How to bind parameter when it has reference to itself? - asp.net-mvc

Question

Here is a problem.
We have a simple web api controller with one class in it
public class CheckApiController : ApiController
{
public class Test
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string SomeString { get; set; }
/*public Test ComplexType
{
get
{
return new Test()
{
SomeString = "wtf"
};
}
}*/
}
public List<Test> Get()
{
return new List<Test>(){
new Test(){Id = 1,SomeString = "1st string"},
new Test(){Id=2,SomeString = "2nd string"}
};
}
public HttpResponseMessage Post(Test testclass)
{
//do something
var response = Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.Created);
return response;
}
}
When I check in fiddler Get and Post methods everything is OK. But when i uncomment the property ComplexType in Test and try again POST method will respond with huge 500 internal server error:
Insufficient stack to continue executing the program safely. This can happen from having too many functions on the call stack or function on the stack using too much stack space.
So its simple StackOverflow exception. So why this error happens with field that has no setter or how can i ignore it in binding?

Answer 1

Think about whats happening here. When you POST the object WebApi is building your Test class to build it it gets the ComplexType, which returns a new Test, which gets ComplexType, which returns a new Test and so on until you run out of stack.
Having any logic in you Model you send to/from your Api is generally not a great idea. Here is some info on DTOs, which explains why http://www.servicedesignpatterns.com/requestandresponsemanagement/datatransferobject
Id Recommend amending your Test class to look like:
public class Test
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string SomeString { get; set; }
public Test ComplexType { get; set; }
}
And then assigning the 'SomeString' value afterwards.