WebApi Controller Get Action Doesn't Work - asp.net-web-api

Question

I'm having trouble with one of my WebApi2 controllers. While writing tests I've discovered the Get() is never hit instead it returns a 301 followed by 403. Oddly if I hit Get(id) the second action speaks up and does its job, but I can never hit the Get() action. If I rename the controller it works properly, but sadly, I cannot rename ModelsController to ModelController as I would like since there is an existing user base expecting that name. This is a rewrite of an existing Api that was done in MVC2 I think. All the other controllers work great, just not this one.
Any thoughts as to how to debug this? Or what I may have missed?
Other notes:
The routing configuration is default.
There is no other ModelsController to be found
Below is a simplified version of my code, and the problem remains...
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Web.Http;
using TW.Api.Business.Services.Models;
namespace TW.Api.Business.Services.Controllers
{
public class ModelsController : ApiController
{
public string Get()
{
return null;
}
public string Get(string id)
{
return null;
}
}
}
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web.Http;
using System.Web.Routing;
namespace tw.api.business
{
public static class WebApiConfig
{
public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
{
// config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();
config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
name: "Api_GetWithChild",
routeTemplate: "{controller}/{id}/{action}/{childId}",
defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional, action = "Get", childId = RouteParameter.Optional },
constraints: new { httpMethod = new HttpMethodConstraint("GET") });
config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
name: "Api_Post",
routeTemplate: "{controller}/{id}/{action}/{childId}",
defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional, action = "Post", childId = RouteParameter.Optional },
constraints: new { httpMethod = new HttpMethodConstraint("POST") });
config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
name: "Api_Put",
routeTemplate: "{controller}/{id}/{action}/{childId}",
defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional, action = "Put", childId = RouteParameter.Optional },
constraints: new { httpMethod = new HttpMethodConstraint("PUT") });
config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
name: "DefaultApi",
routeTemplate: "{controller}/{id}",
defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
);
// Uncomment the following line of code to enable query support for actions with an IQueryable or IQueryable<T> return type.
// To avoid processing unexpected or malicious queries, use the validation settings on QueryableAttribute to validate incoming queries.
// For more information, visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=279712.
//config.EnableQuerySupport();
// To disable tracing in your application, please comment out or remove the following line of code
// For more information, refer to: http://www.asp.net/web-api
//config.EnableSystemDiagnosticsTracing();
}
}
}
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Routing;
namespace tw.api.business
{
public class RouteConfig
{
public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
{
routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");
routes.MapRoute(
name: "Default",
url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);
}
}
}

Answer 1

Looking at your route config, there are a few issues
The constrained routes are not really necessary
The id being optional in a middle of a route pattern doesn't really work, your optional items should come at the end.

Answer 2

When creating methods for web-API end-points, you must follow some naming conventions for automatically mapping of method-to-api. Or you can override that using HTTP action and Route attributes
Follow either of the following arrangements (note the 'Model' and 'Models' in method names):
public class ModelsController : ApiController
{
public string GetModels()
{
return null;
}
public string GetModel(int id)
{
return null;
}
}
Or, use the route attributes:
public class ModelsController : ApiController
{
[HttpGet]
[Route("api/Models")]
public string GetModels()
{
return null;
}
[HttpGet]
[Route("api/Models/{id}")]
public string GetModel(string id)
{
return null;
}
}
Ref: Routing and Action Selection