WebApi 2 routing without MVC route config isn't working - asp.net-mvc

Question

TL;TD I've created a new WebApi2 Application and removed all the default MVC guff so just WebApi guff remains. Why isn't it working.
I've created a Web Api 2 project and don't need any non Web Api functionality so I removed it prior to creating my WebApi route and controller. No matter how I try to access it, I cant hit my new web api controller action. Code snippets below;
Global.asax
public class WebApiApplication : HttpApplication
{
protected void Application_Start()
{
GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);
FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
}
}
WebApiConfig.cs
public static class WebApiConfig
{
public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
{
config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();
config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
name: "DefaultApi",
routeTemplate: "{controller}/{action}/{id}"
);
}
}
TestController.cs
public class TestController : ApiController
{
public IEnumerable<TestItem> Get()
{
var updates = new List<TestItem>()
{
new TestItem()
{
Title = "Testing Testing",
Content = "Testing Content",
Date = DateTime.Now
}
};
return updates;
}
}
Project Structure
App_Start
FilterConfig.cs
WebApiConfig.cs
Controllers
TestController.cs
Models
TestItem.cs
Global.asax
I am completely at a loss, I'm sure I've missed something obvious.

Answer 1

Your route is defined as the following:
config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
name: "DefaultApi",
routeTemplate: "{controller}/{action}/{id}"
);
This is expecting a route which is in 3 segments; i.e. http://localhost/Test/Get/1. However, you don't have any action which matches this. The only action you have matches http://localhost/Test/Get/.
You could correct this by adding defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional } to your Http Route. However, I highly encourage you to consider switching to Attribute based Routing instead. With Attribute routing, you use attributes in your controller to manage your routes, rather than using a magic string routing table. For Example:
[RoutePrefix("Test")]
public class TestController : ApiController {
// http://localhost/Test/Get
[Route("Get")]
public IEnumerable<TestItem> Get() { ...
}
//http://localhost/Test/Get/1
[Route("Get/{id}")
public TestItem Get(int id) { ...
}
}

Answer 2

It's not possible to see what is causing your WebApi to fail from the supplied code, but this will give you a working WebApi with minimal setup.
A side note, FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters) is for MVC filters and not used by WebApi. You should instead use config.Filters.Add(new SomeFilter()) in your WebApiConfig.csfile.
Make a GET request to http://localhost:80/api/test (or whatever port it is running on) and it will return a list of TestItem in either XML or JSON depending on your clients http headers.
Global.asax.cs
public class WebApiApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
protected void Application_Start()
{
GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);
}
}
WebApiConfig.cs
public static class WebApiConfig
{
public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
{
config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
name: "DefaultApi",
routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
);
}
}
TestController.cs
public class TestController : ApiController
{
public IEnumerable<TestItem> Get()
{
var updates = new List<TestItem>()
{
new TestItem()
{
Title = "Testing Testing",
Content = "Testing Content",
Date = DateTime.Now
}
};
return updates;
}
}
TestItem.cs
public class TestItem
{
public TestItem()
{
}
public string Content { get; set; }
public DateTime Date { get; set; }
public string Title { get; set; }
}
I have the following nuget packages installed:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<packages>
<package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi" version="5.2.3" targetFramework="net452" />
<package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client" version="5.2.3" targetFramework="net452" />
<package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Core" version="5.2.3" targetFramework="net452" />
<package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.WebHost" version="5.2.3" targetFramework="net452" />
</packages>