I am trying to get the list of employees using Web API Get method in C# MVC and display in the view. But my list is coming null. I am not sure what i am missing. I am referring to this resource http://www.tutorialsteacher.com/webapi/consume-web-api-get-method-in-aspnet-mvc
Home Controller :
namespace Sample.Controllers
{
public class HomeController : Controller
{
private readonly EmployeeDBEntities _db = new EmployeeDBEntities();
public ActionResult Index()
{
IEnumerable<Employee> employees = null;
using (var client = new HttpClient())
{
client.BaseAddress = new Uri("http://localhost:62141/api/");
//HTTP GET
var responseTask = client.GetAsync("employee");
responseTask.Wait();
var result = responseTask.Result;
if (result.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
var readTask = result.Content.ReadAsAsync<IList<Employee>>();
readTask.Wait();
employees = readTask.Result;
}
else //web api sent error response
{
//log response status here..
employees = Enumerable.Empty<Employee>();
ModelState.AddModelError(string.Empty, "Server error. Please contact administrator.");
}
}
return View(employees);
}
}
}
Employee API Controller :
namespace Sample.Controllers
{
public class EmployeeController : ApiController
{
public IHttpActionResult GetAllEmployees()
{
IList<Employee> employees = null;
using (var ctx = new EmployeeDBEntities())
{
employees = ctx.Employees.ToList<Employee>();
}
if (employees.Count == 0)
{
return NotFound();
}
return Ok(employees);
}
}
You first should check the status code on you response.
If it is NotFound then there was no results (the way your code is done).
But your problem may be related to the fact that the result of ctx.Employees.ToList<Employee>(); is being disposed and terminated before the response is completed, but even that would give a DisposedException.
You should consider adding You database context instance object in a IoC container with transient lifetime, and inject does dependencies to the controller constructor, because the request does not end when the action method ends.
I have MVC project with service like below:
namespace comp.Services
{
public class CompService
{
public HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
public CompService()
{
client.BaseAddress = new Uri("someapiurl");
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Clear();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(
new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
}
protected async Task<string> GetProductAsync(string path)
{
var resp = "nothing here";
HttpResponseMessage response = await client.GetAsync(path);
if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
resp = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
}
return resp;
}
public string GetProduct(string path)
{
return GetProductAsync(path).GetAwaiter().GetResult();
}
}
}
and actionResult to view:
namespace comp.Controllers
{
public class HomeController : Controller
{
public CompService compService;
public HomeController()
{
compService = new CompService();
}
public ActionResult About()
{
var timeServer = compService.GetProduct("/api/time");
ViewBag.timeServer = timeServer;
return View();
}
}
}
When in debuger I encounter this line:
HttpResponseMessage response = await client.GetAsync(path);
program exit from debuger and there is no respone in browser.
The same code written in console application works.
In VS output is message that response is succes:
Application Insights Telemetry (unconfigured): {"name":"Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.Dev.RemoteDependency","time":"2018-02-18T13:48:31","tags":{"ai.internal.sdkVersion":"rddf:2.2.0-738","ai.internal.nodeName":"DESKTOP-xxxxx","ai.cloud.roleInstance":"DESKTOP-xxxxx"},"data":{"baseType":"RemoteDependencyData","baseData":{"ver":2,"name":"/api/v1/time","id":"xxxxx=","data":"https://api.xxx.com/api/v1/time","duration":"00:00:01.3150000","resultCode":"200","success":true,"type":"Http","target":"xxx","properties":{"DeveloperMode":"true"}}}}
In browser console output:
[14:51:33 GMT+0100 (Central European Standard Time)] Browser Link: Failed to send message to browser link server:
Error: SignalR: Connection must be started before data can be sent. Call .start() before .send()
Thanks for help.
You should really keep the code async all the way through in stead of trying to mix synchronous and asynchronous code
namespace comp.Services {
public class CompService {
static HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
static CompService() {
client.BaseAddress = new Uri("someapiurl");
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Clear();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(
new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
}
public async Task<string> GetProductAsync(string path) {
var resp = string.Empty;
using(var response = await client.GetAsync(path)) {
if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode) {
resp = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
}
}
return resp;
}
}
}
The controller action should also be made async
namespace comp.Controllers {
public class HomeController : Controller {
private CompService compService;
public HomeController() {
compService = new CompService();
}
public async Task<ActionResult> About() {
var timeServer = await compService.GetProductAsync("api/time");
ViewBag.timeServer = timeServer;
return View();
}
}
}
That said, the service should also be abstracted
public interface ICompService {
Task<string> GetProductAsync(string path)
}
public class CompService : ICompService {
//...code removed for brevity
}
and injected into the controller instead of creating it manually.
public class HomeController : Controller {
private ICompService compService;
public HomeController(ICompService compService) {
this.compService = compService;
}
public async Task<ActionResult> About() {
var timeServer = await compService.GetProductAsync("api/time");
ViewBag.timeServer = timeServer;
return View();
}
}
Reference Async/Await - Best Practices in Asynchronous Programming
What you've got is a deadlock. Unlike console apps, ASP.Net applications run in a Synchronization Context. That context is captured when you block with GetResult(). Then, in GetProductAsync, you await on the context that is blocked. It cannot resume until GetResult is done which cannot resolve until the await is done.
#NKosi 's answer should resolve the problem, there is no reason for you to have any synchronous code.
For demonstration only
You can hack your code to work by explicitly allowing your await to run on a different context. You should not do this in production, it is not a fix. It can fail if someone maintaining the CompService is not careful.
To await against a different context change this:
var timeServer = await compService.GetProductAsync("api/time");
To this:
var timeServer = await compService.GetProductAsync("api/time").ConfigureAwait(false);
I mention this only to help you understand what is happening in your code. Don't "fix" it this way and move on.
I have an ASP.NET Core 1.0 Web API application and trying to figure out how to pass the exception message to the client if a function that my controller is calling errors out.
I have tried so many things, but nothing implements IActionResult.
I don't understand why this isn't a common thing that people need. If there truthfully is no solution can someone tell me why?
I do see some documentation out there using HttpResponseException(HttpResponseMessage), but in order to use this, I have to install the compat shim. Is there a new way of doing these things in Core 1.0?
Here is something I have been trying with the shim but it isn't working:
// GET: api/customers/{id}
[HttpGet("{id}", Name = "GetCustomer")]
public IActionResult GetById(int id)
{
Customer c = _customersService.GetCustomerById(id);
if (c == null)
{
var response = new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.NotFound)
{
Content = new StringContent("Customer doesn't exist", System.Text.Encoding.UTF8, "text/plain"),
StatusCode = HttpStatusCode.NotFound
};
throw new HttpResponseException(response);
//return NotFound();
}
return new ObjectResult(c);
}
When the HttpResponseException is thrown, I look on the client and can't find the message I am sending anything in the content.
Here is an simple error DTO class
public class ErrorDto
{
public int Code {get;set;}
public string Message { get; set; }
// other fields
public override string ToString()
{
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(this);
}
}
And then using the ExceptionHandler middleware:
app.UseExceptionHandler(errorApp =>
{
errorApp.Run(async context =>
{
context.Response.StatusCode = 500; // or another Status accordingly to Exception Type
context.Response.ContentType = "application/json";
var error = context.Features.Get<IExceptionHandlerFeature>();
if (error != null)
{
var ex = error.Error;
await context.Response.WriteAsync(new ErrorDto()
{
Code = <your custom code based on Exception Type>,
Message = ex.Message // or your custom message
// other custom data
}.ToString(), Encoding.UTF8);
}
});
});
Yes it is possible to change the status code to whatever you need:
In your CustomExceptionFilterAttribute.cs file modify the code as follows:
public class CustomExceptionFilterAttribute : ExceptionFilterAttribute
{
public override void OnException(ExceptionContext context)
{
var exception = context.Exception;
context.Result = new ContentResult
{
Content = $"Error: {exception.Message}",
ContentType = "text/plain",
// change to whatever status code you want to send out
StatusCode = (int?)HttpStatusCode.BadRequest
};
}
}
That's pretty much it.
If you have custom exceptions, then you can also check for them when grabbing the thrown exception from the context. Following on from that you can then send out different HTTP Status Codes depdending on what has happened in your code.
Hope that helps.
You can create a custom Exception Filter like below
public class CustomExceptionFilterAttribute : ExceptionFilterAttribute
{
public override void OnException(ExceptionContext context)
{
var exception = context.Exception;
context.Result = new JsonResult(exception.Message);
}
}
Then apply the above attribute to your controller.
[Route("api/[controller]")]
[CustomExceptionFilter]
public class ValuesController : Controller
{
// GET: api/values
[HttpGet]
public IEnumerable<string> Get()
{
throw new Exception("Suckers");
return new string[] { "value1", "value2" };
}
}
Rather than raising and catching an exception, how about you simplify your action to:
// GET: api/customers/{id}
[HttpGet("{id}", Name = "GetCustomer")]
public IActionResult GetById(int id)
{
var customer = _customersService.GetCustomerById(id);
if (customer == null)
{
return NotFound("Customer doesn't exist");
}
return Ok(customer);
}
I wrote a blog post with some more options such as returning a JSON object instead of text.
Maybe that is helpful. You can return just object and sent for example a BadRequest (HTTP CODE: 400) with your custom object as actual parameter (I just used an interpolated string here) but you can put in anything.
In your client side you can catch that error situation for example with an AJAX error handler.
// GET: api/TruckFahrerGeoData
[HttpGet]
public object GetTruckFahrerGeoData()
{
var truckFahrerGeoDataItems = new List<TruckFahrerGeoDataViewModel>();
var geodataItems = _context.TruckFahrerGeoData;
foreach (var truckFahrerGeoData in geodataItems)
{
GeoTelemetryData geoTelemetryData = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<GeoTelemetryData>(truckFahrerGeoData.TelemetryData);
if (geoTelemetryData == null)
{
return BadRequest($"geoTelemetryData null for id: {truckFahrerGeoData.Id}");
}
TruckFahrerGeoDataViewModel truckFahrerGeoDataViewModel = new TruckFahrerGeoDataViewModel
{
Speed = geoTelemetryData.Speed,
Accuracy = geoTelemetryData.Accuracy,
TruckAppId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.TruckAppId,
TruckAuftragStatusId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.TruckAuftragStatusId,
ClId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.ClId,
TruckAuftragLaufStatusId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.TruckAuftragLaufStatusId,
TaskId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.TaskId,
TruckAuftragWorkflowStatusId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.TruckAuftragWorkflowStatusId
};
truckFahrerGeoDataItems.Add(truckFahrerGeoDataViewModel);
}
return truckFahrerGeoDataItems;
}
Or an even more cleaner way with IActionResult like that way:
// GET: api/TruckFahrerGeoData
[HttpGet]
public IActionResult GetTruckFahrerGeoData()
{
var truckFahrerGeoDataItems = new List<TruckFahrerGeoDataViewModel>();
var geodataItems = _context.TruckFahrerGeoData;
foreach (var truckFahrerGeoData in geodataItems)
{
GeoTelemetryData geoTelemetryData = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<GeoTelemetryData>(truckFahrerGeoData.TelemetryData);
if (geoTelemetryData == null)
{
return BadRequest($"geoTelemetryData null for id: {truckFahrerGeoData.Id}");
}
TruckFahrerGeoDataViewModel truckFahrerGeoDataViewModel = new TruckFahrerGeoDataViewModel
{
Speed = geoTelemetryData.Speed,
Accuracy = geoTelemetryData.Accuracy,
TruckAppId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.TruckAppId,
TruckAuftragStatusId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.TruckAuftragStatusId,
ClId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.ClId,
TruckAuftragLaufStatusId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.TruckAuftragLaufStatusId,
TaskId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.TaskId,
TruckAuftragWorkflowStatusId = geoTelemetryData.Activity.TruckAuftragWorkflowStatusId
};
truckFahrerGeoDataItems.Add(truckFahrerGeoDataViewModel);
}
return Ok(truckFahrerGeoDataItems);
}
Late to the party but refining the answer .
Define your error response class with minimum below attributes
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
public class ErrorResponse
{
private readonly RequestDelegate next;
public ErrorResponse(RequestDelegate next)
{
this.next = next;
}
public async Task Invoke(HttpContext context )
{
try
{
await next(context);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
await HandleExceptionAsync(context, ex);
}
}
private static Task HandleExceptionAsync(HttpContext context, Exception ex)
{
var code = HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError;
string result = string.Empty;
object data = new object();
if (ex is ForbiddenException)
{
code = HttpStatusCode.Forbidden;
result = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new Response<object>(Status.Forbidden(ex.Message), data));
}
else if(ex is BadRequestException){
code = HttpStatusCode.BadRequest;
result = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new Response<object>(Status.BadRequest(ex.Message), data));
}
else if (ex is NotFoundException)
{
code = HttpStatusCode.NotFound;
result = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new Response<object>(Status.NotFound(ex.Message), data));
}
else if (ex is UnauthorizedException)
{
code = HttpStatusCode.Unauthorized;
result = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new Response<object>(Status.Unauthorized(ex.Message), data));
}
else
{
result = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new Response<object>(Status.InternalServerError(ex.Message), data));
}
context.Response.ContentType = "application/json";
context.Response.StatusCode = (int)code;
return context.Response.WriteAsync(result);
}
}
Next use this class as middleware in startup.cs class
app.UseHttpsRedirection();
app.UseMiddleware(typeof(ErrorResponse));
Now each request and response will go through this class,if an error occurs then error code will be set to true with error code. A sample response like below
data: {}
status: {
code: 404
error: true
message: "No employee data found"
type: "Not Found"
}
I had the same problem and after some research, I found out I could use HttpClient to call my API and read the response easily. HttpClient does not throw any error when the HTTP response contains an error code, but it sets the IsSuccessStatusCode property to false.
This is my function using the HttpClient. I call this from my controller.
public static async Task<HttpResponseMessage> HttpClientPost(string header, string postdata, string url)
{
string uri = apiUrl + url;
using (var client = new HttpClient())
{
//client.BaseAddress = new Uri(uri);
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Clear();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", header);
HttpResponseMessage response = await client.PostAsync(uri, new StringContent(postdata));
return response;
}
}
This is my controller code, where I call the function and read the response and determine whether I have an error or not and respond accordingly. Note that I am checking the IsSuccessStatusCode.
HttpResponseMessage response;
string url = $"Setup/AddDonor";
var postdata = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(donor);
response = await ApiHandler.HttpClientPost(HttpContext.Session.GetString(tokenName), postdata, url);
//var headers = response.Headers.Concat(response.Content.Headers);
var responseBody = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
tnxresult = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<TnxResult>(AppFunctions.CleanResponse(responseBody));
return Json(new
{
ok = true,
message = tnxresult.Message,
statusCode = tnxresult.StatusCode
});
}
else
{
ApiError rs = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<ApiError>(AppFunctions.CleanResponse(responseBody));
return Json(new
{
ok = false,
message = rs.Message,
statusCode = rs.StatusCode
});
}
My API returns error messages in JSON. If the call is successful, I am packing the response in JSON too.
The crucial line of code is this one...
var responseBody = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
It serializes the HTTP content to a string as an asynchronous operation.
After that I can convert my JSON string to an object and access the error/success message and the Status Code too.
I have WebApi controller with async method Post:
public class WebApiController : ApiController
{
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Post(HttpRequestMessage request)
{
try
{
string json = await request.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
var model = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<TModel>(json);
var newEntity = Mapper.Map<TEntity>(model);
var newEntityVersion = Mapper.Map<TEntityVersion>(model);
var result = await CurrentRepository.AddAsync(newEntity, newEntityVersion);
return CreateResponse(result, "DefaultApiPost");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Logger.Error("Post in " + ControllerName, e);
return Request.CreateErrorResponse(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest, e);
}
}
}
AddAsync method looks like :
public virtual async Task<TEntity> AddAsync(TEntity entity, TEntityVersion version)
{
await DatabaseContext.SaveChangesAsync();
return entity;
}
When I call Post method using HttpClient I can enter AddAsync method :
client.PostAsync(requestUri, content).Result.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
But when I call Post method using WebApi controller explicit I can not enter AddAsync method, just jump over it :/ :
var product = FakeProduct();
var newEntity = Mapper.Map<ProductEntity>(product);
var newEntityVersion = Mapper.Map<ProductVersionEntity>(product);
productRepository.AddAsync(newEntity, newEntityVersion).Returns(Task.FromResult<ProductEntity>(newEntity));
var content = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(Product);
var request = new HttpRequestMessage(HttpMethod.Post, "http://localhost:8888/api/Product/")
{
Content = new StringContent(content),
};
var webApiController = FakeWebApiControllerWithPostRoute();
var result = await webApiController.Post(request);
Assert.AreEqual(HttpStatusCode.Created, result.StatusCode);
Any idea why this method is not executed ?
I'm having a problem with an async method that I implemented. The method basically makes a HttpRequest to a resource and deserializes the string if the request is successful. I wrote a test for the method, and it works. But the method does never return when I call it from a controller?
public async Task<IEnumerable<T>> Get()
{
try
{
var resourceSegmentUri = new Uri(_uri, UriKind.Relative);
var response = await _client.GetAsync(resourceSegmentUri);
if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
var submission = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IEnumerable<T>>(submission);
}
if (response.Content != null)
{
var message = response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
throw new WebException(message.Result, (WebExceptionStatus)response.StatusCode);
}
}
catch (WebException e)
{
Logger.Error("GET Request failed with status: {0}", e.Status);
throw;
}
throw new Exception();
}
Code that never returns:
public ActionResult Index()
{
var api = new Api();
var test = api.Get().Result; //Never returns
return View();
}
Test that works:
[Test]
public void GetShouldReturnIfSuccessfulRequest()
{
var api = new Api();
var submission = api.Get();
Console.WriteLine(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(submission));
Assert.NotNull(submission);
}
Does anyone know the problem?
You've got a deadlock because you're calling .Result in your controller action.
If you use async/await then you have to use asynchronous actions too.
So something like this should fix it:
public async Task<ActionResult> Index()
{
var api = new Api();
var test = await api.Get(); // Should return
}
There's a comprehensive article about this here: Using Asynchronous Methods in ASP.NET MVC 4