Mixpanel is a great analitics platform, but unfortunetally there are no official integration library for .NET. So if you are writing code on .NET and want to use Mixpanel, then mixpanel-csharp can be an excellent choise. mixpanel-csharp main idea is to hide most api details (you don't need to remember what time formatting to use, or in which cases you should prefix properties with $) and concentrate on data that you want to analize. It's also well documented, configurable and testable.
Sample usage:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.Track("Level Complete", new
{
DistinctId = "12345",
Time = new DateTime(2013, 9, 26, 22, 33, 44, DateTimeKind.Utc),
LevelNumber = 5
});This will send the following JSON to Mixpanel:
{
"event": "Level Complete",
"properties": {
"token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"distinct_id": "12345",
"time": 1380234824,
"LevelNumber": 5
}
}As you can see mixpanel-csharp made all dirty work for you. DistinctId is renamed to distinct_id, Time value is converted to UNIX time.
Maybe you don't like that LevelNumber is still in pascal case. This can be changed easily:
MixpanelConfig.Global.MixpanelPropertyNameFormat = MixpanelPropertyNameFormat.TitleCase;After that LevelNumber will be renamed to Level Number and the same rule will apply to all other properties.
Most mixpanel-csharp methods that send data to Mixpanel API has properties parameter of type object. This is a place where magic happens. You can choose between different types of objects.
###Dictionary
Just provide an object that inherits from IDictionary (or preferably IDictionary<string, object>):
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.Track("Level Complete", new Dictionary<string, object>
{
{"DistinctId", "12345"},
{"Level Number", 5},
{"Level Name": "First Dungeon"}
});If you use dictionaries, then rules for property name formatting will be not applied.
###Anonymous class
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.Track("Level Complete", new
{
DistinctId = "12345",
LevelNumber = 5,
LevelName = "First Dungeon"
});###Class with optional attributes
class LevelCompletionInfo
{
public string DistinctId { get; set; }
public int LevelNumber { get; set; }
public string LevelName { get; set; }
}
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.Track("Level Complete", new LevelCompletionInfo
{
DistinctId = "12345",
LevelNumber = 5,
LevelName = "First Dungeon"
});If you already have some existing classes, you can use them too. mixpanel-csharp respects DataContract, DataMember and IgnoreDataMember attributes. There is also MixpanelName attribute. With use of these attributes you can do a lot of things:
[DataContract]
class LevelCompletionInfo
{
[MixpanelName(MixpanelProperty.DistinctId)]
[DataMember(Name = "user_id")]
public string UserId { get; set; }
[DataMember(Name = "level_number")]
public int LevelNumber { get; set; }
[MixpanelName("Level Name")]
[DataMember(Name = "level_name")]
public string LevelName { get; set; }
[IgnoreDataMember]
public string IgnoredProperty { get; set; }
public decimal AnotherIgnoredProperty { get; set }
}How such class will be parsed?
| Property Name | Parse preocess |
|---|---|
| UserId | Has two attributes but MixpanelName has greater priority than DataMember, so the value will be MixpanelProperty.DistinctId |
| LevelNumber | DataMember will be used, so the value will be "level_number" |
| LevelName | MixpanelName will be used, the value will be "Level Name" |
| IgnoredProperty | Ignored because of IgnoreDataMember attribute |
| AnotherIgnoredProperty | ignored because it's not a part of DataContract |
##Supported data types
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| All value types except structs | Check the [list of C# value types] (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bfft1t3c.aspx) |
| String | Passed as is |
| DateTime | First converted to UTC (if needed) and then to Mixpanel date format 'YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss' |
| Guid | Converted to string using default ToString() method |
| IEnumerable | Converted to Mixpanel list, if items are of supported types listed above |
##Configuration
You can easily configure mixpanel-csharp. Configuration is done using MixpanelConfig class. You can use global configuration with MixpanelConfig.Global or create an instance of MixpanelConfigand pass it to constructor of MixpanelClient. In case when same property is set in global and local configuration, local one is used.
###JSON Serializer
mixpanel-csharp uses Microsoft's JavaScriptSerializer by default and it was choosen just to keep the project dependency free. It's highly recommended that you use some other(faster) JSON serializer.
TODO: JSON.NET example
###HTTP POST Method
If by some reason deafult HTTP POST method is not good for you you can provide your own implementation:
public bool MixpanelHttpPost(string url, string formData)
{
// Your code here...
}
MixpanelConfig.Global.HttpPostFn = MixpanelHttpPost;###Error Logging
All methods in mixpanel-csharp catch all exceptions and if you do not configure error logging you never know if something is wrong.
public void LogMixpanelErrors(string message, Exception exception)
{
// Error logging code...
}
MixpanelConfig.Global.ErrorLogFn = LogMixpanelErrors;###Custom Property Name Formatting You can control how property names are formatted.
MixpanelConfig.Global.MixpanelPropertyNameFormat = MixpanelPropertyNameFormat.TitleCase;There are following formatting options:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| None | No formatting is applied. This is default option. |
| SentenceCase | Property name will be parsed in sentence with only first word capitalized. "VeryLongProperty" -> "Very long property" |
| TitleCase | Property name will be parsed in sentence with all words capitalized. "VeryLongProperty" -> "Very Long Property" |
| LowerCase | Property name will be parsed in sentence with no words capitalized. "VeryLongProperty" -> "very long property" |
If class property has
DataMemberattribute withNameproperty set orMixpanelNameattribute, then property name formatting is ignored.
mixpanel-csharp supports both Mixpanel data types: events and profile updates. There are separate methods for each data type.
public bool Track(string @event, object properties)
public bool Track(string @event, object distinctId, object properties)Example:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.Track("Level Complete", new {
DistinctId = "12345",
Ip = "111.111.111.111",
Time = new DateTime(2013, 11, 30, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc),
LevelNumber = 5,
LevelName = "Super hard level"
});JSON that will be sent to http://api.mixpanel.com/track/:
{
"event": "Level Complete",
"properties": {
"token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"distinct_id": "12345",
"ip": "111.111.111.111",
"time": 1385769600,
"LevelNumber": 5,
"LevelName": "Super hard level"
}
}###Alias
public bool Alias(object distinctId, object alias)Example:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.Alias("12345", "67890");JSON that will be sent to http://api.mixpanel.com/track/:
{
"event": "$create_alias",
"properties": {
"token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"distinct_id": "12345",
"alias": "67890"
}
}###People Set
public bool PeopleSet(object properties)
public bool PeopleSet(object distinctId, object properties)Example:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.PeopleSet(new {
DistinctId = "12345",
Ip = "111.111.111.111",
Time = new DateTime(2013, 11, 30, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc),
IgnoreTime = true,
FirstName = "Darth",
LastName = "Vader",
Name = "Darth Vader",
Created = new DateTime(2014, 10, 22, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc),
Email = "darth.vader@gmail.com",
Phone = "123456",
Sex = "M",
Kills = 215
});JSON that will be sent to http://api.mixpanel.com/engage/:
{
"$token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"$distinct_id": "12345",
"$ip": "111.111.111.111",
"$time": 1385769600,
"$ignore_time": true,
"$set": {
"$first_name": "Darth",
"$last_name": "Vader",
"$name": "Darth Vader",
"$created": "2014-10-22T00:00:00",
"$email": "darth.vader@gmail.com",
"$phone": "123456",
"Sex": "M",
"Kills": 215
}
}###People Set Once
public bool PeopleSetOnce(object properties)
public bool PeopleSetOnce(object distinctId, object properties)Example:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.PeopleSetOnce(new {
DistinctId = "12345",
FirstLogin = new DateTime(2014, 10, 22, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc)
});JSON that will be sent to http://api.mixpanel.com/engage/:
{
"$token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"$distinct_id": "12345",
"$set_once": {
"FirstLogin": "2014-10-22T00:00:00"
}
}###People Add
public bool PeopleAdd(object properties)
public bool PeopleAdd(object distinctId, object properties)When parsing properties object only numeric properties will be processed, all other types will be ignored.
Example:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.PeopleAdd(new {
DistinctId = "12345",
TransactionsCount = 1,
MoneySpent = 24.99M
});JSON that will be sent to http://api.mixpanel.com/engage/:
{
"$token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"$distinct_id": "12345",
"$add": {
"TransactionsCount": 1,
"MoneySpent": 24.99
}
}###People Append
public bool PeopleAppend(object properties)
public bool PeopleAppend(object distinctId, object properties)Example:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.PeopleAppend(new {
DistinctId = "12345",
PowerUps = "Bubble Lead",
ItemIds = 1568
});JSON that will be sent to http://api.mixpanel.com/engage/:
{
"$token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"$distinct_id": "12345",
"$append": {
"PowerUps": "Bubble Lead",
"ItemIds": 1568
}
}###People Union
public bool PeopleUnion(object properties)
public bool PeopleUnion(object distinctId, object properties)When parsing properties object only collection type properties will be processed, all other types will be ignored.
Example:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.PeopleUnion(new {
DistinctId = "12345",
PowerUps = new [] { "Bubble Lead", "Super Mushroom" },
ItemIds = new [] { 1568, 7653 }
});JSON that will be sent to http://api.mixpanel.com/engage/:
{
"$token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"$distinct_id": "12345",
"$union": {
"PowerUps": ["Bubble Lead", "Super Mushroom"],
"ItemIds": [1568, 7653]
}
}###People Unset
public bool PeopleUnset(IEnumerable<string> propertyNames)
public bool PeopleUnset(object distinctId, IEnumerable<string> propertyNames)Example:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.PeopleUnset("12345", new [] { "Days Overdue" });JSON that will be sent to http://api.mixpanel.com/engage/:
{
"$token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"$distinct_id": "12345",
"$unset": ["Days Overdue"]
}###People Delete
public bool PeopleDelete(object distinctId)Example:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.PeopleDelete("12345");JSON that will be sent to http://api.mixpanel.com/engage/:
{
"$token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"$distinct_id": "12345",
"$delete": ""
}###People Track Charge
public bool PeopleTrackCharge(object distinctId, decimal amount)
public bool PeopleTrackCharge(object distinctId, decimal amount, DateTime time)Example:
var mc = new MixpanelClient("e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc");
mc.PeopleTrackCharge("12345", 24.99M, new DateTime(2014, 10, 22, 0, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc));JSON that will be sent to http://api.mixpanel.com/engage/:
{
"$token": "e3bc4100330c35722740fb8c6f5abddc",
"$distinct_id": "12345",
"$append": {
"$transactions": {
"$amount": 24.99,
"$time": "2014-10-22T00:00:00"
}
}
}