How to create a webhook listener in VB?

Question

I want to use VB to create a webhook listener to consume messages from a service. The service does not have a listing in Nuget under Microsoft.AspNet.WebHooks.Receivers.*. The service requires an SSL certificate from an approved root authority. The system must listen on one of a few ports in their list. The service will be listen locally, not on Azure or any other service.

I have little idea of how to do this and so i have some very basic questions. Any additional guidance would be much appreciated.

1) Do i need to install IIS, or will the visual studio solution itself listen?

2) Must it be an AspNet project, or can i do this as a normal VB.Net project?

3) Is there a barebones example of a webhook listener? That is, what are the basics of listening in code?

Answer 1

Hi @Boruch Tkatch ,

1) Do i need to install IIS, or will the visual studio solution itself listen?
2) Must it be an AspNet project, or can i do this as a normal VB.Net project?

As far as I think,they are accroding to your requirment. If you use webhook only for yourself,you could create a normal project and the visual studio listen. And if you use it for Internet, I suggest you could create a mvc or webapi project and you need to install IIS.

3) Is there a barebones example of a webhook listener? That is, what are the basics of listening in code?

There is a example of a webhook listener using web service:

[WebMethod]  
[ScriptMethod(ResponseFormat = ResponseFormat.Json)]  
public void WebHookDataRecieve() //This method is called from Amazon Simple Notification Service when we receive a bounce.  
{  
 string notification = "";  
 using (var stream = new MemoryStream())  
 {  
   var request = HttpContext.Current.Request;  
   request.InputStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);  
   request.InputStream.CopyTo(stream);  
   notification = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(stream.ToArray());//All of your data will be here in JSON format.  
   //Simply parse it and access the data.  
   }  
}  

The basics are connecting with port and the data coming in JSON format from server.

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Yijing Sun

Answer 2

Thank you for replying. Please help me ascertain if i understood you correctly.

As far as I think,they are accroding to your requirment. If you use webhook only for yourself,you could create a normal project and the visual studio listen. And if you use it for Internet, I suggest you could create a mvc or webapi project and you need to install IIS.

We are using the Internet, as the broadcaster is a service over the Internet. So, i need to setup IIS. To that end, i installed IIS and changed the Bindings on "Default Web Site" from http on port 80 to https on port 3433. Is there anything else i need to do in IIS?

There is a example of a webhook listener using web service:

1) Create New Project->ASP.NET Web Application (.NET Framework)->Web API (Configure for HTTPS)
2) Project->Add References...->System.Web.Services
3) Project->Add Class...->Module
4) I converted the example code to VB:

Imports System.IO  

Module Main  

    <Services.WebMethod>  
    Public Sub WebHookDataRecieve()  
        Dim Notification As String = ""  

        Using Stream = New MemoryStream()  
            Dim Request = HttpContext.Current.Request  
            Request.InputStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin)  
            Request.InputStream.CopyTo(Stream)  
            Notification = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(Stream.ToArray()) 'All of your data will be here in JSON format.  
            'Simply parse it and access the data.  
        End Using  
    End Sub  

End Module  

I left out "ScriptMethod(ResponseFormat = ResponseFormat.Json)" as the documentation for ScriptMethodAttribute.ResponseFormat Property says of the ResponseFormat value:

One of the ResponseFormat values. The default is Json.

4) Project->(project-name) Properties->Web

• Don't open a page. Wait for a request from an external application.
• Project Url = https://localhost:3433/
• When prompted to create the virtual directory, clicked Yes

Is that correct?