Consuming asynchronously data in WebApi controller action with PushStreamContent - c#

I'd like to verify if this is the correct usage from WebAPI perspective of an asynchronous consumption of a data set.
Similar implementation tha creates an IQueryable<T> extension can be seen here.
My GetByProcedureAsync() uses the idea to create SqlDataReader like this:
var result = await System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Factory.FromAsync<SqlDataReader>(cmd.BeginExecuteReader(), cmd.EndExecuteReader);
I need to consume this in a MVC WebApi controller action. I don't know enough to quickly judge if I am hampering the async nature of the design.
Do I do public HttpResponseMessage Get([FromUri] int key) or public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Get([FromUri] int key) in this:
public HttpResponseMessage Get([FromUri] int key)
{
HttpResponseMessage response = Request.CreateResponse();
response.Content = new PushStreamContent(async (stream, content, context) =>
{
try
{
var set = await MyRepo.GetByProcedureAsync("PROC_NAME", key);
// set is IEnumerable<MyEntity>
foreach (MyEntity p in set)
{
var buffer = System.Text.UTF8Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(p.ToString());
await stream.WriteAsync(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
}
}
finally
{
// Close output stream as we are done
stream.Close();
}
});
return response;
}
Note that underlying sproc is observing the requirements to NOT push anything else to client before relevant record set.

Related

Serialize async response from a database client

I have an endpoint which is used to create an item. The controller calls the service which creates the item, makes some changes on the db and db returns data based on the procedure. The db returns a json like response, but is not always the same, so I have to adjust on the backend so that I can formalize the response type.
The problem is that create item service is asynchronous and I need to be able to await the response so I can make a new response based on that. How can I await the response and that I get from db client and then return data based on that.
This is my Action and I want to be able to serialize async response from service
[HttpPost]
public IActionResult CreateItem([FromBody] InputModel item)
{
var jsonString = _itemService.CreateItem(item);
ResponseModel? response = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<ResponseModel>(jsonString);
return new ObjectResult(response.Response) { StatusCode = response.StatusCode };
}
The default response model
public class ResponseModel
{
public string Response { get; set; }
public int StatusCode { get; set; }
}
Create Item service, which makes the post request to the client and it has to be async.
Depending on the status code that is coming from the client, I want to be able to set my action status code as well.
public async Task<string> CreateItem(InputModel item)
{
if (item.VersionType != 1)
{
return new { Response = "Incorrect data", StatusCode = 400 }.ToString()!;
}
var json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(item);
var data = new StringContent(json, Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
var response = await client.PostAsync(url, data);
var content = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
return content;
}
You can make your action method async and then await the method call _itemService.CreateItem for it :
[HttpPost]
public async Task<IActionResult> CreateItem([FromBody] InputModel item)
{
var jsonString = await _itemService.CreateItem(item);
ResponseModel? response = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<ResponseModel>(jsonString);
return new ObjectResult(response.Response) { StatusCode = response.StatusCode };
}
Now your action method would asyncrounously wait for the result from CreateItem and when it returs result, it will continue executing further and send the deserialized response back to client.

Void return in an API request

The client and a generic method for the API requests are created here:
public class Client : IDisposable
{
private HttpClient _client;
private void CreateClient()
{
_client = new HttpClient();
_client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Clear();
_client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
_client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("KEY", token);
}
public void Dispose() => _client?.Dispose();
public enum Method { GET, POST, PUT, DELETE }
public HttpResponseMessage Request(string url, Method method, object data, HttpContent request)
{
if (data != null)
request = new StringContent(Serialize(data), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
switch (method)
{
case Method.POST: return _client.PostAsync(url, request).Result;
case Method.PUT: return _client.PutAsync(url, request).Result;
case Method.DELETE: return _client.DeleteAsync(url).Result;
default: return _client.GetAsync(url).Result;
}
}
public Task<HttpResponseMessage> RequestAsync(string url, Method method, object data, HttpContent request)
{
if (data != null)
request = new StringContent(Serialize(data), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
switch (method)
{
case Method.GET: return _client.GetAsync(url);
case Method.POST: return _client.PostAsync(url, request);
case Method.PUT: return _client.PutAsync(url, request);
case Method.DELETE: return _client.DeleteAsync(url);
default: return _client.GetAsync(url);
}
}
public string Post(string url, object data) =>
Request(url, Method.POST, data, null).Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
public Task<HttpResponseMessage> PostAsync(string url, object data) =>
RequestAsync(url, Method.POST, data, null);
//UTILS
private static string Serialize(object data) =>
data == null
? string.Empty
: JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data, new JsonSerializerSettings { NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Ignore });
}
I'm trying to call these methods to specific classes, to simplify the usage of it for the customer. For example, to create a new checkout for a transaction in a credit card:
public class Checkout : SDK
{
private static Client client;
public Checkout() => client = new Client();
public static async Task Credit(object data) =>
await client.PostAsync(url, data);
}
The request needs to be mounted based on a few models, that can have this structure and I'm trying to generate it in a simple way, like this:
public async Task Test()
{
var transaction = new Transaction
{
PaymentMethod = new PaymentMethod { Code = "1" },
Application = "Test",
Vendor = "Name",
Customer = new Customer
{
//Customer details...
},
Products = new List<TransactionProduct>
{
//Products...
}
};
var teste = Checkout.Credit(transaction);
Console.WriteLine(teste);
}
And all I get as return is:
System.Threading.Tasks.Task`1[System.Threading.Tasks.VoidTaskResult]
Id = 1, Status = WaitingForActivation, Method = "{null}", Result = "{Not yet computed}"
I've tried to add await for the Checkout.Credit call, but I get:
CS0815 Test C# Cannot assign void to an implicitly-typed variable
Unit testing this with a simple HttpClient requests works like a charm, but I'm not being able to identify the problem on my project structure, so any help will be very much appreciated.
Task is the return type for an async method that does not have a return value.
Or, to put it another way, async wraps T values into Task<T> (or void returns into Task), and await unwraps those values. Since Credit returns Task, the type of the expression Checkout.Credit(transaction) is Task, and the type of the expression await Checkout.Credit(transaction) is void. And you cannot assign void to var teste; that's what the compiler error is saying.
To fix this, give your async method return types. In particular:
public static async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Credit(object data) =>
await client.PostAsync(url, data);
On a side note, this is quite strange:
public string Post(string url, object data) => ...;
public Task<HttpResponseMessage> PostAsync(string url, object data) => ...;
Usually, if you have a Method and a MethodAsync where Method has some return type TResult, then MethodAsync will have the return type Task<TResult>, not Task<SomeCompletelyDifferentType>. A more natural API would be something like this:
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> PostAsync(string url, object data)
{
var result = await Request(url, Method.POST, data, null);
return await result.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
}

Owin Selfhosting return data in streamed mode

I'm selfhosting a service. I'm able to HttpGet and HttPut objects. Now I need to return a large File(stream). My question is how to return a large stream.
Below I write the methods I use to get and save a test class Customer.
Possible duplicates:
Selfhosting deal with large files. Alas the answer doesn't help me, it states: make sure that the response content is a StreamContent. Until now I didn't need to write any response content. What should I change to return a StreamContent?
ASP.NET Web API 2 - StreamContent is extremely slow This answer seems to describe the solution to my problem. A HttpRequestMessage object is used to create a HttpResponseMessage object. Then a StreamContent object is assigned to the HttpResponseMessage.Content. But where do I get a HttpRequestMessage, and what should I change in my signatures to be able to return a HttpResponseMessage?
So the duplicates do not help me enough. The answer leave me with a several question.
Until now I'm able to Get and Save an object using a [HttpGet] and [HttpPost]. In my simplified code below I get and save a Customer
To create my server according to the description given y MSDN: Use OWIN to Self-Host ASP.NET
Installed nuget: Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.OwinSelfHost
Server Side
public class Customer {...}
[RoutePrefix("test")]
public class MyTestController : ApiController
{
[Rout("getcustomer")]
[HttpGet]
public Customer GetCustomer(int customerId)
{
Customer fetchedCustomer = ...;
return fetchedCustomer;
}
[Route("SaveCustomer")
[HttpPost]
public void SaveCustomer(Customer customer)
{
// code to save the customer
}
}
Server side: Main
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var owinserver = WebApp.Start("http://+:8080", (appBuilder) =>
{
HttpConfiguration config = new HttpConfiguration();
config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();
config.Formatters.Remove(config.Formatters.XmlFormatter);
appBuilder.UseWebApi(config);
config.EnsureInitialized();
});
Console.WriteLine("Press any key to end");
Console.ReadKey();
}
This is enough to get and set a customer. Apparently this is possible without a HttpRequestMessage.
So my questions:
What is the signature of a function to be able to return a big stream?
Is it enough to assign the StreamContent object as is proposed in the second duplicate?
Apparently the answer is easier than I thought.
In the examples I saw, the return value of a HttpGet was the object that you wanted to return:
[Route("getcustomer")]
[HttpGet]
public Customer GetCustomer(int customerId)
{
Customer fetchedCustomer = ...
return fetchedCustomer;
}
To return a stream, change the return value to a HttpResponseMessage and fill the Content of the HttpRespnseMessage with the Stream you want to return:
[Route("getFileStream")]
[HttpGet]
public Customer GetFileStream(Guid fileId)
{
// get the stream to return:
System.IO.Stream myStream = ...
// get the request from base class WebApi, to create an OK response
HttpResponseMessage responesMessage = this.Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK);
responseMessage.Content = new StreamContent(myStream);
// use extra parameters if non-default buffer size is needed
return responseMessage;
}
Client side:
public class MyOwinFileClient
{
private readonly Owin.Client.WebApiClient webApiClient;
// constructor:
public MyOwinFileClient()
{
this.webApiClient = new Owin.Client.WebApiClient(... url);
}
// the function to get the stream:
public async Task<Stream> GetFileStream(Guid fileId)
{
HttpClient myClient = ...
string requestStreamUri = #"test\GetFileStream?fileId=" + fileId.ToString("N");
HttpResponseMessage responseMessage = await httpClient.GetAsync(requestStreamUri)
.ConfigureAwait(false);
// throw exception if not Ok:
if (!response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
string content = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().ConfigureAwait(false);
throw new System.Net.Http.HttpRequestException($"{response.StatusCode} [{(int)response.StatusCode}]: {content}");
}
// if here: success: convert response as stream:
Stream stream = await response.Content.ReadAsStreamAsync()
.ConfigureAwait(false);
return stream;
}
}
Usage:
private async void Button1_clicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// download the stream that contains the Bitmap:
Guid bitMapId = ...
MyOwinFileClient myClient = new MyOwinFileClient();
// get the stream:
Stream stream = await myClient.GetFileStream(bitMapId);
// assume the stream to be a bitmap:
Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(stream);
this.pictureBox1.Image = bmp;
}
For simplicity I left out Dispose

WebAPI CreateResponse with object as generic

I'm trying to figure out a way to return an object in my response while still maintaining an understandable return type.
So for starters, I know this works as expected.
public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> DoMyThing(MyObject myObject)
{
var result = await _myService.CreateMyThingAsync(myObject);
return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.Created, result);
}
But what I really want is for this pseudo code to work... somehow.
public Task<MyObject> DoMyThing(MyObject myObject)
{
var result = _myService.CreateMyThingAsync(myObject);
return Request.CreateResponse<Task<MyObject>>(HttpStatusCode.Created, result);
// or better yet
return Request.CreateResponse<MyObject>(HttpStatusCode.Created, result);
}
Is there any magic in the framework that'll make this happen? Or are there any third party libraries that can do this?
Essentially I need to return the Task<MyObject> instead of the Task<HttpResponseMessage>
I'm also open to other suggestions on how to return a non 200 response while still returning the Task<MyObject>
The issue with specifying the type as the return type is that you restrict yourself to having to return that type. That may sound strange but actually there will be many cases where you need to be able to support multiple response, such as 404, 200 201 and so on.
To handle the documentation of this you can use the ResponseType attribute, like so:
[ResponseType(typeof(BookDto))]
public async Task<IHttpActionResult> GetBook(int id)
{
BookDto book = await db.Books.Include(b => b.Author)
.Where(b => b.BookId == id)
.Select(AsBookDto)
.FirstOrDefaultAsync();
if (book == null)
{
return NotFound();
}
return Ok(book);
}
Take a look here
Edit:
In Asp.Net Core you use the ProducesResponseType attribute which can be used multiple times per method
See here
Example
[ProducesResponseType(typeof(BookDto), 200)]
[ProducesResponseType(typeof(object), 201)]
public async Task<IActionResult> GetBook(int id)
{
BookDto book = await db.Books.Include(b => b.Author)
.Where(b => b.BookId == id)
.Select(AsBookDto)
.FirstOrDefaultAsync();
if (book == null)
{
return NotFound();
}
return Ok(book);
}
EDIT: Multiple response attributes prior to dot net core
You can use Swagger to help document / describe your API, they have a custom attribute called SwaggerResponse
The .Net port of Swagger is Swashbuckle, take a look here
This would be the best pattern in WebApi.
public async Task<IHttpActionResult> DoMyThing(MyObject myObject)
{
try
{
var result = await _myService.CreateMyThingAsync(myObject);
return new JsonStreamHttpActionResult<MyObject>(Request, System.Net.HttpStatusCode.Created, result);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Logger.Instance.Error(ex);
return new HttpActionResult(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError, "An error has occured");
}
}
with a generic serializer. You can then use the "better" IHttpActionResult instead of a real return value.
public class JsonStreamHttpActionResult<T> : IHttpActionResult
{
private T responseData;
private HttpRequestMessage request;
private HttpStatusCode statusCode;
public JsonStreamHttpActionResult(HttpRequestMessage request, System.Net.HttpStatusCode code, T responseData)
{
this.responseData = responseData;
this.request = request;
this.statusCode = code;
}
public Task<HttpResponseMessage> ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
{
HttpResponseMessage response = request.CreateResponse(statusCode);
response.Content =
new PushStreamContent((stream, content, context) =>
{
var serializer = new Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer();
using (var writer = new System.IO.StreamWriter(stream))
{
serializer.Serialize(writer, responseData);
stream.Flush();
}
});
return Task.FromResult(response);
}
}

Converting the content of HttpResponseMessage to object

My Question: How do I do this?
So, I hadn't touched anything .Net in about 6 years until this week. There's a lot that I've forgotten and even more that I never knew and while I love the idea of the async/await keywords, I'm having a slight problem implementing the following requirements for a client's API implementation:
The ServerAPI class has a method for each of the API methods, taking appropriate input parameters (e.g. the method Login takes in an id and a password, makes the API call and returns the result to the caller).
I want to abstract away the JSON so that my API methods return the actual object you're fetching (e.g. the Login method above returns a User object with your auth token, uid, etc.)
Some API methods return a 204 on success or no meaningful content (not meaningful in my usecase maybe I only care about success/failure), for these I'd like to return either a bool (true = success) or the status code.
I'd like to keep the async/await (or equivalent) design, because it seems to really work well so far.
For some methods, I might need to just return the HttpResponseMessage object and let the caller deal with it.
This is roughly what I have so far and I'm not sure how to make it compliant with the above OR whether I'm even doing this right. Any guidance is appreciated (flaming, however, is not).
// 200 (+User JSON) = success, otherwise APIError JSON
internal async Task<User> Login (string id, string password)
{
LoginPayload payload = new LoginPayload() { LoginId = id, Password = password};
var request = NewRequest(HttpMethod.Post, "login");
JsonPayload<LoginPayload>(payload, ref request);
return await Execute<Account>(request, false);
}
// 204: success, anything else failure
internal async Task<Boolean> LogOut ()
{
return await Execute<Boolean>(NewRequest(HttpMethod.Delete, "login"), true);
}
internal async Task<HttpResponseMessage> GetRawResponse ()
{
return await Execute<HttpResponseMessage>(NewRequest(HttpMethod.Get, "raw/something"), true);
}
internal async Task<Int32> GetMeStatusCode ()
{
return await Execute<Int32>(NewRequest(HttpMethod.Get, "some/intstatus"), true);
}
private async Task<RESULT> Execute<RESULT>(HttpRequestMessage request, bool authenticate)
{
if (authenticate)
AuthenticateRequest(ref request); // add auth token to request
var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<RESULT>();
var response = await client.SendAsync(request);
// TODO: If the RESULT is just HTTPResponseMessage, the rest is unnecessary
if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
try
{
// TryParse needs to handle Boolean differently than other types
RESULT result = await TryParse<RESULT>(response);
tcs.SetResult(result);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
tcs.SetException(e);
}
}
else
{
try
{
APIError error = await TryParse<APIError>(response);
tcs.SetException(new APIException(error));
}
catch (Exception e)
{
tcs.SetException(new APIException("Unknown error"));
}
}
return tcs.Task.Result;
}
This is the APIError JSON structure (it's the status code + a custom error code).
{
"status": 404,
"code":216,
"msg":"User not found"
}
I would prefer to stay with System.Net, but that's mostly because I don't want to switch all my code over. If what I want is easier done in other ways then it's obviously worth the extra work.
Thanks.
Here is an example of how I've done it using MVC API 2 as backend. My backend returns a json result if the credentials are correct. UserCredentials class is the exact same model as the json result. You will have to use System.Net.Http.Formatting which can be found in the Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client NugetPackage
public static async Task<UserCredentials> Login(string username, string password)
{
string baseAddress = "127.0.0.1/";
HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
var authorizationHeader = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("xyz:secretKey"));
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Basic", authorizationHeader);
var form = new Dictionary<string, string>
{
{ "grant_type", "password" },
{ "username", username },
{ "password", password },
};
var Response = await client.PostAsync(baseAddress + "oauth/token", new FormUrlEncodedContent(form));
if (Response.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.OK)
{
return await Response.Content.ReadAsAsync<UserCredentials>(new[] { new JsonMediaTypeFormatter() });
}
else
{
return null;
}
}
and you also need Newtonsoft.Json package.
public class UserCredentials
{
[JsonProperty("access_token")]
public string AccessToken { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("token_type")]
public string TokenType { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("expires_in")]
public int ExpiresIn { get; set; }
//more properties...
}
i would use a Deserializer.
HttpResponseMessage response = await client.GetAsync("your http here");
var responseString = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
[Your Class] object= JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<[Your Class]>(responseString.Body.ToString());
So, first to address the you need Newtonsoft.Json comments, I really haven't felt the need yet. I've found the built in support to work well so far (using the APIError Json in my original question:
[DataContract]
internal class APIError
{
[DataMember (Name = "status")]
public int StatusCode { get; set; }
[DataMember (Name = "code")]
public int ErrorCode { get; set; }
}
I have also defined a JsonHelper class to (de)serialize:
public class JsonHelper
{
public static T fromJson<T> (string json)
{
var bytes = Encoding.Unicode.GetBytes (json);
using (MemoryStream mst = new MemoryStream(bytes))
{
var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer (typeof (T));
return (T)serializer.ReadObject (mst);
}
}
public static string toJson (object instance)
{
using (MemoryStream mst = new MemoryStream())
{
var serializer = new DataContractJsonSerializer (instance.GetType());
serializer.WriteObject (mst, instance);
mst.Position = 0;
using (StreamReader r = new StreamReader(mst))
{
return r.ReadToEnd();
}
}
}
}
The above bits I already had working. As for a single method that would handle each request execution based on the type of result expected while it makes it easier to change how I handle things (like errors, etc), it also adds to the complexity and thus readability of my code. I ended up creating separate methods (all variants of the Execute method in the original question:
// execute and return response.StatusCode
private static async Task<HttpStatusCode> ExecuteForStatusCode (HttpRequestMessage request, bool authenticate = true)
// execute and return response without processing
private static async Task<HttpResponseMessage> ExecuteForRawResponse(HttpRequestMessage request, bool authenticate = true)
// execute and return response.IsSuccessStatusCode
private static async Task<Boolean> ExecuteForBoolean (HttpRequestMessage request, bool authenticate = true)
// execute and extract JSON payload from response content and convert to RESULT
private static async Task<RESULT> Execute<RESULT>(HttpRequestMessage request, bool authenticate = true)
I can move the unauthorized responses (which my current code isn't handling right now anyway) into a new method CheckResponse that will (for example) log the user out if a 401 is received.

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