Question

I am attempting to write an API. The signatures look like this:

public class CardsController : ApiController
{
    [HttpGet]
    public ClientData NewGame(){...}
    [HttpGet]
    public ClientData Deal(int sessionId){...}
    [HttpGet]
    public ClientData Stand(int sessionId){...}
}

With everything else at default I was getting an error saying my class couldn’t differentiate between Deal and Stand. After a bit of research I found it was a routing issue. So I decided to update my routing.

My global.asax.cs now looks like this:

public class MvcApplication : HttpApplication
{
    protected void Application_Start()
    {
        AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();

        WebApiConfig.Register(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);
        FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
        RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
        BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles);
        AuthConfig.RegisterAuth();
        RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
    }

    public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
    {
        routes.MapHttpRoute("api", "api/{controller}/{action}/{value}", new { value = RouteParameter.Optional});
    }
}

Going to http://localhost:54924/api/Cards/Stand/19 gives an error that says no HttpResource was found, and going to http://localhost:54924/api/Cards/Stand triggers the NewGame() action. How can I get Stand and Deal to work on the same controller?

Answer 1

Add the routes:

routes.MapHttpRoute("DealApi", 
                    "api/{controller}/deal/{sessionId}",
                    new { action="Deal", sessionId = RouteParameter.Optional });


routes.MapHttpRoute("StandApi", 
                    "api/{controller}/stand/{sessionId}",
                    new { action="Stand", sessionId = RouteParameter.Optional });

Now, in your Controller class:

[HttpGet]
[ActionName("Deal")]
public ClientData Deal(int sessionId){...}

[HttpGet]
[ActionName("Stand")]
public ClientData Stand(int sessionId){...}

Now, whenever you pull up the url http://www.yourhost.com/api/deal/12345, the Deal function will be called. Same thing with Stand.

Keep in mind that whatever you set in your routes tables are only for recognizing whether a url is valid. By having the action specified in the third parameter, you’re telling Web Api to find a function whose ActionName attribute is set to what you specify.

Another thing – put those two routes BEFORE any of your default api routes.