Question

I made a JSON string with jquery, and i want to send it to a C# web api controller.

This is an example of the JSON object

{"Name":"","Type":"4","Meals":["2","3"],"Excludes":["Beef","Chicken"]}

I tryed to send it with a URL like this

API/Recipe/Search?json={"Name":"","Type":"4","Meals":["2","3"],"Excludes":["Beef","Chicken"]}

With my Controller like this:

public class RecipeController : ApiController
{

    [HttpGet]
    public string Search(searchObject json)
    {
        return "Asdasd";
    }
 }

and like this

   public class RecipeController : ApiController
{

    [HttpGet]
    public string Search(string json)
    {
        searchObject search = (searchObject)JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json);

        return "Asdasd";
    }
}

But in neither case the controller will pick it up. I am using MVC4.

Here is the Jquery i am using to make the call. apiLink is the link I posted above.

$.getJSON(apiLink, function (data) {
        var items = [];

        $.each(data, function (key, val) {
            items.push('<li id="' + key + '">' + val + '</li>');
        });

        $('<ul/>', {
            'class': 'my-new-list',
            html: items.join('')
        }).appendTo('body');
    });

How do I get the controller to receive the JSON object?

Thanks

Answer 1

You should use POST attribute with the method, this way you will be able to post complex object to the Web API,

You may create a class for the JSON, from json to cSharp

public class SearchObject
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Type { get; set; }
    public List<string> Meals { get; set; }
    public List<string> Excludes { get; set; }
}

Then in your web api, specify the method with HttpPost attribute, Web API will take care of deserialization of json in the post to your template.

[HttpPost]
public string Search(SearchObject json)
{
    return "Asdasd";
}

You may try fiddler, for making a post request, in the request header specify type:

Content-Type:application/json

and in the request body paste your json, and Execute