Post Binary array to Web API Controller - asp.net-web-api

Question

I am trying to POST form data which consists of few string variable and binary array.
Below is the Model for the form data.
public class FileModel
{
public string Path { get; set; }
public byte[] File { get; set; }
}
Below is my Web API Controller.
[Route("")]
public IHttpActionResult Post([FromBody]FileModel media)
{
// Can I use ??
byte[] requestFile = media.File;
string requestFilePath = media.Path;
//Process the above variables
return Ok();
}
I would like to know Can I use the following code to de-serialize the following code snippet to to read the values from the JSON payload including the binary data?
byte[] requestFile = media.File;
string requestFilePath = media.Path;
If Yes, Do I need to define any formatter class to get it working?
I normally use POSTMAN to test my RESTful endpoints.
Is it possible to use POSTMAN still to POST binary array? May be not need to write my own client

Answer 1

You'll need to use a serializer to serialize complex objects (multiple fields) as content for a Http Request.
For your code snippet to read the object from the content you can use this:
var requestContent = Request.Content.ReadAsAsync<FileModel>(GetJsonSerializer()).Result;
Here's the serializer boilerplate code.
private JsonMediaTypeFormatter GetJsonSerializer()
{
JsonSerializerSettings settings = new JsonSerializerSettings()
{
PreserveReferencesHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.PreserveReferencesHandling.All,
TypeNameHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.TypeNameHandling.All
};
return new JsonMediaTypeFormatter() { SerializerSettings = settings };
}
I'm not sure how to use POSTMAN to test this. A simple .net client would be:
var Client = new HttpClient();
Client.BaseAddress = new Uri("localhost"); //whatever your endpoint is
FileModel objectToSend = new FileModel();
var objectContent = new ObjectContent<FileModel>(objectToSend, GetJsonSerializer() );
var response = Client.PostAsync("uri", objectContent);

Answer 2

You are able to use POSTMAN to test binary file input. Selecting the body tab, you can then pick the radio button "binary" and then choose file.