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C# WebApi - Sending long text in HTTPRequest not working

I am working on a WebApp (Razor Pages) that work also as API Gateway. The WebApp get some data from another project (part of the same solution) that is a WebAPI.
The problem is that when I do an HTTPRequest to the WebAPI, if the request is not too long, the WebAPI will process it, but when I try to send a longer request (long in characters) it will reject it and send back a 404.
The WebApp is a basic CMS. So the app will provide to the user, the creation of Web pages. I am using a restful request model so a request will look like this:
string baseURL = #"https://localhost:5001";
public async Task<string> CreatePageAsync(string pageTitle, string pageBody, int? pageOrder, string userID)
{
if (pageTitle != null && pageBody != null && pageOrder != null && userID != null)
{
string fullURL = baseURL + $"/api/pages/create/page/title/{pageTitle}/body/{pageBody}/order/{pageOrder}/user/{userID}";
var request = new HttpRequestMessage(HttpMethod.Post, fullURL);
HttpResponseMessage response = await _httpClient.SendAsync(request);
if (!response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
return "error";
}
}
return "ok";
}
As you can imagine, the "pageBody" property is the one responsible for the length of the request. So, when I test the WebAPI with short words, it works just fine, but if I copy an article from the internet (Just text) and use it as the body (simulating the user's content), if it is a long one, it will return a 404.
On the other end, the WebAPI looks like this:
[HttpPost("Create/page/title/{pageTitle}/body/{pageBody}/order/{pageOrder}/user/{userID}")]
//[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public async Task<string> CreatePage(string pageTitle, string pageBody, int pageOrder, string userID) //[Bind("pageName,pageHead,pageBody,userID")]
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
DateTime now = DateTime.Now;
WebPage newPage = new WebPage()
{
PageID = _globalServices.GuidFromString(_globalServices.GetSeed()),
PageDateCreated = now,
PageDateUpdated = now,
PageOrder = pageOrder,
PageTitle = pageTitle,
PageBody = pageBody,
UserID = userID
};
try
{
await _pagesDBContext.Pages.AddAsync(newPage);
await _pagesDBContext.SaveChangesAsync();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
string message = "ERROR: Could not save to the database.\n";
return message + e.Message;
}
return "Page saved";
}
return "ERROR: Model invalid";
}
I am sending the request as simple text. I don't know if there is a better way.
Any ideas?

I don't have enough rep to comment but it looks like the maximum characters you can send in a GET request is 2,048.

How to test a controller POST method which returns no data in response content in .NET Core 3.1?

i am new to integration tests. I have a controller method which adds a user to the database, as shown below:
[HttpPost]
public async Task<IActionResult> CreateUserAsync([FromBody] CreateUserRequest request)
{
try
{
var command = new CreateUserCommand
{
Login = request.Login,
Password = request.Password,
FirstName = request.FirstName,
LastName = request.LastName,
MailAddress = request.MailAddress,
TokenOwnerInformation = User
};
await CommandBus.SendAsync(command);
return Ok();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
await HandleExceptionAsync(e);
return StatusCode(StatusCodes.Status500InternalServerError,
new {e.Message});
}
}
As you have noticed my method returns no information about the user which has been added to the database - it informs about the results of handling a certain request using the status codes. I have written an integration test to check is it working properly:
[Fact]
public async Task ShouldCreateUser()
{
// Arrange
var createUserRequest = new CreateUserRequest
{
Login = "testowyLogin",
Password = "testoweHaslo",
FirstName = "Aleksander",
LastName = "Kowalski",
MailAddress = "akowalski#onet.poczta.pl"
};
var serializedCreateUserRequest = SerializeObject(createUserRequest);
// Act
var response = await HttpClient.PostAsync(ApiRoutes.CreateUserAsyncRoute,
serializedCreateUserRequest);
// Assert
response
.StatusCode
.Should()
.Be(HttpStatusCode.OK);
}
I am not sure is it enough to assert just a status code of response returned from the server. I am confused because, i don't know, shall i attach to assert section code, which would get all the users and check does it contain created user for example. I don't even have any id of such a user because my application finds a new id for the user while adding him/her to the database. I also have no idea how to test methods like that:
[HttpGet("{userId:int}")]
public async Task<IActionResult> GetUserAsync([FromRoute] int userId)
{
try
{
var query = new GetUserQuery
{
UserId = userId,
TokenOwnerInformation = User
};
var user = await QueryBus
.SendAsync<GetUserQuery, UserDto>(query);
var result = user is null
? (IActionResult) NotFound(new
{
Message = (string) _stringLocalizer[UserConstants.UserNotFoundMessageKey]
})
: Ok(user);
return result;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
await HandleExceptionAsync(e);
return StatusCode(StatusCodes.Status500InternalServerError,
new {e.Message});
}
}
I believe i should somehow create a user firstly in Arrange section, get it's id and then use it in Act section with the GetUserAsync method called with the request sent by HttpClient. Again the same problem - no information about user is returned, after creation (by the way - it is not returned, because of my CQRS design in whole application - commands return no information). Could you please explain me how to write such a tests properly? Have i missed anything? Thanks for any help.

This is how I do it:
var response = (CreatedResult) await _controller.Post(createUserRequest);
response.StatusCode.Should().Be(StatusCodes.Status201Created);
The second line above is not necessary, just there for illustration.
Also, your response it's better when you return a 201 (Created) instead of the 200(OK) on Post verbs, like:
return Created($"api/users/{user.id}", user);
To test NotFound's:
var result = (NotFoundObjectResult) await _controller.Get(id);
result.StatusCode.Should().Be(StatusCodes.Status404NotFound);
The NotFoundObjectResult assumes you are returning something. If you are just responding with a 404 and no explanation, replace NotFoundObjectResult with a NotFoundResult.
And finally InternalServerErrors:
var result = (ObjectResult) await _controller.Get(id);
result.StatusCode.Should().Be(StatusCodes.Status500InternalServerError);

You can use integrationFixture for that using this NuGet package. This is an AutoFixture alternative for integration tests.
The documented examples use Get calls but you can do other calls too. Logically, you should test for the status code (OkObjectResult means 200) value and the response (which could be an empty string, that is no problem at all).
Here is the documented example for a normal Get call.
[Fact]
public async Task GetTest()
{
// arrange
using (var fixture = new Fixture<Startup>())
{
using (var mockServer = fixture.FreezeServer("Google"))
{
SetupStableServer(mockServer, "Response");
var controller = fixture.Create<SearchEngineController>();
// act
var response = await controller.GetNumberOfCharacters("Hoi");
// assert
var request = mockServer.LogEntries.Select(a => a.RequestMessage).Single();
Assert.Contains("Hoi", request.RawQuery);
Assert.Equal(8, ((OkObjectResult)response.Result).Value);
}
}
}
private void SetupStableServer(FluentMockServer fluentMockServer, string response)
{
fluentMockServer.Given(Request.Create().UsingGet())
.RespondWith(Response.Create().WithBody(response, encoding: Encoding.UTF8)
.WithStatusCode(HttpStatusCode.OK));
}
In the example above, the controller is resolved using the DI described in your Startup class.
You can also do an actual REST call using using Refit. The application is self hosted inside your test.
using (var fixture = new RefitFixture<Startup, ISearchEngine>(RestService.For<ISearchEngine>))
{
using (var mockServer = fixture.FreezeServer("Google"))
{
SetupStableServer(mockServer, "Response");
var refitClient = fixture.GetRefitClient();
var response = await refitClient.GetNumberOfCharacters("Hoi");
await response.EnsureSuccessStatusCodeAsync();
var request = mockServer.LogEntries.Select(a => a.RequestMessage).Single();
Assert.Contains("Hoi", request.RawQuery);
}
}

Email Confirm in MVC 5

I am trying to send a confirmation email from my API. The mail is sent without problems.
When I load the url from MVC5, I have this error:
I tried:
Asp.NET Identity 2 giving "Invalid Token" error
http://www.gunaatita.com/Blog/Invalid-Token-Error-on-Email-Confirmation-in-Aspnet-Identity/1056 --> My api and my MVC are two projects hosted on two servers, for this reason I try using machineKey validationKey.
The code I use is below:
Web API
if (!await db.Users.AnyAsync(c => c.Email == userRequest.Email)) return StatusCode(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);
var userManager = new UserManager<ApplicationUser>(new UserStore<ApplicationUser>(userContext));
userManager.UserTokenProvider = new TotpSecurityStampBasedTokenProvider<ApplicationUser, string>();
var user = await userManager.FindByNameAsync(userRequest.Email);
var userId = user.Id;
var code = await userManager.GenerateEmailConfirmationTokenAsync(user.Id);
var url = "MyUrl" + "/Account/ConfirmEmail?userId=" + userId + "&code=" + code;
MVC5
if (userId == null || code == null)
{
return View("Error");
}
var result = await UserManager.ConfirmEmailAsync(userId, code);
return View(result.Succeeded ? "ConfirmEmail" : "Error");

For the token confirmation to work, the token needs to be saved in the Users table AspNetUsers.
Web API
string code = await UserManager.GenerateEmailConfirmationTokenAsync(user.Id);
user.ConfirmationToken = code;
UserManager.Update(user);
MVC5
var result = await UserManager.ConfirmEmailAsync(userId, code);
switch (result.Succeeded)
{
case true:
// Your code
case false:
//
default:
//
}

I think it throws 'invalid token' because the code parameter is too complex for querystring (contains special characters). So it is not redirecting to the page properly. To solve this problem:
string val = HttpServerUtility.UrlTokenEncode(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(code));
You can change to 'code' parameter with this.

How can I test methods which needs user to be logged

I'm testing some code which needs user to be logged in. When I'm trying to log in with AccountController, it's looks like everything is working, but at AccountController (IPrincipal) User is still null. How can I properly log in (or better, can I mock it somehow)?
public async Task SetupAsync()
{
var context = new DataContext();
var manager = new UserManager(new UserStore(context));
var accountController = new AccountController(manager);
var mockAuthenticationManager = new Mock<IAuthenticationManager>();
mockAuthenticationManager.Setup(am => am.SignOut());
mockAuthenticationManager.Setup(am => am.SignIn());
accountController.AuthenticationManager = mockAuthenticationManager.Object;
var user = new LoginViewModel
{
Email = "user#wp.pl",
Password = "useruser",
RememberMe = false
};
if (manager.FindByEmail("user#wp.pl") == null)
{
await manager.CreateAsync(new User { Email = "user#wp.pl", UserName = "user#wp.pl" }, "useruser");
}
await accountController.Login(user, "home/index");
_calendarController = new CalendarController(context);
}
Here I got User null exception:
public ClaimsPrincipal CurrentUser
{
get { return new ClaimsPrincipal((System.Security.Claims.ClaimsPrincipal)this.User); }
}
Edit: At return line, I have still User property null. This is sample from AccountController:
var user = await _userManager.FindAsync(model.Email, model.Password);
if (user != null)
{
await SignInAsync(user, model.RememberMe);
return RedirectToAction("index", "calendar");
}

You should mock your _userManager, and use a mock setup for when the method FindAsync is called. Then you return a fake user you can use later in the code

Figured it out on my own, probably not elegant solution but I'm happy anyway. #andreasnico your answer helped, thanks.
I'm mocking my custom ClaimsPrincipal, and setting up UserId - that's what I really needed.
var mockCp = new Mock<IClaimsPrincipal>();
mockCp.SetupGet(cp => cp.UserId).Returns(user.Id);
_calendarController.CurrentUser = mockCp.Object;

WebException on HTTP request while debugging

I have a ASP.NET project which involves sending HTTP requests via the Web-API Framework. The following exception is only raised when debugging:
The server committed a protocol violation. Section=ResponseStatusLine
The project runs perfectly if I "Start Without Debugging".
How should I resolve this exception?
Any help is appreciated!
Update
The problem seems related to the ASP.NET MVC Identity Framework.
To access other Web-API methods, the client application has to first POST a login request (The login request does not need to be secure yet, and so I am sending the username and password strings directly to the Web-API POST method). If I comment out the login request, no more exception is raised.
Below are the relevant code snippets:
The Post method:
UserManager<ApplicationUser> UserManager = new UserManager<ApplicationUser>(new UserStore<ApplicationUser>(new ApplicationDbContext()));
AccountAccess ac = new AccountAccess();
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Post()
{
string result = await Request.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
LoginMessage msg = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<LoginMessage>(result);
HttpResponseMessage response = new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.OK);
var user = UserManager.Find(msg.username, msg.password);
if (user == null)
return response;
if (user.Roles == null)
return response;
var role = from r in user.Roles where (r.RoleId == "1" || r.RoleId == "2") select r;
if (role.Count() == 0)
{
return response;
}
bool task = await ac.LoginAsync(msg.username, msg.password);
response.Content = new StringContent(task.ToString());
return response;
}
The Account Access class (simulating the default AccountController in MVC template):
public class AccountAccess
{
public static bool success = false;
public AccountAccess()
: this(new UserManager<ApplicationUser>(new UserStore<ApplicationUser>(new ApplicationDbContext())))
{
}
public AccountAccess(UserManager<ApplicationUser> userManager)
{
UserManager = userManager;
}
public UserManager<ApplicationUser> UserManager { get; private set; }
public async Task<bool> LoginAsync(string username, string password)
{
var user = await UserManager.FindAsync(username, password);
if (user != null)
{
await SignInAsync(user, isPersistent: false);
return true;
}
else
{
return false;
}
}
~AccountAccess()
{
if (UserManager != null)
{
UserManager.Dispose();
UserManager = null;
}
}
private IAuthenticationManager AuthenticationManager
{
get
{
return HttpContext.Current.GetOwinContext().Authentication;
}
}
private async Task SignInAsync(ApplicationUser user, bool isPersistent)
{
AuthenticationManager.SignOut(DefaultAuthenticationTypes.ExternalCookie);
var identity = await UserManager.CreateIdentityAsync(user, DefaultAuthenticationTypes.ApplicationCookie);
AuthenticationManager.SignIn(new AuthenticationProperties() { IsPersistent = isPersistent }, identity);
}
}
Below are the relevant code snippets:
In client application:
public static async Task<List<T>> getItemAsync<T>(string urlAction)
{
message = new HttpRequestMessage();
message.Method = HttpMethod.Get;
message.RequestUri = new Uri(urlBase + urlAction);
HttpResponseMessage response = await client.SendAsync(message);
string result = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
List<T> msgs = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<T>>(result);
return msgs;
}
In Web-API controller:
public HttpResponseMessage Get(string id)
{
HttpResponseMessage response = new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.OK);
if (id == "ItemA")
{
List<ItemAMessage> msgs = new List<ItemAMessage>();
// some code...
response.Content = new StringContent(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(msgs));
}
else if (id == "ItemB")
{
List<ItemBMessage> msgs = new List<ItemBMessage>();
// some code...
response.Content = new StringContent(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(msgs));
}
return response;
}
Some observations I have:
I thought that I may need to send the request asynchronously (with the async-await syntax), but the exception still persists that way.
If I step through the code, the request does enter the HTTP method, but the code breaks at random line (Why?!) before returning the response, so I assume no response is being sent back.
I have tried the following solutions, as suggested in answers to similar questions, none of which works for me:
Setting useUnsafeHeaderParsing to true
Adding the header Keep-Alive: false
Changing the port setting of Skype (I don't have Skype, and port 80 and 443 are not occupied)
Additional information, in case they matter:
Mac OS running Windows 8.1 with VMware Fusion
Visual Studio 2013
.NET Framework 4.5
IIS Express Server
Update 2
The exception is resolved, but I am unsure of which modification did the trick. AFAIK, either one or both of the following fixed it:
I have a checkConnection() method, which basically sends a GET request and return true on success. I added await to the HttpClient.SendAsync() method and enforced async all the way up.
I retracted all code in the MainWindow constructor, except for the InitializeComponent() method, into the Window Initialized event handler.
Any idea?
Below are relevant code to the modifications illustrated above:
the checkConnectionAsync method:
public static async Task<bool> checkConnectionAsync()
{
message = new HttpRequestMessage();
message.Method = HttpMethod.Get;
message.RequestUri = new Uri(urlBase);
try
{
HttpResponseMessage response = await client.SendAsync(message);
return (response.IsSuccessStatusCode);
}
catch (AggregateException)
{
return false;
}
}
Window Initialized event handler (retracted from the MainWindow constructor):
private async void Window_Initialized(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (await checkConnectionAsync())
{
await loggingIn();
getItemA();
getItemB();
}
else
{
logMsg.Content = "Connection Lost. Restart GUI and try again.";
}
}
Update 3
Although this may be a little off-topic, I'd like to add a side note in case anyone else falls into this – I have been using the wrong authentication approach for Web-API to start with. The Web-API project template already has a built-in Identity framework, and I somehow "replaced" it with a rather simple yet broken approach...
This video is a nice tutorial to start with.
This article provides a more comprehensive explanation.

In the Client Application you are not awaiting task. Accessing Result without awaiting may cause unpredictable errors. If it only fails during Debug mode, I can't say for sure, but it certainly isn't the same program (extra checks added, optimizations generally not enabled). Regardless of when Debugging is active, if you have a code error, you should fix that and it should work in either modes.
So either make that function async and call the task with the await modifier, or call task.WaitAndUnwrapException() on the task so it will block synchronously until the result is returned from the server.

Make sure URL has ID query string with value either as Item A or Item B. Otherwise, you will be returning no content with Http status code 200 which could lead to protocol violation.

When you use SendAsync, you are required to provide all relevant message headers yourself, including message.Headers.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Basic", token); for example.
You might want to use GetAsync instead (and call a specific get method on the server).
Also, are you sure the exception is resolved? If you have some high level async method that returns a Task and not void, that exception might be silently ignored.