ASP.NET MVC Web API : Posting a list of objects - asp.net-mvc

Question

I'm trying to post a list of objects from my winforms application to my asp.net mvc 4 website. I've tested posting one object, and it works, but does not work for the list. It returns a 500 (Internal Server Error). Here is my code:
ASP.NET MVC Web API
public class PostTraceController : ApiController
{
public HttpResponseMessage Post(List<WebTrace> list)
{
try
{
// Some code
return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.Created);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
HttpContext.Current.Trace.Write("exception", ex.Message);
return Request.CreateErrorResponse(HttpStatusCode.ServiceUnavailable, ex);
}
}
public HttpResponseMessage Post(WebTrace item)
{
try
{
// Some code
return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.Created);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
HttpContext.Current.Trace.Write("exception", ex.Message);
return Request.CreateErrorResponse(HttpStatusCode.ServiceUnavailable, ex);
}
}
}
Win forms application
public class BaseSender
{
public BaseSender()
{
Client = new HttpClient
{
BaseAddress = new Uri(#"http://localhost/mywebsite/")
};
Client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(
new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
}
public string UserCode { get; set; }
protected readonly HttpClient Client;
public HttpResponseMessage PostAsJsonAsync(string requestUri, object value)
{
var response = Client.PostAsJsonAsync(requestUri, value).Result;
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
return response;
}
}
public class WebTraceSender : BaseSender
{
private const string requestUri = "api/posttrace";
public bool Post(List<ArchiveCptTrace> list)
{
try
{
var listWebTrace = new List<WebTrace>();
foreach (var item in list)
{
listWebTrace.Add(new WebTrace
{
DateStart = item.DatePreparation,
DateEnd = item.DateCloture,
UserStart = item.UserPreparation.UserName,
UserEnd = item.UserCloture.UserName,
AmountStart = item.MontantPreparation,
AmountEnd = item.MontantCloture,
TheoricAmountEnd = item.MontantTheorique,
Difference = item.Ecart,
UserCode = UserCode
});
}
var responce = PostAsJsonAsync(requestUri, listWebTrace);
return responce.IsSuccessStatusCode;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
// TODO : Trace the exception
return false;
}
}
}
EDIT :
I've found out the scenario of the error, which is having two methods in my api controller, even thought they have different signature. If I comment one method, the post work fine (item or a list). Any ideas ?

Answer 1

The methods may have different signatures, but Web API can't tell the difference between them without inspecting the body, which it won't do for performance reasons.
You could do two things - either create a new class which just holds a list of WebTrace objects, and put that in a different API controller, or you could map a custom route to one of your existing methods. You could do that with ActionName attribute, however, I would probably take the first approach.