How do I create an MVC area for API? - asp.net-web-api

Question

I created a new MVC project and I ticked the box for API.
However, I intend to create many API functions and I don't really want to fill up the main controllers folder, so, I thought this will be a good use for an area.
So, I created an area called API, but, no matter what I do, I can't seem to access any of the API pages.
Just to test, I created another controller called test on the API area, and, I can access and do everything as expected.
I came straight from MVC2/3, and then had a few years off... I'm a bit out of touch and I believe this could be related to the /App_Start/WebApiConfig.cs and /Global.asax files, but, I have tried to edit them in various ways without any luck.
Does anyone know what is happening and what I need to do to get the API features working from an area?

Answer 1

You don't need to create an Area for Api controllers, but your Api controllers must derive from ApiController to be picked up. Instead of creating a Area, just organize your controllers inside folders and as long as the controllers follow convention they will be picked up by the WebApi.
In your WebApiConfig.csyou'll be able to define Routes, although I recommend using Attribute Based Routing instead. Then for each "area" you could create a base api controller and stick a `[RoutePrefix("api/areaName")] attribute on the class - and then for every controller in that area, you just derive from that base controller.
Here is a quick example for a "Users" api controller. With the example below you'll be able to to use the following urls:
GET http://localhost:port/api/users
GET http://localhost:port/api/users/some-guid
POST http://localhost:port/api/users
Remember to enable attribute based routing in your WebApiConfig class.
WebApiConfig.cs
public static class WebApiConfig
{
public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
{
config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();
}
}
UsersApiController.cs
[RoutePrefix("api/users")]
public class UsersApiController : ApiController
{
List<User> _users = new List<User> { new User("Foo", "Bar"), new User("Bar", "Foo") };
[Route("")]
public IHttpActionResult Get()
{
var result = _users;
return Ok(result);
}
[Route("{id:guid}")]
public IHttpActionResult Get(Guid id)
{
var result = _users.FirstOrDefault(q => q.Id == id);
if (result == null)
return NotFound();
return Ok(result);
}
[Route("")]
public IHttpActionResult Post([FromBody]PostModel model)
{
// Process the input model
var user = new User(model.FirstName, model.LastName);
// Save user to database
_users.Add(user);
return Created<User>(Request.RequestUri + user.Id.ToString(), user);
}
public class PostModel
{
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public string LastName { get; set; }
}
public class User
{
public User(string firstName, string LastName)
{
Id = Guid.NewGuid();
FirstName = firstName;
LastName = lastName;
}
public Guid Id { get; private set; }
public string FirstName { get; private set; }
public string LastName { get; private set; }
}
}