps, it has concepts like "page views" which don't make sense for CLIs, and Firebase Analytics is only for Android and iOS.
You might be able to shoehorn he CLI use case for some purposes. Alternatively, you could consider using a cloud database like Firebase real-time DB to capture your own events.
Google analytics really isnt designed for something like this. You have only two options web app where everything is page based. http://example.com/hello.php vs using a mobile app where everything is screen based. Home, about, help.
I have done this before with several console applications, a custom SSIS task (dll) and an arduino project. I chose mobile application mainly because i thought it was closer. I know of someone who did the same with an actions on google project.
In the end what you use will be up to you. Just consider what it is you want to track exactly and lay it out before you start.
If you choose mobile make sure you send Screen views and not page views. The Google analytics website is split you cant mix and match the hit type.
Workaround for createing moble account without firebase.
create a new web property on Google analytics type Web
create a new view under that web property type mobile.
We made Console Cat for this exact purpose! It's built from the ground up to track telemetry / analytics for CLIs including things like flags, command duration, version, etc.

ServiceStack to expose service to multiple clients?

Recently I made the decision to move from Xamarin.Android to native Android development. In the previous Xamarin project I used their walkthrough to call a WCF service from Android with basicHttpBinding, primary purpose in this case to upload a DTO with an image byte array. I'm now trying to figure the best way to do the same (or better) from Android without Xamarin.
Can ServiceStack help me expose a WCF or ASMX service such that most any client (in my case WPF/Silverlight, iOS, Android) can connect to it with the most appropriate message format (SOAP, REST, etc)? If so please point to the best sample for quick adaptation of an existing WCF service hosted in IIS. I'm hoping to get implement quickly for a demo in one week, then circle back and spend more time learning it.
Sincere thanks
Mark

BreezeJS with ServiceStack?

I was wondering whether or not BreezeJS is compatible when using other technologies other than Web API and/or Entity Framework? As I'm currently in development of a SPA using Service Stack to retrieve data and ORMLite?
So I am curious how BreezeJS handle's this as I know it uses it's own API Controller usually with an extension of the DbContext class which Entity Framework uses. Thanks.
There is currently a sample called NoDb in the samples zip available on the breeze website. This sample does not use EF, but it does use WebApi. So I'd start by looking there. ( additional documentation on this sample should be added within a day or two as well).
In terms of using ServiceStack instead of WebApi, breeze supports the concept of a "dataServiceAdapter" and currently ships with two, an OData adapter and a WebApi adapter. It is certainly possible to write a ServiceStack adapter that breeze could use but this is not trivial. Please add this as a feature request ( and vote for it) on the breeze User Voice. We take these requests seriously.

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