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Selfhost Web API parameter passing

I have middle ware with different components interacting with each other. I'm building now a selfhost Web API using OWIN and .NET WebAPI to interact with 3rd parties. My problem is that I need to pass an object reference to my controller so when the controller is called via a GET or POST request it can call function of the passed object. Dependency injection is not helping me in this case cause I need to pass a reference of an existing object and not create a new one.
The WebAPI is created in the ExternalWebAPI class start function:
public virtual void Start()
{
server = WebApp.Start<WebAPIStartup>(url: baseAddress);
UpdateStatus("Active","True");
}
Right now my controller looks like this:
class TradesController:ApiController
{
TradeRequest PostTradeRequest(TradeRequest tradeRequest)
{
return tradeRequest;
}
}
What I want to be able to do is to pass a reference to the TradesController of the ExternalWebAPI class using thisso from TradesController I would be bale to call ExternalWebAPI functions. I looked into DI, but I haven't found a good way to do it since it important to pass the instance of the ExternalWebAPI class that has started up the WebAPI cause it has other methods and events that has to be called once the TradesController's PostTradeRequest is called.

I think you are going down the wrong path here. Your API should take data in and send data out. It should not hold references to anything or call functions on those references. Call you API for the data you need to update your local reference and then call the function on that object as needed.

Access Application global variable from WCF that runs asynchronously

I am trying to access global.asax application variable from WCF, that's my goal at least. I've tried many type of solutions, but the one that I am trying now is using static variables.
I've created a StaticVariable.cs class like so:
public static class StaticVariables
{
private static string _Key = "name1";
public static Object someInfo
{
get
{
return HttpContext.Current.Application[_Key];
}
}
}
The Application["name1"] is initialized in the global.asax.cs. I can read it when I access my webservice but not in my WCF service.
In my WCF I call the StaticVariables someInfo to retrieve the data, but I get:
System.Web.HttpContext.Current is null error
My WCF is running asynchronously and its called from within a webservice using Task<int>.Factory.FromAsync. So I assume that the problem is that the WCF runs not on the main thread, but I am not sure.
So it seems that the Static class doesn't work in my case and I wanted to know how to solve this. Thanks

Why don't you simply use static variables ?
HttpContext is dependent on ASP.NET pipeline. In a host-agnostic model (OWIN or self-hosted) you don't have access to it.
Application storage in HttpApplicationState is only useful if you need to access the current HttpContext. If it's not necessary, you should simply use static properties.
Moreover, HttpApplicationState was initially created for backward compatibility with classic ASP.
public static class StaticVariables
{
public static object SomeInfo { get; set; }
}
See also Singleton and HttpApplicationState and http://forums.asp.net/t/1574797.aspx

How to give a value to a variable that is in a WebService?

I am making a project using WebServices in C#. I wanted to ask you, how can I give a value to a variable from Client to a Web Service?
For example:
In the web service I have a variable and two Methods, getVariable() and setVariable(bool a);
bool var = false;
[WebMethod]
public void setVariable(bool a)
{
var = a;
}
[WebMethod]
public bool getVariable()
{
return var;
}
This is how my web service looks (it's simple because I am learning).
My client:
//In the client I added the web service as a Service Reference and added this code:
ServiceReference.ServiceSoapClient obj = new ServiceReference.ServiceSoapClient();
private void Form_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
obj.setVariable(true);
label1.Text = obj.getVariable().ToString();
}
And when I load my form, the label1.Text isn't equal with "True" but with "False"!! Which means that it didn't execute this code: obj.setVariable(true);
My professor said in the class something that WebService are now "full...." (but I couldn't hear it well), he said you have to find a way to make WebServices "ful..."
Can someone help me ?

Web services are stateless by default, which means that they don't retain state between calls. So a value set in one call won't be available for usage by the next call.
If you need a stateful service, there are several ways to go. this is probably the simplest.
It sounds like you are doing this for learning purposes, in which case I suggest reading up on why it is not a good practice to develop using stateful services. Try this one for starters.

Since web services are stateless you can't do what you are trying to do.
Although you have only one client instance, for each call a server-side instance gets created. That means that in the first call you set the variable on an object, which then goes out of scope (since it's tied to that request). When you do make the second call, a new instance of your service gets created and this new instance obviously has no knowledge of the previous one.
If you want to do something like that you need the save the state. This can be done in various ways:
Save the value in the Application object (HttpContext.Current.Application("myvar") = a)
Save it in session state (you need to add an attribute to the service class to enable session state, then you do the same as with the Application but accessing HttpContext.Current.Session
Save it in a database
Save it in a file
...

#I4V - Thanks for your comment on my post.
I just added static before the bool variables and it worked.

How to receive value from an asynchronous method located in a seperate class?

I was working on an application that makes quite a few requests using the HttpWebRequest class to bring back data from the web. Now my app makes nearly identical calls in multiple parts of my application. This is turning into a problem because I'm duplicating a lot of code.
The ideal solution would be to encapsulate the logic that makes the calls to the web in it's own class that way updating is a breeze and it can be reused throughout my application. I'm just not sure how to make an asynchronous call in a separate class and return the value to my main code behind so I can update the UI with the data.
Can someone provide me with some guidance on how to make this happen? I know this has to be possible because developers are doing it all the time when following the MVVM pattern.
I'm using Silverlight/C#.

We have code like this in our Silverlight app for use with WCF Data Services. You could probably do something similar for your web requests:
Here is some sample code (untested) (note that I have not actually ever written any code that does web requests, but maybe the async pattern is similar to other stuff that I have done in Silverlight):
public class WebRequesterHelper
{
Action _callback;
public void MakeWebRequest(object whateverYouNeedForTheWebRequest, Action callback)
{
_callback = callback;
//Make your async web request here, passing the helper object's callback.
IAsyncResult result = yourWebRequestObject.BeginGetResponse(new AsyncResultCallback(WebRequestCallback), yourRequestState);
}
public void WebRequestCallback(IAsyncResult result)
{
//Do whatever you need to do as a result of the web request, then call the callback.
if (_callback != null) callback();
}
}
In your code that wants to make a web request:
var helper = new WebRequestHelper();
//Setup the web request
object request = SetUpYourWebRequest();
helper.MakeWebRequest(request, OnWebRequestCompleted);
Your helper callback:
public void OnWebRequestCompleted()
{
//Web request is finished, what do I want to do?
}
Note that you might want your callback (which you pass to the WebRequestHelper object) to accept a parameter and you could pass information back out from the web request callback function (in the WebRequestHelper object).

Since your web download code is effectively your business logic I would definitely encapsulate it in it's own class as you planned. Then you should use events to notify your UI of state changes.
For example, your "WebRequestManager" instance can encapsulate all the thread handling and will raise events to allow the UI to respond accordingly. You would raise an event on TaskCompleted and perhaps also at intervals to provide looking feedback such as AsyncProgressChanged.
NOTE: By way of convention, I would tend to prefix any events that are likely going to be called from a thread other than the original calling one with the name "Async" so that the UI handler knows to join back onto the UI thread.

Fire and Forget (Asynch) ASP.NET Method Call

We have a service to update customer information to server. One service call takes around few seconds, which is normal.
Now we have a new page where at one instance around 35-50 Costumers information can be updated. Changing service interface to accept all customers together is out of question at this point.
I need to call a method (say "ProcessCustomerInfo"), which will loop through customers information and call web service 35-50 times. Calling service asynchronously is not of much use.
I need to call the method "ProcessCustomerInfo" asynchronously. I am trying to use RegisterAsyncTask for this. There are various examples available on web, but the problem is after initiating this call if I move away from this page, the processing stops.
Is it possible to implement Fire and Forget method call so that user can move away (Redirect to another page) from the page without stopping method processing?

Details on: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/AsyncMethodInvocation.aspx
Basically you can create a delegate which points to the method you want to run asynchronously and then kick it off with BeginInvoke.
// Declare the delegate - name it whatever you would like
public delegate void ProcessCustomerInfoDelegate();
// Instantiate the delegate and kick it off with BeginInvoke
ProcessCustomerInfoDelegate d = new ProcessCustomerInfoDelegate(ProcessCustomerInfo);
simpleDelegate.BeginInvoke(null, null);
// The method which will run Asynchronously
void ProcessCustomerInfo()
{
// this is where you can call your webservice 50 times
}

This was something I whipped just to do that...
public class DoAsAsync
{
private Action action;
private bool ended;
public DoAsAsync(Action action)
{
this.action = action;
}
public void Execute()
{
action.BeginInvoke(new AsyncCallback(End), null);
}
private void End(IAsyncResult result)
{
if (ended)
return;
try
{
((Action)((AsyncResult)result).AsyncDelegate).EndInvoke(result);
}
catch
{
/* do something */
}
finally
{
ended = true;
}
}
}
And then
new DoAsAsync(ProcessCustomerInfo).Execute();
Also need to set the Async property in the Page directive <%# Page Async="true" %>
I'm not sure exactly how reliable this is, however it did work for what I needed it for. Wrote this maybe a year ago.

I believe the issue is the fact is your web service is expecting a client to return the response to, that the service call itself is not a one way communication.
If you're using WCF for your webservices look at http://moustafa-arafa.blogspot.com/2007/08/oneway-operation-in-wcf.html for making a one way service call.
My two cents: IMO whoever put the construct on you that you're not able to alter the service interface to add a new service method is the one making unreasonable demands. Even if your service is a publicly consumed API adding a new service method shouldn't impact any existing consumers.

Sure you can.

I think what you are wanting is a true background thread:
Safely running background threads in ASP.NET 2.0
Creating a Background Thread to Log IP Information