I'm working on a self hosting rest api used to monitor de status of several servers.
I was tasked that, when everything is working correctly, I should only return
{"response":"ok"}
But, when there's an error on queried server, or servers, I must return
{ "response" : [ {"agent":"<server>:<port>","port":"<port>" ,"Error":"<Description of the error>"} ] }
I was thinking on building a helper class to build object on this schema and returning them over the rest api
public class HelperErrorResponseClass
{
public string agent { get; set; }
public string port { get; set; }
public string Error { get; set; }
}
This is no problem, the issue is, how to deal when everything it ok. I have this Api response helper class
public class Response
{
public string response { get; set; }
}
But I'm seeing that I'll need to change the response property to List<HelperErrorResponseClass> in order to send the error response. Do you think that, if I stringify the List<HelperErrorResponseClass> object with Json.Net it will be returned in the desired format?
Edit: Forgot to add that, I-m using Web Api to build the rest service.
UDPATE:
After further research, I found a way to work this out.
Following this post, I was able to rewrite the helper classes like this
[DataContract]
[KnownType(typeof(List<HelperErrorResponseClass>))]
public class Response
{
[DataMember]
public object response { get; set; }
}
[DataContract]
public class HelperErrorResponseClass
{
[DataMember(EmitDefaultValue = false)]
public string agent { get; set; }
[DataMember(EmitDefaultValue = false)]
public string port { get; set; }
[DataMember(EmitDefaultValue = false)]
public string error { get; set; }
}
This work to fulfill my and my client needs... except for one little thing. When I get the result from a List, and given that I added the KnownTypes directive, my response is now this
{"response":[{"__type":"HelperErrorResponseClass:#AppCommonLib","Error":"ERROR","InstanceId":"<InstanceId> : <Port>","PortType":"<PortType>"},{"__type":"HelperErrorResponseClass:#AppCommonLib","Error":"ERROR","InstanceId":"<InstanceId> : <Port>","PortType":"<PortType>"}]}
Any idea how to get rid of that __type property of the response? make that it must be explicit to only return the declared properties of the helper class?
Simplest way to deal with this is to set the return type on the handling function to string, then you can check for errors and do something like;
//pseudo code to give an idea
if (errorsList.Count() > 0)
{
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(errorsList);
}
else
{
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new Response("ok"));
}
Now this being said... Unless the people providing requirements aren't at all flexible you should just redo the design. How about just returning the errors array and the person calling the API can infer that if it's length is 0 then everything is working OK. Seems pretty straight forward, right? You could also just put all the properties on one object and those fields would just come back as null or empty strings. Or you could change you serializer settings to exclude them if they don't have a value.
Keep things simple and use an anonymous type.
if (condition)
{
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new { response = new { agent = "x", port = "y", error = "z" }});
}
else
{
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new { response = "ok"});
}
More info:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb397696.aspx
I personally don't think you need a Response class, especially that it is of object type. IMHO, you've overcomplicated the very simple issue that you have. It is not only the __type, but also other info like HelperErrorResponseClass:#AppCommonLib that isn't supposed to be there.
Another Issue you have is the incorrect name of the HelperErrorResponseClass class. This is not a helper class. It is a standard data-object class.
A helper class is a class filled with static methods. It is usually used to isolate a "useful" algorithm.
This is how I would do it:
I'd get rid of the Response class.
I'd use your original simple HelperErrorResponseClass class, but rename it to something more meaningful like ErrorDetails.
I'd return the response like this:
.
if (errorsList.Count() > 0) {
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new { response = errorsList});
}
else {
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new { response = "ok"});
}
However, if you really want to stick to your updated solution, an easy way to get rid of the __type is simply removing it from the final serialized string:
if (errorsList.Count() > 0) {
string r = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new { response = errorsList});
return r.Replace("__type", "");
}
else {
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new { response = "ok"});
}
Related
I'm using a HTTP client to get a string and picking out my json from that and converting back to a string to deserialize it into a List of "Spots" but can't get it to to work
I've tried changing the DeserializeObject type to every mix of "List, IList, HardwareUpdateSpot, HardWareModel" and still it didn't work
public async Task<IList<HardwareUpdateSpot>> UpdateSpotHTTP()
{
var client = new HttpClient();
var response = await client.GetAsync(
"https://io.adafruit.com/api/v2/Corey673/feeds/673d855c-9f66-4e49-8b2c-737e829d880c");
var responseHTTP = response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
var j = JObject.Parse(responseHTTP.Result);
var b = j.GetValue("last_value");
var h = b.ToString();
var dataObjects = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IList<HardwareUpdateSpot>>(h);
return null;
}
public record HardWareModel
{
public int SpotId { get; set; }
public string Occupied { get; set; }
}
public class HardwareUpdateSpot
{
public IList<HardWareModel> Spots { get; set; }
public HardwareUpdateSpot(IList<HardWareModel> spots)
{
Spots = spots;
}
}
While trying to reproduce your problem I have examined the returned value from the API call. This is the json returned:
{"Spot":[
{"SpotId":"1","Occupied":"false",},
{"SpotId":"2","Occupied":"false",},
{"SpotId":"3","Occupied":"false",},
{"SpotId":"4","Occupied":"false"}
]}
So, it easy to see that the returned json requires a root object with a public Spot property (not Spots) and this property should be a collection.
Instead the code above expects a json that has at the root level a collection of HardwareUpdateSpot and of course it cannot work.
To fix the problem you need to change the deserialization to:
JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<HardwareUpdateSpot>(h);
Now, you need to make some changes to the HardwareUpdateSpot class to make it compatible with the json.
First you need to add a parameterless constructor required by jsonconvert, then you need to fix the difference between the name for the property (Spots) and the name returned (Spot).
So you can change the property name to match the json or add the attribute that make Spots=Spot
[JsonProperty("Spot")]
public IList<HardWareModel> Spots { get; set; }
from my rest call, I am receiving this JSON:
{
"livemode": true,
"error": {
"type": "unauthorized",
"message": "You did not provide a valid API key."
}
}
I need to fetch type and message into my type:
public class TestObject
{
string type { get; set; }
string message { get; set; }
}
But this returns null objects:
HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
Uri uri = new Uri("https://api.onlinebetaalplatform.nl/v1");
HttpResponseMessage response = await client.GetAsync(uri);
string content = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
JObject json = JObject.Parse(content);
TestObject album = json.ToObject<TestObject>();
1.) I understand that the type and message attributes are "nested". How do I access them?
2.) Even if I call my type livemode and error, the objects still return null.
Can you help me out a little?
Thank you :)
There seems to be one set of curly brackets to many. I am pretty sure that the api you are querying is not returning the first and the last curly bracket. Continue on after that has been taken care of.
In order to fetch the data, add these class definitions
public class Error
{
public string type { get; set; }
public string message { get; set; }
}
public class Root
{
public bool livemode { get; set; }
public Error error { get; set; }
}
and change
TestObject album = json.ToObject<TestObject>();
To
Root album = json.ToObject<Root>();
As some of the comments to your question mentioned, you are currently trying to convert the JSON string to the nested Error object instead of the root object, where the Error object is located.
In the future, there are tools that can generate C# classes from JSON. I used https://json2csharp.com/ this time around to do so.
EDIT:
I just found out that Visual Studio actually has an in-built JSON to Class feature!
I am trying to call a rest api method from c#. Problem is for all content types it passes null to body parameter.I shared my code below.Apart from this code I have tried to write body parameter to request as stream.It didn't work either. I have also tried 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded' as content type.
Calling rest api method from c# sample:
string token = Server.UrlEncode("v0WE/49uN1/voNwVA1Mb0MiMrMHjFunE2KgH3keKlIqei3b77BzTmsk9OIREken1hO9guP3qd4ipCBQeBO4jiQ==");
string url = "http://localhost:2323/api/Applications/StartProcess?token=" + token;
string data = #"{""ProcessParameters"": [{ ""Name"":""flowStarter"",""Value"": ""Waffles"" }],
""Process"": ""RESTAPISUB""}";
System.Net.Http.HttpClient client = new System.Net.Http.HttpClient();
client.BaseAddress = new System.Uri(url);
byte[] cred = UTF8Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("username:password");
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization = new System.Net.Http.Headers.AuthenticationHeaderValue("Basic", Convert.ToBase64String(cred));
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new System.Net.Http.Headers.MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
System.Net.Http.HttpContent content = new StringContent(data, UTF8Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
HttpResponseMessage messge = client.PostAsync(url, content).Result;
string description = string.Empty;
if (messge.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
string result = messge.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
description = result;
}
Rest api Method:
[HttpPost]
[ActionName("StartProcess")]
public int StartProcess([FromUri]string token,[FromBody]WorkflowStartParameters parameters)
{
try
{
LoginInformation info = CasheProcesses.ReadCashe(token);
eBAWSAPI api = Service.GetWSService();
WorkflowProcess proc = api.StartProcess(info.Id, info.Password, info.ImpersonateUserId, info.Language, parameters);
return proc.ProcessId;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception("An error occured when starting process,exception detail:" + ex);
}
}
WorkflowStartParameters class structure:
public class WorkflowStartParameters
{
public WorkflowParameter[] ProcessParameters;
public string Process { get; set; }
}
public class WorkflowParameter
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Value { get; set; }
}
I have searched this problem a lot. It seems as a very common problem. I just found this solution working properly, passing request parameter to rest api method and reading body parameter from there. But it is not a valid solution for me.
If you have any idea,feel free to share.
Thanks,
Zehra
I don´t know if it can solve your problem, but let me try.
I guess you don´t have to utilize Server.UrlEncode in your call, but:
Dim myUri As New Uri(Token)
And I guess you must not encode also your username and password - try pass them as string.
Your problem appear to be here:
public class WorkflowStartParameters
{
public WorkflowParameter[] ProcessParameters; <---- needs get/set
public string Process { get; set; }
}
This needs to be a public property to serialize properly. Currently you have it set up as a public field. Just add { get; set; } and give that a try. I would also look into serializing with Newtonsoft.Json to ensure your object is properly serialized. Trying to do it with escape strings will be messing the more data you are sending.
By the way there can be issues sometimes serializing arrays, I would change that to :
public List<WorkflowParameter> ProcessParameters{get;set;}
Finally I have achieved to send filled out data to server. It was about serialization problem. But it didn't work with json serialization before send data. I have added DataContract attribute to my class and it works properly.
Unfortunately still I couldn't figure out this when I make ajax calls from java script it works without DataContract attribute but if I call it in c# it needs DataContract attribute. If someone share the information about this I would appreciate!
I am sharing new class structure, everything else but this still same:
[Serializable]
[DataContract]
public class WorkflowParameter
{
[DataMember]
public string Name { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string Value { get; set; }
}
[Serializable]
[DataContract]
public class WorkflowStartParameters
{
[DataMember]
public WorkflowParameter[] ProcessParameters { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string Process { get; set; }
}
I'm using Restsharp to deserialize some webservice responses, however, the problem is that sometimes this webservices sends back a json response with a few more fields. I've manage to come around this so far by adding all possible field to my matching model, but this web service will keep adding/removing fields from its response.
Eg:
Json response that works:
{
"name": "Daniel",
"age": 25
}
Matching model:
public class Person
{
public string name { get; set; }
public int age { get; set; }
}
This works fine: Person person = deserializer.Deserialize<Person>(response);
Now suppose the json response was:
{
"name": "Daniel",
"age": 25,
"birthdate": "11/10/1988"
}
See the new field bithdate? Now everything goes wrong. Is there a way to tell to restsharp to ignore those fields that are not in the model?
If there's that much variation in the fields you're getting back, perhaps the best approach is to skip the static DTOs and deserialize to a dynamic. This gist provides an example of how to do this with RestSharp by creating a custom deserializer:
// ReSharper disable CheckNamespace
namespace RestSharp.Deserializers
// ReSharper restore CheckNamespace
{
public class DynamicJsonDeserializer : IDeserializer
{
public string RootElement { get; set; }
public string Namespace { get; set; }
public string DateFormat { get; set; }
public T Deserialize<T>(RestResponse response) where T : new()
{
return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<dynamic>(response.Content);
}
}
}
Usage:
// Override default RestSharp JSON deserializer
client = new RestClient();
client.AddHandler("application/json", new DynamicJsonDeserializer());
var response = client.Execute<dynamic>(new RestRequest("http://dummy/users/42"));
// Data returned as dynamic object!
dynamic user = response.Data.User;
A simpler alternative is to use Flurl.Http (disclaimer: I'm the author), an HTTP client lib that deserializes to dynamic by default when generic arguments are not provided:
dynamic d = await "http://api.foo.com".GetJsonAsync();
In both cases, the actual deserialization is performed by Json.NET. With RestSharp you'll need to add the package to your project (though there's a good chance you have it already); Flurl.Http has a dependency on it.
I am attempting to get ServiceStack to return a list of objects to a C# client, but I keep getting this exception:
"... System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationException: Type definitions should start with a '{' ...."
The model I am trying to return:
public class ServiceCallModel
{
public ServiceCallModel()
{
call_uid = 0;
}
public ServiceCallModel(int callUid)
{
this.call_uid = callUid;
}
public int call_uid { get; set; }
public int store_uid { get; set; }
...... <many more properties> ......
public bool cap_expense { get; set; }
public bool is_new { get; set; }
// An array of properties to exclude from property building
public string[] excludedProperties = { "" };
}
The response:
public class ServiceCallResponse
{
public List<ServiceCallModel> Result { get; set; }
public ResponseStatus ResponseStatus { get; set; } //Where Exceptions get auto-serialized
}
And the service:
public class ServiceCallsService : Service
{
// An instance of model factory
ModelFactory MyModelFactory = new ModelFactory();
public object Any(ServiceCallModel request)
{
if (request.call_uid != 0)
{
return MyModelFactory.GetServiceCalls(request.call_uid);
} else {
return MyModelFactory.GetServiceCalls() ;
}
}
}
The client accesses the service with:
JsonServiceClient client = new ServiceStack.ServiceClient.Web.JsonServiceClient("http://172.16.0.15/");
client.SetCredentials("user", "1234");
client.AlwaysSendBasicAuthHeader = true;
ServiceCallResponse response = client.Get<ServiceCallResponse>("/sc");
The "model factory" class is a DB access class which returns a list. Everything seems to work just fine when I access the service through a web browser. The JSON returned from the service starts:
"[{"call_uid":70...."
And ends with:
"....false,"is_new":true}]"
My question is, what here might be causing serialization/deserialization to fail?
Solution
Thanks to the answer from mythz, I was able to figure out what I was doing wrong. My misunderstanding was in exactly how many DTO types there are and exactly what they do. In my mind I had them sort of merged together in some incorrect way. So now as I understand it:
Object to return (In my case, called "ServiceCallModel": The actual class you wish the client to have once ServiceStack has done its job. In my case, a ServiceCallModel is a key class in my program which many other classes consume and create.
Request DTO: This is what the client sends to the server and contains anything related to making a request. Variables, etc.
Response DTO: The response that the server sends back to the requesting client. This contains a single data object (ServiceCallModel), or in my case... a list of ServiceCallModel.
Further, exactly as Mythz said, I now understand the reason for adding "IReturn" to the request DTO is so the client will know precisely what the server will send back to it. In my case I am using the list of ServiceCallModel as the data source for a ListView in Android. So its nice to be able to tell a ListViewAdapter that "response.Result" is in fact already a useful list.
Thanks Mythz for your help.
This error:
Type definitions should start with a '{'
Happens when the shape of the JSON doesn't match what it's expecting, which for this example:
ServiceCallResponse response = client.Get<ServiceCallResponse>("/sc");
The client is expecting the Service to return a ServiceCallResponse, but it's not clear from the info provided that this is happening - though the error is suggesting it's not.
Add Type Safety
Although it doesn't change the behavior, if you specify types in your services you can assert that it returns the expected type, e.g Change object to ServiceCallResponse, e.g:
public ServiceCallResponse Any(ServiceCallModel request)
{
...
}
To save clients guessing what a service returns, you can just specify it on the Request DTO with:
public class ServiceCallModel : IReturn<ServiceCallResponse>
{
...
}
This lets your clients have a more succinct and typed API, e.g:
ServiceCallResponse response = client.Get(new ServiceCallModel());
instead of:
ServiceCallResponse response = client.Get<ServiceCallResponse>("/sc");
See the New API and C# Clients docs for more info.