MVC.NET Routing

Question

I want to add a new route to my Web Api, which will read various ids and then filter a bunch of books.

So the final url should read something like http://localhost/api/books/1/1/1/1

Now I have added a route to my RouteConfig as follows :-

    public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
    {
        routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");

        routes.MapRoute(
            name: "BookFilter",
            url: "api/books/{author}/{title}/{genre}/{isbn}",
            defaults: new { controller = "Books", action = "BookFilter" }
        );

        routes.MapRoute(
            name: "Default",
            url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
            defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
        );

    }

I also added the following in my BooksController:-

    [HttpGet]
    public IQueryable<BookDTO> BookFilter(int authorId, int titleId, int genreId, int isbn)
    {
        //filter books here
        return db.Books.ProjectTo<BookDTO>();
    }

However when I try to reach the page, I get a 404.

What do I need to do to reach my page?

Thanks for your help and time

Answer 1

Web API and MVC are independent frameworks which each have separate types. The likely reason your route is not working is that you are confusing the two. Specifically, for it to work as you configured, you would need an MVC controller (that is, a controller that inherits System.Web.Mvc.Controller).

So, assuming you want to go with Web API as your question would indicate, you first need to ensure the correct definition of your controller. It should inherit from System.Web.Http.ApiController.

public class BooksController : ApiController
{
    [HttpGet]
    public IHttpActionResult BookFilter(string author, string title, string genre, string isbn)
    {
        return Ok("Successful result");
    }
}

Next, you need to put your routing in the WebApiConfig.cs file, not in the RouteConfig.cs file. Don't forget to remove your route from the RouteConfig.cs file.

public static class WebApiConfig
{
    public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
    {
        // Web API configuration and services

        // Web API routes
        config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();

        config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
            name: "BookFilter", 
            routeTemplate: "api/books/{author}/{title}/{genre}/{isbn}", 
            defaults: new { controller = "Books", action = "BookFilter" });

        config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
            name: "DefaultApi",
            routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
            defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
        );
    }
}

You also need to ensure that the call to GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register); is in your application startup path (by default in Global.asax).

public class MvcApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
    protected void Application_Start()
    {
        AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
        GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);
        FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
        RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
        BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles);
    }
}