How to create and test Azure Functions using Azure Portal

Introduction:

Azure Functions is a solution for easily running small pieces of code in the cloud. We can create, execute, and test our custom logic function without creating a VM or web applications and also without needing to install any software or infrastructure to run the function. In this article, you will learn about create and test azure functions using azure Portal.

Steps to Create Azure Functions:

Step 1

Navigate to https://functions.azure.com and click on “Login in to your account".

Step 2:

We should be following two ways to create Azure Functions

• Navigate to https://functions.azure.com and Provide Azure Functions details and create the Azure Functions.

• Navigate to https://portal.azure.com , Click on New from Azure portal > Web + Mobile >Click on see All or Search > Function App

Step 3: Create Azure Functions App:

Provide the functions App Name and following details for create new functions

1. App Name – Provide your Unique functions name
2. Subscriptions – Select your subscription Free or any type
3. Resource Group -create or select existing resource group name.
4. Hosting Plan – You can Select default hosting plan as consumption plan, you have to pay only for the time functions code runs.
5. Location – Select Your nearest location (eg. South Central US).
6. Storage Account – You can Select or existing storage account.

Step 4:

Click on create and wait for a few minutes to deploy the new Azure Function app.  Expand your new function app and click the + button next to Functions.

Step 5:

After clicking on + button, you will get the following screen, select WebHook + API, choose a language for your function, and click on Create this function.

Step 6: Azure Functions Editor

The .csx file format allows you to write a C# function. Include any assembly references and namespaces at the beginning of the file as usual in C# and write your logic in Run method, just like below.

Step 7:

Run and Test Azure Functions:

You can provide JSON string like the following in the request body and Click on the Run button for test the Azure Functions

Testing in Web Browser:

The web browser is a simple way to trigger functions via HTTP. You can use a browser for GET requests that do not require a body payload, and that use only query string parameters.

To test the function we defined earlier, copy the Function Url from the Azure function portal like below

Append the name parameter to the query string. Use an actual name for the <Enter a name here> placeholder.

https://<Your Function App>.azurewebsites.net/api/<Your Function Name>?code=<your access code>&name=<Enter a name here>, Paste the URL into your browser, and you should get a response similar to the following.

Related Article:

1. Getting Started with Azure Functions Using Azure Free Trial Account

Summary:

In this article, you learned about Azure Functions, how to create and test Azure Functions in Azure Portal.

If you have any questions/ feedback/ issues, please write in the comment box.

Getting Started with Microsoft Azure Functions using Visual Studio 2017

Introduction:

Azure Functions is a solution for easily running small pieces of code in the cloud. We can create, execute, and test our custom logic function without creating a VM or web applications and also without needing to install any software or infrastructure to run the function.

In this article, you will learn about create, test, debug and deploy azure functions using Visual Studio 2017. Azure Functions tools are available as part of the Azure development workload in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.3, or a later version.

Prerequisites:

1. Download and Install Visual 2017 version 15.3 .
2. If you already Installed Visual Studio 2017, Update Visual Studio from Extensions and updates

Open Visual Studio 2017 > Tools > Extensions and Updates > Select product Updates under the Products category and select Visual studio update 15.3 preview 7.0 version and click on update

Step 1: Create Azure Functions Project in Visual Studio 2017

Open Visual Studio 2017 Preview 15.3 > Select File >click on New Project (Ctrl +Shift +N) > Select on Visual C# >Click on Cloud > select Azure Functions, type a Name for your project, and click on OK

Step 2: Create New Function

Azure Functions Solution will generate like below with host.json and locl.settings.json file .

In Solution Explorer, right-click on your Azure function project and select Add > New Item. Select Azure Function and click Add.

Select HttpTrigger as Azure Function type, select Functions for Access Rights, and click Create. The function created is accessed by an HTTP request from any client.

After click on Ok, will generates a new class with a Static Run method, that is attributed with [FunctionName] attribute. The [FunctionName] attribute indicates that the method is the entry for an Azure Function

using System.Linq; using System.Net; using System.Net.Http; using System.Threading.Tasks; using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs; using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Extensions.Http; using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Host; namespace DevEnv_AzureFunctionsDemo {    public static class DemoFunctions    {        [FunctionName("DemoFunctions")]        public static async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Run([HttpTrigger(AuthorizationLevel.Function, "get", "post", Route = null)]HttpRequestMessage req, TraceWriter log)        {            log.Info("C# HTTP trigger function processed a request.");            // parse query parameter            string name = req.GetQueryNameValuePairs()                .FirstOrDefault(q => string.Compare(q.Key, "name", true) == 0)                .Value;            // Get request body            dynamic data = await req.Content.ReadAsAsync<object>();            // Set name to query string or body data            name = name ?? data?.name;            return name == null                ? req.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest, "Please pass a name on the query string or in the request body")                : req.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, "Hello " + name + "Welcome C# Corner ");        }    } }

Step 3: Azure Functions Test:

You can Press F5 for run, test and debug your azure function, if prompted, accept the request from Visual Studio to download and install Azure Functions Core (CLI) tools. You may also need to enable a firewall exception so that the tools can handle HTTP requests.

Copy the Azure function local deploy url on runtime output window

Append the name parameter to the query string. Use an actual name for the <Enter a name here> placeholder.

https://<Local Host url> /api/<Your Function Name>? name=<Enter a name here>

Paste the URL into your browser, and you should get a response similar to the following.

If you are Function locally working as expected means, you can initiate to publish the project to Azure.

Step 4: Publish Project to Azure:

• If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before start deploy azure function.
• In Solution Explorer, right-click the project and select Publish. Choose Create New and then click on Publish.

• If you haven't already connected Visual Studio to your Azure account, click Add an Account and Provide the login details and connect
• In the Create App Service dialog, provide Hosting settings as specified below

Click Create to create a function app in Azure with these settings. After the provisioning is complete, make a note of the Site URL value, which is the address of your function app in Azure.

Copy the base URL of the function app from the Publish profile page. Replace the localhost:port of the URL you used when testing the function locally with the new base URL. As before, make sure to append the query string with &name=<yourname> to this URL and execute the request.

Related Article:

1. Getting Started With Azure Functions Using Azure Free Trial Account
2. How to Create and Test Azure Functions Using Azure Portal

Summary:

In this article, you learned about Azure Functions and how to create, test, publish Azure Functions using visual studio 2017.

If you have any questions/ feedback/ issues, please write in the comment box.