Reading FromUri and FromBody at the same time

Question

I have a new method in web api

[HttpPost]
public ApiResponse PushMessage( [FromUri] string x, [FromUri] string y, [FromBody] Request Request)

where request class is like

public class Request
{
    public string Message { get; set; }
    public bool TestingMode { get; set; }
}

I'm making a query to localhost/Pusher/PushMessage?x=foo&y=bar with PostBody:

{ Message: "foobar" , TestingMode:true }

Am i missing something?

Dribble

Answer 1

A post body is typically a URI string like this:

Message=foobar&TestingMode=true

You have to make sure that the HTTP header contains

Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

EDIT: Because it's still not working, I created a full example myself.
It prints the correct data.
I also used .NET 4.5 RC.

// server-side
public class ValuesController : ApiController {
    [HttpPost]
    public string PushMessage([FromUri] string x, [FromUri] string y, [FromBody] Person p) {
        return p.ToString();
    }
}

public class Person {
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }

    public override string ToString() {
        return this.Name + ": " + this.Age;
    }
}

// client-side
public class Program {
    private static readonly string URL = "http://localhost:6299/api/values/PushMessage?x=asd&y=qwe";

    public static void Main(string[] args) {
        NameValueCollection data = new NameValueCollection();
        data.Add("Name", "Johannes");
        data.Add("Age", "24");

        WebClient client = new WebClient();
        client.UploadValuesCompleted += UploadValuesCompleted;
        client.Headers["Content-Type"] = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
        Task t = client.UploadValuesTaskAsync(new Uri(URL), "POST", data);
        t.Wait();
    }

    private static void UploadValuesCompleted(object sender, UploadValuesCompletedEventArgs e) {
        Console.WriteLine(Encoding.ASCII.GetString(e.Result));
    }
}

Rebus

It is true only if I use mvc structure. However this is web api so the binding is different than mvc. But thanks for your reply! – Dribble

Ensure that the HTTP header contains Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded. – Rebus

You are not able to post like plain text to web api mvc :S – Dribble

Using this in your HTTP header Web API should understand that you have an url-encoded body. Could you please share your HTTP Header? – Rebus

WebClient client = new WebClient(); client.UploadStringCompleted += client_UploadStringCompleted; client.Headers["Content-Type"] = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"; client.UploadStringAsync(new Uri(URL), "POST", "ApplicationKey=asdasda&PusherKey=asdasdasd"); to test out your suggestion I have created a new method like public ApiResponse PushMessage(string ApplicationKey, string PusherKey) but it didn't work either because binding has changed in RC. It gives internal server error. – Dribble

Ohh i overlooked the fact that you make your request to localhost/Pusher/PushMessage, but WebAPI doesn't use the method name, it identifies the method by http method and params. So try to request localhost/Pusher. – Rebus

if you give a special name to a method you may able to use it. This actually works public ApiResponse PushMessage(Request request){ } I could able to make a query. – Dribble

I provided a full example (see updated answer). Maybe it can help you. – Rebus

What if x and y are properties of the Person class? Can we get these properties FromUri and the other properties FromBody? – Unprincipled

You mean send half of the Person in the URI and the other half in the body? I don't know, but I doubt it. Is there any use case for this? – Rebus

Why should the content-type be application/x-www-form-urlencoded? I thought that was for requests with url params, and multipart/form-data should be used if there is any non-text body data. That said, I've tried both in this situation and only application/x-www-form-urlencoded works, I would just like to know the explanation. – Hooknose

application/x-www-form-urlencoded is for simple data that is sent in the body of the HTTP message and has the form key1=value1&key2=value2. As you correctly said multipart/form-data is for uploading blobs and requires a different format in the HTTP body (Google found this here). – Rebus

This didn't work for my WebApi, my problem was that the body was missing prefix "=", see https://mcmap.net/q/121457/-post-string-to-asp-net-web-api-application-returns-null – Isometrics

Answer 2

The Web API uses naming regulations. The method for a post should be started with Post.

You should rename your PushMessage to method name PostMessage.

Also the web api defaulty listens (depending on your route) to 'api/values/Message' and not to Pusher/Pushmessage.

[HttpPost] attribute is not required

Brittain

The method for a post should be started with Post. : Not required – Blowout

This answer is wrong. The method needs 'Post' in name only when there is no [HttpPost] attribute. – Affettuoso

Answer 3

You may use following code to post json in request body:

var httpClient = new HttpClient();
httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));

Request request = new Request();
HttpResponseMessage response = httpClient.PostAsJsonAsync("http://localhost/Pusher/PushMessage?x=foo&y=bar", request).Result;

//check if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
var createResult = response.Content.ReadAsAsync<YourResultObject>().Result;

Syllogize