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Send post data to api in C#

I have this api in php that works ok when sending data from an html form.
<?php
include_once 'apiAppMovil.php';
$api = new AppMovil();
$error = '';
if(isset($_POST["nombre"]) && isset($_POST["ape"]) && isset($_POST["email"]) && isset($_POST["pass"])){
if($api->subirImagen($_FILES['foto'])){
$item = array(
"nombre" => $_POST["nombre"],
"ape" => $_POST["ape"],
"email" => $_POST["email"],
"pass" => $_POST["pass"],
"foto" => $api->getImagen() //Not used
);
$api->add($item);
}else{
$api->error('Error con el archivo: ' . $api->getError());
}
}
else{
$api->error('Error al llamar a la API');
}
?>
I want to send data but from c#. My class is the following:
public partial class Root
{
[JsonProperty("items")]
public Item[] Items { get; set; }
}
public partial class Item
{/*
[JsonProperty("id")]
[JsonConverter(typeof(ParseStringConverter))]
public long Id { get; set; }*/
[JsonProperty("nombre")]
public string Nombre { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("ape")]
public string Ape { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("email")]
public string Email { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("pass")]
public string Pass { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("foto")] //Not Used
public string Foto { get; set; }
}
and my method is:
private async Task SignUpApiPost()
{
var data = new Item
{
Nombre = "Eric",
Ape = "Pino",
Pass = "M2022",
Email = "ericpinodiaz#gmail.com",
Foto = "default.jpeg" //Not Used
};
// Serialize our concrete class into a JSON String
var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(data);
// Wrap our JSON inside a StringContent which then can be used by the HttpClient class
var httpContent = new StringContent(json.ToString(), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
var httpClient = new HttpClient();
// Do the actual request and await the response
var response = await httpClient.PostAsync("https://app.domainexample.com/rest/add.php", httpContent);
if (response.StatusCode == System.Net.HttpStatusCode.OK)
{
//do thing
}
}
But I can't get the data to arrive, I have the errors "Error al llamar a la API" from Api php.
I think the problem is that var data = new Item{ is not declared correctly, can you help me and tell me where I am going wrong?
Thank you.
Edit:
I add the html with which it works correctly:

You should try something like the one below.
client.BaseAddress = new Uri("your url");
//HTTP POST
var postTask = client.PostAsJsonAsync<StudentViewModel>("your parameter name", Item);
postTask.Wait();
var result = postTask.Result;
if (result.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
//do something
}

Parse REST api response for different possible classes in C#

I'm working with a REST API, that returns 2 different kinds of XML responses for the same request.
For example if I ask for a ticket using some ticket number, say 12345 to this API, it either returns:
The ticket:
Or says that it doesn't have the ticket:
(I couldn't format my XML for some reason so just pasted the screenshot.)
Note that the status code comes to be Ok in both the cases. I'm aware that it's a bad api design but we can't change anything about it.
With some help from this JSON2Csharp website, I came up with these classes to represent the response:
The Ticket class:
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "Tickets")]
public class TicketsResponse
{
public List<Ticket> Tickets { get; set; } = new List<Ticket>();
public bool HasTickets() => Tickets.Any();
}
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "Ticket")]
public class Ticket
{
[XmlElement(ElementName = "Field1", IsNullable = true)]
public string Field1 { get; set; }
public bool ShouldSerializeField1() { return Field1 != null; }
[XmlElement(ElementName = "TicketNumber")]
public int TicketNumber { get; set; }
[XmlElement(ElementName = "SomeOtherDetails")]
public SomeOtherDetails SomeOtherDetails { get; set; }
[XmlElement(ElementName = "Accessorials")]
public object Accessorials { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "SomeOtherDetails")]
public class SomeOtherDetails
{
[XmlElement(ElementName = "SomeOtherField1", IsNullable = true)]
public string SomeOtherField1 { get; set; }
public bool ShouldSerializeSomeOtherField1() { return SomeOtherField1 != null; }
}
The Error class:
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "response")]
public class ErrorResponse
{
public byte requestId { get; set; }
public byte errorCode { get; set; }
public string errorDesc { get; set; }
public ErrorResponseBody body { get; set; }
public bool HasErrors()
{
var hasTopLevelError = errorCode != 0;
var hasErrorBody = body?.errors?.Any() ?? false;
if (hasTopLevelError || hasErrorBody)
{
return true;
}
return false;
}
public string ErrorMessage()
{
var hasTopLevelError = errorCode != 0;
var hasErrorBody = body?.errors?.Any() ?? false;
if (hasTopLevelError)
{
return errorDesc;
}
else if (hasErrorBody)
{
return string.Join(", ", body.errors.Select(e => e.errorDescription));
}
return null;
}
}
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "body")]
public class ErrorResponseBody
{
[XmlElement("errors")]
public List<Error> errors { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "Error")]
public class Error
{
public byte errorId { get; set; }
public string errorDescription { get; set; }
public string errorObjectId { get; set; }
}
I then call the API using a TicketNumber that exists.
I'm using RestSharp for calling the api:
public async void SendRequestAndReceiveResponse()
{
var restClient = new RestClient("https://someapiaddress.net");
var requestXMLBody = "<request><request_id>1</request_id><operation>retrieve</operation><method /><entity>ticket</entity><user>someuser</user><password>somepassword</password><body><ticket><TicketNumber>12345</TicketNumber></ticket></body></request>";
var request = new RestRequest("somexmlwebservice!process.action", Method.POST);
request.AddParameter("xmlRequest", requestXMLBody, "text/xml", ParameterType.QueryString);
var response = await restClient.ExecuteAsync<TicketsResponse>(request);
// Do other stuffs with this response...
}
Now this works very well. Because I know my response will have the ticket and that will correctly deserialize to TicketsResponse object.
But if I call the API using a TicketNumber that doesn't exist, I simply get TicketsResponse object that has an empty list of Tickets because this time I'm getting error response. The status code comes to be OK in this case too.
What I want to do here is that I want to capture the error message from the error response. (Response of either Ticket or Error applies to bunch of other processes as well, so it's important to grab this information in a single call.)
And if I knew this ticket doesn't exist, I could simply call the API this way and capture the errors. But that's not ideal nor even a good idea:
var response = await restClient.ExecuteAsync<ErrorResponse>(request);
So I thought of combining TicketsResponse and ErrorResponse, like this:
[XmlRoot]
public class CombinedResponse
{
[XmlElement(ElementName = "Tickets")]
public TicketsResponse Data { get; set; }
[XmlElement(ElementName = "response")]
public ErrorResponse NonData { get; set; }
}
And get the response using that class:
var response = await restClient.ExecuteAsync<CombinedResponse>(request);
The Status code comes OK (when it returns either data or error message) and I get my correct response in response.Content, but the deserialization doesn't work, so my response.Data will show 2 fields Data and NonData both as null. Ideally I should have gotten either my Ticket data or Error data in response.Data.
So my question is:
Is it possible to make this work using a single class for deserialization?
I have spent too much time on this so any help is appreciated.
Also please look at my model classes and suggest if there's better way of doing things.

This is how I solved this issue.
I'm posting here so others may find it helpful.
If there's a better way of doing this, please advise.
I created a method to call the API and deserialize the response to multiple types:
public async Task<(T1, T2)> SendRequestAndReceiveResponse<T1, T2>(RestRequest request)
{
// This can be done in the constructor so we don't instantiate new client for every request.
var restClient = new RestClient("https://someapiaddress.net");
// Get response:
var response = await restClient.ExecuteAsync(request);
// Log request and response here if you want.
if (response.ErrorException != null)
{
var message = $"An error occured during this request. Check request response entries for more details.";
var newException = new Exception(message, response.ErrorException);
throw newException;
}
else
{
var xmlDeserilizer = new RestSharp.Deserializers.XmlDeserializer();
var data = xmlDeserilizer.Deserialize<T1>(response);
var nonData = xmlDeserilizer.Deserialize<T2>(response);
return (data, nonData);
}
}
And used it, by sending the types I need:
public async Task<IEnumerable<Ticket>> FetchTickets()
{
var xmlRequestBody = "<request><request_id>1</request_id><operation>retrieve</operation><method /><entity>ticket</entity><user>someuser</user><password>somepassword</password><body><ticket><TicketNumber>12345</TicketNumber></ticket></body></request>";
var request = new RestRequest("somexmlwebservice!process.action", Method.POST);
request.AddParameter("xmlRequest", xmlRequestBody, "text/xml", ParameterType.QueryString);
var apiCallResult = await SendRequestAndReceiveResponse<TicketsResponse, ErrorResponse>(request);
if (apiCallResult.Item1 != null && apiCallResult.Item1.HasTickets())
{
// Do something with the tickets...
}
else if (apiCallResult.Item2 != null && apiCallResult.Item2.HasErrors())
{
// Do something with the errors...
}
// And so on...
}

My complete solution. If you just need the answer, please take a look at the accepted answer.
This is more like a documentation of the whole process for anyone who deals with RestSharp and XML.
Request:
To form a request body that looks like this, we need few classes like below:
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "request")]
[XmlInclude(typeof(RequestBodyWithTicketNumberOnly))] // To make sure 'body' can be serialized to RequestBodyWithTicketNumberOnly
public class TicketRequestBase
{
public byte request_id { get; set; }
public string operation { get; set; }
public string method { get; set; }
public string entity { get; set; }
public string user { get; set; }
public string password { get; set; }
// body can have different shapes, so not giving it any specific class name.
public object body { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "body")]
public class RequestBodyWithTicketNumberOnly
{
public TicketWithTicketNumberOnly ticket { get; set; }
}
[XmlRoot(ElementName = "ticket")]
public class TicketWithTicketNumberOnly
{
public string TicketNumber { get; set; }
}
A method to convert C# objects into XML strings, like so:
public static string ToXml<T>(T obj)
{
var settings = new XmlWriterSettings
{
Indent = false,
OmitXmlDeclaration = true,
NewLineHandling = NewLineHandling.None,
NewLineOnAttributes = false
};
var objType = obj.GetType();
var serializer = new XmlSerializer(objType);
var emptyNamespaces = new XmlSerializerNamespaces(new[] { XmlQualifiedName.Empty });
using (var stream = new StringWriter())
using (var writer = XmlWriter.Create(stream, settings))
{
serializer.Serialize(writer, obj, emptyNamespaces);
return stream.ToString();
}
}
A method to return request body as XML string:
public static string GetTicketFetchRequestBody(string ticketNumber)
{
if (ticketNumber== null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(ticketNumber));
var singleTicketRequest = new TicketRequestBase()
{
request_id = 1,
operation = "retrieve",
method = string.Empty,
entity = "ticket",
user = "sauser",
password = "sapassword",
body = new RequestBodyWithTicketNumberOnly() { ticket = new TicketWithTicketNumberOnly { TicketNumber = ticketNumber} }
};
return ToXml(singleTicketRequest);
}
Response:
All the classes for the response are already documented in this question. Please take a look at them.
The top level method that gets the Ticket:
public static async Task<IEnumerable<Ticket>> FetchTickets()
{
var xmlRequestBody = GetTicketFetchRequestBody("12345");
var request = new RestRequest("somexmlwebservice!process.action", Method.POST);
request.AddParameter("xmlRequest", xmlRequestBody, "text/xml", ParameterType.QueryString);
var apiCallResult = await SendRequestAndReceiveResponse<TicketsResponse, ErrorResponse>(request);
if (apiCallResult.Item1 != null && apiCallResult.Item1.HasTickets())
{
// Do something with the tickets...
}
else if (apiCallResult.Item2 != null && apiCallResult.Item2.HasErrors())
{
// Do something with the errors...
}
// And so on...
}
The method that actually calls the API uses Proxy, logs requests and responses, and executes request using Polly retry policy:
public async Task<(T1, T2)> SendRequestAndReceiveResponse<T1, T2>(RestRequest request, bool useProxy = true)
{
// This can be done in the constructor so we don't instantiate new client for every request.
var restClient = new RestClient("https://someapiaddress.net");
if (useProxy) // This variable can even be initialized in the constructor of this RestClient
{
var proxy = GetWebProxy();
restClient.Proxy = proxy;
}
// Request Logging Part:
var requestAsJSONString = GetRequestForLogging(request, restClient);
// Log it using your logging provider.
// Response Part:
var response = await ExecuteAsyncWithPolicy(request, restClient);
// Response Logging Part:
var responseAsString = response.Content;
// Log it using your logging provider.
if (response.ErrorException != null)
{
var message = $"An error occured during this request. Check request response entries for more details.";
var newException = new Exception(message, response.ErrorException);
throw newException;
}
else
{
var xmlDeserilizer = new RestSharp.Deserializers.XmlDeserializer();
var data = xmlDeserilizer.Deserialize<T1>(response);
var nonData = xmlDeserilizer.Deserialize<T2>(response);
return (data, nonData);
}
}
Create Web proxy like so:
private static WebProxy GetWebProxy()
{
var proxyUrl = "http://proxy.companyname.com:9090/";
return new WebProxy()
{
Address = new Uri(proxyUrl),
BypassProxyOnLocal = false,
//UseDefaultCredentials = true, // This uses: Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials
//*** These creds are given to the proxy server, not the web server ***
Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultNetworkCredentials
//Credentials = new NetworkCredential("proxyUserName", "proxyPassword")
};
}
Create the request string with all the parameters like so:
private string GetRequestForLogging(IRestRequest request, IRestClient client)
{
var serializer = new JsonSerializer();
var requestToLog = new
{
// This will generate the actual Uri used in the request
RequestUri = client.BuildUri(request),
// Parameters are custom anonymous objects in order to have the parameter type as a nice string
// otherwise it will just show the enum value
parameters = request.Parameters.Select(parameter => new
{
name = parameter.Name,
value = parameter.Value,
type = parameter.Type.ToString()
}),
// ToString() here to have the method as a nice string otherwise it will just show the enum value
method = request.Method.ToString()
};
return serializer.Serialize(requestToLog);
}
Polly retry policy:
private AsyncPolicy<IRestResponse> GetRetryPolicy()
{
var policy = Polly.Policy.HandleResult<IRestResponse>((response) =>
{
return response.ResponseStatus != ResponseStatus.Completed;
})
//.Or<SomeKindOfCustomException>()
.RetryAsync();
return policy;
}
Call the API using the retry policy:
private async Task<IRestResponse> ExecuteAsyncWithPolicy(IRestRequest request, IRestClient restClient)
{
var policy = GetRetryPolicy();
var policyResult = await policy.ExecuteAndCaptureAsync(async () => await restClient.ExecuteAsync(request));
return (policyResult.Outcome == OutcomeType.Successful) ? policyResult.Result : new RestResponse
{
Request = request,
ErrorException = policyResult.FinalException
};
}
Hope this was helpful.

C# JSON - Error: Cannot initialize type with collection initializer (does not implement 'System.Collection.IEnumerable')

I have problem debug the below (in the simplest way possible...). I have a set of properties for a JSON, everything works up to the point that I try to serialize. I would appreciate the simplest way possible to correct, I have to use Newtonsoft.
Below the full C# code. The error area is being marked in comments.
using System;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Collections.Generic;
namespace MY_TEST
{
public partial class headers
{
[JsonProperty("RequestID")]
public string myRequest { get; set; } = "someIDhere";
[JsonProperty("CorrelationID")]
public string CorrelationID { get; set; } = "1234567890";
[JsonProperty("Token")]
public string Token { get; set; } = "areallylongstringgoeshereastoken";
[JsonProperty("ContentType")]
public string Content_Type { get; set; } = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
}
public partial class access
{
[JsonProperty("allPs")]
public string allPs { get; set; } = "all";
[JsonProperty("availableAccounts")]
public string availableAccounts { get; set; } = "all";
}
public partial class body
{
[JsonProperty("combinedServiceIndicator")]
public bool combinedServiceIndicator { get; set; } = false;
[JsonProperty("frequencyPerDay")]
public int frequencyPerDay { get; set; } = 4;
[JsonProperty("recurringIndicator")]
public bool recurringIndicator { get; set; } = false;
[JsonProperty("validUntil")]
public string validUntil { get; set; } = "2020-12-31";
}
public class Consent //RootObject
{
[JsonProperty("headers")]
public headers headers { get; set; }
[JsonProperty("body")]
public body body { get; set; }
}
class Program
{
static HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
static void ShowConsent(Consent cust_some)
{
Console.WriteLine(cust_some.ToString());
}
static async Task<Uri> CreateConsentAsync(Consent cust_some)
{
HttpResponseMessage response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync("http://myurladdr:8001/me/and/you/api/", cust_some);
ShowConsent(cust_some);
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
return response.Headers.Location;
}
static async Task<Consent> GetConsentAsync(string path)
{
Consent cust_some = null;
HttpResponseMessage response = await client.GetAsync(path);
if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
cust_some = await response.Content.ReadAsAsync<Consent>();
}
return cust_some;
}
static void Main()
{
RunAsync().GetAwaiter().GetResult();
}
static async Task RunAsync()
{
client.BaseAddress = new Uri("http://myurladdr:8001/me/and/you/api/");
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Clear();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(
new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
try
{
// >---------- ERROR: Cannot initialize type 'Consent' with a collection initializer because it does not implement 'System.Collection.IEnumerable' ----------<
Consent cust_some = new Consent
{
// Headers
cust_some.headers.myRequest = "someIDhere",
cust_some.headers.CorrelationID = "1234567890",
cust_some.headers.Token = "areallylongstringgoeshereastoken"
cust_some.headers.Content_Type = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
// Body
cust_some.body.access.allPs = "all",
cust_some.body.access.availableAccounts = "all",
cust_some.body.combinedServiceIndicator = false,
cust_some.body.frequencyPerDay = 4,
cust_some.body.recurringIndicator = false,
cust_some.body.validUntil = "2020-12-31"
};
// >---------- ERROR ----------<
string json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(cust_some, Formatting.Indented);
Console.WriteLine(json.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("----------------------------------------------------------");
Console.WriteLine(json);
var url = await CreateConsentAsync(cust_some);
Console.WriteLine($"Created at {url}");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
}
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}

Your'e using the identifier names inside their own initializer. For example, your'e using cust_some inside Consent initializer. You need to remove them, like so:
Consent cust_some = new Consent
{
// Headers
headers = new headers
{
myRequest = "someIDhere",
CorrelationID = "1234567890",
Token = "areallylongstringgoeshereastoken"
Content_Type = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
}
// Body
body = new body
{
access = new access
{
allPs = "all",
availableAccounts = "all"
}
combinedServiceIndicator = false,
frequencyPerDay = 4,
recurringIndicator = false,
validUntil = "2020-12-31"
};
}
Also, please note that per Microsoft naming conventions, all identifiers except parameter names should be capitalized, so e.g. headers, body, access and so on, both class and property names, should become Headers, Body, Access. You can read about it here.

In partial class body, add first before all the properties that are needed, the below:
[JsonProperty("access")]
public access access { get; internal set; }
Now, [kudos to user ***HeyJude**** - thank you!] create
Consent cust_some = new Consent
{
headers = new headers
{
myRequest = "someIDhere",
Correlation_ID = "1234567890",
Token = "areallylongstringgoeshereastoken",
Content_Type = "application/json" //"application/json; charset=utf-8"
},
body = new body
{
access = new access //this is how to include access in body
{
allPs = "allAccounts",
availableAccounts = "allAccounts"
},
combinedServiceIndicator = false,
frequencyPerDay = 4,
recurringIndicator = false,
validUntil = "2020-12-31"
}
};

Create webinar using citrix api in c#

I want to create Webinar in GoToWebinar using Citrix API. I am having following code:
public class CreateWebinarTime
{
public DateTime StartTime { get; set; }
public DateTime EndTime { get; set; }
}
public class NewWebinar
{
public string subject { get; set; }
public string description { get; set; }
public List<CreateWebinarTime> Times { get; set; }
public string timeZone { get; set; }
}
string uri = #"https://api.citrixonline.com/G2W/rest/organizers/[ORGKEY]/webinars";
CreateWebinarTime t = new CreateWebinarTime();
t.StartTime = DateTime.Now.AddDays(2);
t.EndTime = t.StartTime.AddHours(2);
List<CreateWebinarTime> tempList = new List<CreateWebinarTime>();
tempList.Add(t);
var newWebinar = new NewWebinar
{
subject="Webinar Test",
description="This is a test webinar.. Will be deleted soon",
Times = tempList,
timeZone = "Asia/Calcutta"
};
JavaScriptSerializer ser = new JavaScriptSerializer();
string json = ser.Serialize(newWebinar);
WebClient client = new WebClient();
client.Headers = new WebHeaderCollection();
client.Headers.Add("Accept", "application/json");
client.Headers.Add("Content-type", "application/json");
client.Headers.Add("Authorization", string.Format("OAuth oauth_token={0}", OauthToken));
string resp = client.UploadString(uri, "POST", json);
It is showing me error "The webinar subject, start or end time are missing" even though I am passing value. I am sure there is no problem with subject, so there is problem with time.
The json created is: {"subject":"Webinar Test","description":"This is a test webinar.. Will be deleted soon","Times":[{"StartTime":"/Date(1424233883641)/","EndTime":"/Date(1424241083641)/"}],"timeZone":"Asia/Calcutta"}
Please help me to fix this.

I solved it myself.
Json is case sensititve and I made mistake over there.
Used 'Times' instead of 'times', 'StartTime' instead of 'startTime' and 'EndTime' instead of 'endTime'

How to Deserialize JSON in RestSharp?

I am just beginning developing using RestSharp and have hit an early roadblock. I think once I understand this simple, but key, concept, I should be off and running. I need to return an Access Token before making my standard calls later. I have set up the following classes, generated from json2csharp.com:
public class AccessToken
{
public string Instance_Url { get; set; }
public string Token { get; set; }
public string Expiration_date { get; set; }
public string Refresh_Token { get; set; }
}
public class RootObject
{
public AccessToken Access_Token { get; set; }
}
I have coded the following on a button click:
var tokenclient = new RestClient();
tokenclient.BaseUrl = "https://url";
tokenclient.Authenticator = new HttpBasicAuthenticator("username", "password");
var tokenrequest = new RestRequest(Method.GET);
tokenrequest.RequestFormat = DataFormat.Json;
IRestResponse tokenresponse = tokenclient.Execute(tokenrequest);
var content = tokenresponse.Content;
RestSharp.Deserializers.JsonDeserializer deserial = new JsonDeserializer();
var des = deserial.Deserialize<AccessToken>(tokenresponse);
I am able to return the following JSON as a string:
{
"Access_Token": {
"Instance_Url": "https://url",
"Token": "StringToken",
"Expiration_date": "9/30/2015 6:15:27 PM",
"Refresh_Token": "StringToken"
}
}
However, when I pull des.Token, it returns a blank value. Can somebody kindly point out my error?

using Newtonsoft.Json;
var response = client.DownloadString(url + queryString);
ResponseModel<string> dataResponse = new ResponseModel<string>();
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(response))
{
dataResponse = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<ResponseModel<string>>(response);
}