FluentCron 1.0.0

FluentCron

Stop writing cron expressions by hand. Build them with a fluent API instead.

// Instead of this:
var cron = "0 9-17 * * 1-5";

// Write this:
var cron = new CronBuilder()
    .AtMinute(0)
    .HourRange(9, 17)
    .DayOfWeekRange(DayOfWeek.Monday, DayOfWeek.Friday)
    .Build();

Installation

dotnet add package FluentCron

Why?

• No more string errors - Type-safe cron expression building
• Unix & Quartz formats - Works with everything (crontab, Hangfire, Quartz.NET)
• Readable - Cron.Daily() beats "0 0 * * *" every time
• Tested - 370 tests including integration tests with Quartz.NET and Hangfire

Quick Examples

using FluentCron;

// Every 5 minutes
new CronBuilder().EveryNMinutes(5).Build();
// → */5 * * * *

// Weekdays at 9 AM
Cron.Weekdays(9, 0);
// → 0 9 * * 1,2,3,4,5

// Last Friday of the month at 6 PM (Quartz)
new CronBuilder(CronFormat.Quartz)
    .AtSecond(0)
    .AtMinute(0)
    .AtHour(18)
    .OnLastWeekdayOfMonth(DayOfWeek.Friday)
    .Build();
// → 0 0 18 ? * 6L *

Common Patterns

Daily Tasks

Cron.Daily();                    // Midnight
Cron.DailyAt(14, 30);           // 2:30 PM

Weekly Tasks

Cron.Weekly();                              // Sunday at midnight
Cron.WeeklyOn(DayOfWeek.Friday, 17, 0);    // Friday at 5 PM

Business Hours

new CronBuilder()
    .EveryNMinutes(15)
    .HourRange(9, 17)
    .OnDayOfWeek(DayOfWeek.Monday, DayOfWeek.Tuesday, 
                 DayOfWeek.Wednesday, DayOfWeek.Thursday, DayOfWeek.Friday)
    .Build();
// → */15 9-17 * * 1,2,3,4,5

Advanced Patterns

// Every 2 hours during business hours
new CronBuilder()
    .AtMinute(0)
    .HourRangeWithStep(9, 17, 2)
    .Build();
// → 0 9-17/2 * * *

// Second Tuesday of the month (Quartz)
new CronBuilder(CronFormat.Quartz)
    .AtSecond(0)
    .AtMinute(30)
    .AtHour(14)
    .OnNthWeekdayOfMonth(DayOfWeek.Tuesday, 2)
    .Build();
// → 0 30 14 ? * 3#2 *

Framework Integration

Hangfire

var cronExpression = new CronBuilder()
    .EveryNMinutes(5)
    .Build();

RecurringJob.AddOrUpdate(() => MyJob(), cronExpression);

Quartz.NET

var cronExpression = new CronBuilder(CronFormat.Quartz)
    .AtSecond(0)
    .EveryNMinutes(5)
    .Build();

var trigger = TriggerBuilder.Create()
    .WithCronSchedule(cronExpression)
    .Build();

NCrontab / System Cron

var cronExpression = new CronBuilder()
    .EveryNMinutes(5)
    .Build();

var schedule = CrontabSchedule.Parse(cronExpression);

API Overview

Time Fields

• AtSecond(0, 30) - Specific seconds (Quartz only)
• AtMinute(0, 15, 30, 45) - Specific minutes
• AtHour(9, 17) - Specific hours
• OnDayOfMonth(1, 15) - Specific days
• InMonth(1, 6, 12) - Specific months
• OnDayOfWeek(DayOfWeek.Monday) - Specific weekdays

Intervals

• EveryNSeconds(10) - Every 10 seconds (Quartz only)
• EveryNMinutes(5) - Every 5 minutes
• EveryNHours(2) - Every 2 hours
• EveryNDays(3) - Every 3 days

Ranges

• MinuteRange(10, 40) - Minutes 10-40
• HourRange(9, 17) - Hours 9-17
• DayRange(1, 15) - Days 1-15
• MonthRange(6, 8) - Months 6-8 (June-August)
• DayOfWeekRange(DayOfWeek.Monday, DayOfWeek.Friday) - Monday-Friday

Ranges with Steps

• MinuteRangeWithStep(10, 40, 5) - Every 5 minutes between 10-40
• HourRangeWithStep(9, 17, 2) - Every 2 hours between 9 AM-5 PM

Quartz Special Characters

• OnLastDayOfMonth() - Last day of month (L)
• OnNearestWeekday(15) - Nearest weekday to the 15th (15W)
• OnLastWeekdayOfMonth(DayOfWeek.Friday) - Last Friday (6L)
• OnNthWeekdayOfMonth(DayOfWeek.Tuesday, 2) - 2nd Tuesday (3#2)
• OnLastWeekday() - Last weekday of month (LW)

Formats

Unix (Default)

5 fields: minute hour day month weekday

new CronBuilder().EveryNMinutes(5).Build();
// → */5 * * * *

Quartz

7 fields: second minute hour day month weekday year

new CronBuilder(CronFormat.Quartz).EveryNMinutes(5).Build();
// → 0 */5 * * * ? *

Error Handling

FluentCron validates everything at build time:

// This will throw ArgumentOutOfRangeException
new CronBuilder().AtMinute(99).Build();  // Minutes must be 0-59

// This will throw InvalidOperationException
new CronBuilder(CronFormat.Unix).AtSecond(0).Build();  // Seconds only in Quartz

// This will throw ArgumentException
new CronBuilder().OnDayOfWeek().Build();  // Must specify at least one day

Testing

370 comprehensive tests including:

• Unit tests for all features
• Integration tests with Quartz.NET
• Integration tests with Hangfire
• Edge case and validation tests

Run tests:

dotnet test

License

MIT - see LICENSE file

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome! This is a straightforward library - if you need a feature, open an issue first to discuss.

Built with ❤️ by Yigitalp Kilavuz