Monitoring your apps with Sentry in .NET MAUI

⚠ Save the DSN endpoint that this step shows you; you’ll need it for the Visual Studio implementation.

Step 3⃣: Implementing Sentry in our MAUI App

Open your MAUI project in Visual Studio. For this demonstration, I created one named “SentrySample”.

🔧 Initial setup

➖ From the NuGet Package, add the Sentry.Maui package to your project.

➖ Go to your MauiProgram.cs file

In the CreateMauiApp method, find the .UseMauiApp<App>() line. Right below it, add UserSentry(). This function has various useful overloads to explore. However, in this article, we will focus on the one that uses a DSN as a parameter.

What is the DSN?

The DSN (Data Source Name) in Sentry acts as a distinctive identifier for the data source of a specific project. It facilitates the direct linking of events from your application to the corresponding Sentry project. This “address” instructs Sentry on how to organize and store incoming data. Essentially, it guarantees that error and performance metrics from your application are correctly channeled to the right project within your Sentry account.

Let’s implement it in code

Do you remember the endpoint DSN saved in the previous step? Add it in this method.

Initiating the App Monitoring

With your initial configuration in place, you’re all set to begin monitoring the various events and scenarios in your app.

Where should you start with your monitoring? Here’s my recommendation:

🔹 Begin with a pre-established document outlining the specific events or scenarios you want to track.

🔹 Assign unique identifiers for each scenario within this document. It’s essential to use clear and intuitive naming so it’s easily understandable to anyone reviewing it. For instance, if you aim to track when a user logs in via Facebook, a potential identifier might be “facebook_login,” accompanied by pertinent data like the user’s name and email.

Exploring App Monitoring  available methods

Now that our monitoring scenarios are set up, let’s dive into the various methods provided by the SentrySdk. In this guide, I’ll introduce you to some of the main Sentry methods:

➖ CaptureMessage

While Sentry SDKs don’t auto-capture messages, this method enables manual submission of textual information to Sentry, enhancing monitoring precision.

It receives the following parameters:

🔹 Message: Is the message to send. – Receives a string as a value – [Mandatory]

🔹 SentryLevel: Allows you to define the level of severity or importance of the event that is sent to Sentry. It’s important to specify the appropriate level, as it allows us to ensure that messages are prioritized and categorized correctly within the Sentry system.  [Optional]

It’s an Enum that contains the following values:

▪ Debug: Offers insights for debugging purposes, detailing the inner workings or state of the system.

▪ Info: Provides general informational messages that signify normal, non-error events.

▪ Warning: Flags potential problems or unusual occurrences that don’t currently impact functionality but may do so in the future.

▪ Error: Highlights a significant issue, which though not fatal, may impede functionality.

▪ Fatal: Indicates a critical error that might cause the system to terminate.

How can we implement this in code?

➖ CaptureException

Enables you to capture exceptions that arise within your app.

🔹 Exception: Capturers a exception. – [Mandatory]

🔹 Configure scope:  It allows you to define a specific context for exceptions that you forward to Sentry. In your report, you can include details such as the severity of the error and assign specific tags, among others. I will provide an example that showcases some essential configurations, and we invite you to further explore its capabilities.

➖ CaptureEvent

Allows you to capture the monitoring of an event. This method accepts data of the SentryEvent type. You can include various essential details for your monitoring, such as the error level, a message, and more. I encourage you to delve deeper into its features.

How can we implement it in code?

We have explored some of the main methods. I invite you to continue delving deeper into others.

⚠ Some of these methods necessitate capturing detailed user information, like their email or name. In such cases, it’s crucial to inform the user about the collection of their data.

Getting Familiar with the Sentry Dashboard

At last, you’ll discover where to view all the data you’ve been monitoring! Let’s start with a straightforward example: capturing a message that we’ll then observe on the Sentry Dashboard.

Creating the example

I’ll demonstrate using the default .NET MAUI application as an example. Head to MainPage.xaml.cs—I’ll be working with the built-in counter code. Further, we’ll incorporate Sentry’s CaptureMessage function, as outlined below:

To get information for Sentry, it’s important that you run the application and click the counter button.

Entering to the dashboard

In your Sentry Dashboard, navigate to Issues. A list of your monitoring records will promptly display. While other examples might appear in this segment, let’s concentrate on the entry we generated earlier—highlighted with pink lines—that reads, “You clicked the counter button 1 time”. 

Click on the highlighted item. On this page, you can view the record’s comprehensive details, including the name of the originating application, the .NET version in use at the time of the record’s creation, the operating system version, and of course, the message you sent, among others information. There is a wealth of crucial information here that warrants your attention and that will allow you to make decisions in your app. Scroll through to take it all in!

Here’s a glimpse of what it looks like:

🚀 Voilà! You’re now all set to monitor your .NET MAUI applications with Sentry. Keep building awesome apps and enjoy the peace of mind Sentry provides!  📖🙌

Spanish post:

• https://es.askxammy.com/monitoreando-tus-aplicaciones-con-sentry-en-net-maui

References:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-50zH8fqYA

Thanks for reading my article! 💚💕