B3.Blicks.Contracts

The Blick contract — the seam between a B3 app shell and the runtime-loaded Blicks it composes. This assembly is shared: it is loaded into the shell's default AssemblyLoadContext and referenced by every Blick, so a single type identity for IBlick holds across the shell and all Blicks. Keep it tiny and stable — churning it ripples to every Blick.

The contract

public interface IBlick
{
    string Name { get; }
    string Version { get; }
    void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services); // runs during startup, BEFORE the host is built
    IEnumerable<BlickNavItem> GetNavItems();              // menu entries
    IEnumerable<BlickWidget>  GetWidgets();               // embeddable components (e.g. dashboard tiles)
}

public record BlickNavItem(string Label, string? Route = null, string? Icon = null, IReadOnlyList<BlickNavItem>? Children = null);
public record BlickWidget(string Title, Type ComponentType);

Navigation: one tree, any layout

GetNavItems() returns the top-level entries; each may carry Children, so navigation is a tree. The shell maps that one tree onto whichever layout it uses:

• Left-nav with section headers — a top-level group (Children set, no Route) renders as a section header; its children render as links.
• Multi-level top ("fat") menu — the same group renders as a menu with a fly-out; deeper Children nest further.

A Blick declares its navigation once and it renders in either shell style.

GetNavItems() => new[]
{
    new BlickNavItem("Dashboard", "/"),                                 // leaf  -> link
    new BlickNavItem("Reports", Icon: "bi-graph-up", Children: new[]    // group -> section / parent
    {
        new BlickNavItem("Daily",   "/reports/daily"),
        new BlickNavItem("Monthly", "/reports/monthly"),
    }),
};

Making an RCL a Blick

1. Create a Razor Class Library: <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Razor">.
2. Reference this package: <PackageReference Include="B3.Blicks.Contracts" Version="x.y.z" />.
3. Import the packaging convention so it publishes correctly: <Import Project="…/src/Blick.pack.props" /> (see src/Blick.pack.props).
4. Implement exactly one IBlick, add routable @page components, and put static assets in wwwroot/ (they ship in the package and the resolver serves them at _content/{AssemblyName}/).

dotnet pack then produces a Blick package for the BlickServer registry (API at api.blicks.b3soft.net, the proprietary HTTP+JSON registry that serves the bytes). See docs/USAGE.md for the full authoring + publish flow and B3.Blicks.Resolver's README for how the shell loads it.