web api 2 area routes

Question

I am using asp.net mvc 5 and web api 2. For the asp.net mvc 5 project I have everything working... but new I am trying to add web api 2 routes... when I am using areas.

I have the web api 2 controller working at the project root:

 //this is working 
   namespace EtracsWeb.Controllers
    {
        public class TestController : ApiController
        {
            //localhost:port/api/test ...this is working
            [HttpGet]
            public HttpResponseMessage Get()
            {

                return new HttpResponseMessage()
                {
                    Content = new StringContent("GET: Test message")
                };
            }

        }
    }

So I am assuming my Global.asax, my routeconfig.cs and my webapiconfig.cs are correct ... (not shown)...

But now I am trying to get the web api 2 in my AREAS working...

I have read everything I could find on the web and this seems like it should work:

namespace EtracsWeb.Areas.WorkOrder
{
    public class WorkOrderAreaRegistration : AreaRegistration
    {
        public override string AreaName
        {
            get
            {
                return "WorkOrder";
            }
        }

        public override void RegisterArea(AreaRegistrationContext context)
        {

            context.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
                    name: "AuditModel_Api",
                    routeTemplate: "WorkOrder/api/AuditModelApi/{id}",
                    defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
                );

        //default
            context.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
                    name: "WorkOrder_Api",
                    routeTemplate: "WorkOrder/api/{controller}/{id}",
                    defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
                );

            context.MapRoute(
                 "WorkOrder_default",
                "WorkOrder/{controller}/{action}/{id}",
                new { action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
            );
        }
    }
}

My controller code is:

namespace EtracsWeb.Areas.WorkOrder.ApiControllers
{
    public class AuditModelApiController : ApiController
    {
        IManufacturerStopOrderModelService auditModelService = new WorkOrder.Services.VWAuditModelService(UserSession.EtracsUserID, UserSession.ProgramID, UserSession.EtracsSessionID, UserSession.ConnectionString);

        [HttpGet]
        [Route("AuditModelApi")]
        public HttpResponseMessage Get()
        {

            return new HttpResponseMessage()
            {
                Content = new StringContent("GET: Test message")
            };
        }

        [Route("AuditModelApi/AuditModels")]
        public IEnumerable<VwAuditModel1> GetAuditModels()
        {
                return auditModelService.GetModels();
        }

        public IHttpActionResult UpdateAuditMode()
        {
            //example of what can be returned ... NotFound, Ok ... look into uses...

            VwAuditModel1 result = new VwAuditModel1();
            return Ok(result);

            return NotFound();
        }
    }
}

I have tried the controller with and without the attribute naming [Route]... and I can't get either get to work...

Both the simple case

    public HttpResponseMessage Get()

and the "real" case

  public IEnumerable<VwAuditModel1> GetAuditModels()

return the same result. From the browser, using

http://localhost:64167/WorkOrder/api/AuditModelApi

and

http://localhost:64167/WorkOrder/api/AuditModelApi/AuditModels

I get the following:

<Error>
<Message>
No HTTP resource was found that matches the request URI 'http://localhost:64167/WorkOrder/api/AuditModelApi/AuditModels'.
</Message>
<MessageDetail>
No route providing a controller name was found to match request URI 'http://localhost:64167/WorkOrder/api/AuditModelApi/AuditModels'
</MessageDetail>
</Error>

Solution 1

You need to get the HttpConfiguration instance from the GlobalConfiguration object and call the MapHttpAttributeRoutes() method from inside the RegisterArea() method of the AreaRegistration.cs.

    public override void RegisterArea(AreaRegistrationContext context) 
    {
        GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();

        //... omitted code  
    }

Finally you must in the WebApiConfig remove config.MapHttpAttributes() method or you will get duplicate exception.

public static class WebApiConfig
{
    public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
    {
        // Web API configuration and services
        config.EnableCors();

        // Configure Web API to use only bearer token authentication.
        config.SuppressDefaultHostAuthentication();
        config.Filters.Add(new HostAuthenticationFilter(OAuthDefaults.AuthenticationType));


        // Web API routes
        //config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();

        config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
            name: "DefaultApi",
            routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
            defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
        );
    }
}

Solution 2

First, you should register the route with the Area it belongs to, that only makes sense, so inside your AreaNameAreaRegistration class be sure to add using System.Web.Http so you get the extension method MapHttpRoute, it's not part of System.Web.Mvc.

The order above is a bit off, which is causing the 404. Add the following Route:

context.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
            name: "AreaNameWebApi",
            routeTemplate: "api/AreaName/{controller}/{id}",
            defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
        );

If you want to get fancy and append the Area Name from the property AreaName (of course you care about good coding practices ;)):

context.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
            name: "AreaNameWebApi",
            routeTemplate: string.Concat("api/", AreaName, "/{controller}/{id}"),
            defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
        );

This will correct the 404 issue. In the Web API module by default it first scans for "api" to determine where to look for the controller (otherwise it'll be confused, it's not magic) so api needs to be first when dynamically appending the Area Name and Controller. Of course you CAN change this order by hard-coding your routes, but I don't recommend that because you'll need to provide every route and every controller in the route config or using the RouteAttribute.

Plus, with "api" first it will make a nice standard looking URL for you and your users instead of having API all over the place. Here are some samples:

http://site/api/members/myAccount/update
http://site/api/members/myAccount/get/12345
http://site/api/members/contacts/getByOwnerId/12345

Hope this helps!

Zev

Solution 3

The issue with that specific API call is that you have not specified a controller to use in your route.

        context.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
                name: "AuditModel_Api",
                routeTemplate: "WorkOrder/api/AuditModelApi/{id}",
                defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
            );

Should be

        context.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
                name: "AuditModel_Api",
                routeTemplate: "WorkOrder/api/AuditModelApi/{id}",
                defaults: new { controller = "AuditModelApi", id = RouteParameter.Optional }
            );

Constant segments in the URL are to specify what URL to match, but you still must tell it what the route values are in order for it to get to the controller and action. It has no way of knowing which segment to use as the controller name unless you make it a {controller} segment.

Comments

[user2040850]

That does work...Thanks ... but this is tying the area to a single controller .. what do we do if there is more than one controller?

[NightOwl888]

In that case, you would specify the routeTemplate argument with a controller placeholder: WorkOrder/api/{controller}/{id).

[user2040850]

I the original code for the registration I had already tried a variation of this... NOT specifying the controller and using the route you gave .. and it gave an error that it could not find the resource (again see the original message)... I thought this was correct... do I have something wrong the mapphttproute statement?

[NightOwl888]

Not that I can tell. But note that routing is order specific. If you have another route that matches that URL before the route you intend to match it will attempt to route to the wrong controller. Post your entire routing configuration including what you have in Application_Start and maybe the problem can be spotted.

[jpaugh]

It looks like that should instead be GlobalConfiguration.Configure(x => x.MapHttpAttributeRoutes()) as of Web Api v2.

[MikeTeeVee]

Finally! Someone on the internet answered this question. I would have never figured this out. Now I understand. When deriving your Web.Api controller from ApiController, you need MapHttpRoute() in your AreaRegistration (for a regular MVC Controller you would use MapRoute()). Adding using System.Web.Http was the key. Then I commented out the auto-generated MapHttpRoute() code in the App_Start/WebApiConfig.cs file to avoid any confusion down the road. Also, I like the idea of standardizing on the "api/" prefix to appear first in the Url - even within Areas. Thanks a Bunch!