Issue is why my Web API not returning JSON - asp.net-web-api

Question

see my web api controller actions. i am return a response class from my action which has wrapped customer data ,status and message etc. but when i am invoking my web action from browser then action returning this symbol {} only which is very odd. see my web api code
my code as follows
[RoutePrefix("api/customer")]
public class CustomerController : ApiController
{
static readonly ICustomerRepository repository = new CustomerRepository();
[HttpGet, Route("GetAll")]
public HttpResponseMessage GetAllCustomers()
{
var Response=new Response(true, "SUCCESS", repository.GetAll());
//return Response;
//return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, Response);
HttpResponseMessage response = Request.CreateResponse<Response>(HttpStatusCode.OK, Response);
return response;
}
[HttpGet, Route("GetByID/{customerID}")]
public Response GetCustomer(string customerID)
{
Customer customer = repository.Get(customerID);
if (customer == null)
{
throw new HttpResponseException(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);
}
return new Response(true, "SUCCESS", customer);
//return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, response);
}
[HttpGet, Route("GetByCountryName/{country}")]
public IEnumerable<Customer> GetCustomersByCountry(string country)
{
return repository.GetAll().Where(
c => string.Equals(c.Country, country, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
}
public HttpResponseMessage PostCustomer(Customer customer)
{
customer = repository.Add(customer);
var response = Request.CreateResponse<Customer>(HttpStatusCode.Created, customer);
string uri = Url.Link("DefaultApi", new { customerID = customer.CustomerID });
response.Headers.Location = new Uri(uri);
return response;
}
public void PutProduct(string customerID, Customer customer)
{
customer.CustomerID = customerID;
if (!repository.Update(customer))
{
throw new HttpResponseException(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);
}
}
public void DeleteProduct(string customerID)
{
Customer customer = repository.Get(customerID);
if (customer == null)
{
throw new HttpResponseException(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);
}
repository.Remove(customerID);
}
}
public class Response
{
bool IsSuccess = false;
string Message;
object ResponseData;
public Response(bool status, string message, object data)
{
IsSuccess = status;
Message = message;
ResponseData = data;
}
}
public class Customer
{
public string CustomerID { get; set; }
public string CompanyName { get; set; }
public string ContactName { get; set; }
public string ContactTitle { get; set; }
public string Address { get; set; }
public string Region { get; set; }
public string PostalCode { get; set; }
public string City { get; set; }
public string Country { get; set; }
public string Phone { get; set; }
public string Fax { get; set; }
}
this way i am calling from winform using httpclient
var baseAddress = "http://localhost:38762/api/customer/GetAll";
using (var client = new HttpClient())
{
using (var response = client.GetAsync(baseAddress).Result)
{
if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
var customerJsonString = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
var cust = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Response>(customerJsonString);
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("{0} ({1})", (int)response.StatusCode, response.ReasonPhrase);
}
}
}
tell me what is wrong in my code for GetAll actions which is not returning json rather return {}
i have to return my response class instead of IEnumerable<Customer> so show me the path what to change in code.
if my method looks like
[HttpGet, Route("GetAll")]
public Response GetAllCustomers()
{
var Response = new Response(true, "SUCCESS", repository.GetAll());
//return Response;
//return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, Response);
//HttpResponseMessage response = Request.CreateResponse<Response>(HttpStatusCode.OK, Response);
return Response;
}
OR
[HttpGet, Route("GetAll")]
public HttpResponseMessage GetAllCustomers()
{
var Response=new Response(true, "SUCCESS", repository.GetAll());
//return Response;
//return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, Response);
HttpResponseMessage response = Request.CreateResponse<Response>(HttpStatusCode.OK, Response);
return response;
}
but not returning any data or json. just return {} means null.
this way i give instruction to my web api as a result it should return json.
public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
{
config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();
config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
name: "DefaultApi",
routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
);
config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes.Add(new MediaTypeHeaderValue("text/html"));
}

Answer 1

I think the issue could be that you are already sending SUCCESS in your Response then creating another response using the Request.CreateResponse(..) method.
You can try to modify your method as below
public Response GetAllCustomers()
{
var data = repository.GetAll();
if (data !=null)
return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, data);
else
return Request.CreateErrorResponse(HttpStatusCode.NotFound,"No records found");
}
You can return these
HttpStatusCodes