Raphael.Tcp.Tools 2.0.1

Raphael.Tcp.Tools

Self-contained protoc build-time tooling that generates synchronous TCP packet-handler service bases — plus the C# message classes — from your .proto files, instead of gRPC's HTTP/2 async stubs.

It ships its own protoc, a forked grpc_csharp_plugin (gRPC's C# code generator, modified) and the well-known-type proto includes, so a service in a .proto becomes a top-level abstract handler base you implement on a raw TCP packet server — no HTTP/2, no ServerCallContext, no async Task<T>, and no Grpc.Tools dependency.

For each unary rpc Ping (PingRequest) returns (PongReply) it emits:

public abstract partial class GunHandlerBase : global::MyApp.Net.IPacketHandler
{
    [PacketHandler(MsgId.PingRequest, MsgId.PongReply)]
    public virtual PongReply Ping(PingRequest request, Connection connection)
        => throw new NotImplementedException("Ping is not implemented.");
}

• no static wrapper service class is generated;
• handler class name is <ServiceNameWithoutService>HandlerBase (for example, GunService → GunHandlerBase);
• the method is synchronous (returns the response, not Task<T>);
• it receives your Connection instead of gRPC's ServerCallContext;
• a google.protobuf.Empty response maps to a void handler with no ReplyMsgId (the explicit "no canonical auto-reply" signal — the handler pushes any packets itself via the Connection).

Zero-config default

With no MSBuild properties set, the generator assumes everything lives in the proto's own csharp_namespace:

• handler/attribute/connection types default to <csharp_namespace>.IPacketHandler, <csharp_namespace>.PacketHandlerAttribute, <csharp_namespace>.Connection;
• MsgId members are the exact message type names — PingRequest, PongReply, etc. (no prefix, no CS_/SC_ rewriting);
• the MsgId enum itself is <csharp_namespace>.MsgId;
• generated files land in the obj/ root.

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Raphael.Tcp.Tools" Version="2.0.0" />
  <PackageReference Include="Google.Protobuf" Version="3.27.0" /> 
  <Protobuf Include="protos\**\*.proto" />
</ItemGroup>

Your project must define the four referenced types (IPacketHandler, PacketHandlerAttribute, Connection, and a MsgId enum whose members match the generated names) in the proto's csharp_namespace.

Customization

Everything above is overridable from the consuming project's PropertyGroup. Every property is optional — set only what you need. The block below shows the complete set of configurable properties:

<PropertyGroup>
  
  
  <TcpIPacketHandler>Custom.Server.IPacketHandler</TcpIPacketHandler>
  <TcpPacketHandlerAttr>Custom.Server.PacketHandlerAttribute</TcpPacketHandlerAttr>
  <TcpConnection>Custom.Server.Connection</TcpConnection>

  
  <TcpMsgId>Custom.Server.PacketTypes</TcpMsgId>

  
  
  <TcpMsgIdPrefix>Msg</TcpMsgIdPrefix>

  
  <TcpNormalizeCsScPrefix>true</TcpNormalizeCsScPrefix>

  
  
  <TcpOutDir>Generated</TcpOutDir>

  
  <TcpProtoDir>$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\protos</TcpProtoDir>

  
  
  <TcpProtocExe>$(MyTools)\protoc.exe</TcpProtocExe>
  <TcpPluginExe>$(MyTools)\grpc_csharp_plugin.exe</TcpPluginExe>
</PropertyGroup>

Inputs are read from your <Protobuf Include="..." /> items by default. Generated files are compiled automatically, regenerated on build, and need not be committed.

Platform support

Windows-x64 only in this version. On other platforms the build fails with a clear error. To use it elsewhere, build protoc and the forked plugin for your platform and set TcpProtocExe / TcpPluginExe.

Requirements

• A [PacketHandler] attribute whose constructor accepts (MsgId request) and (MsgId request, MsgId reply).
• MsgId enum members matching the generated names:
  • default: the exact message type name;
  • with TcpMsgIdPrefix: <prefix><MessageName>;
  • with TcpNormalizeCsScPrefix: a leading CS_/SC_ becomes Cs/Sc.
• Streaming rpcs are skipped (unary only).

License

Apache-2.0 (this is a fork of grpc/grpc).