How to use System.Net.HttpClient to post a complex type?
asp.net-web-api, c#
Solution
The generic `HttpRequestMessage<T>` has been removed. This :
new HttpRequestMessage<Widget>(widget)
will no longer work.
Instead, from this post, the ASP.NET team has included some new calls to support this functionality:
HttpClient.PostAsJsonAsync<T>(T value) sends “application/json”
HttpClient.PostAsXmlAsync<T>(T value) sends “application/xml”
So, the new code (from dunston) becomes:
Widget widget = new Widget()
widget.Name = "test"
widget.Price = 1;
HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
client.BaseAddress = new Uri("http://localhost:44268");
client.PostAsJsonAsync("api/test", widget)
.ContinueWith((postTask) => postTask.Result.EnsureSuccessStatusCode() );
Problem
I have a custom complex type that I want to work with using Web API. ``` public class Widget { public int ID { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } public decimal Price { get; set; } } ``` And here is my web API controller method. I want to post this object like so: ``` public class TestController : ApiController { // POST /api/test public HttpResponseMessage<Widget> Post(Widget widget) { widget.ID = 1; // hardcoded for now. TODO: Save to db and return newly created ID var response = new HttpResponseMessage<Widget>(widget, HttpStatusCode.Created); response.Headers.Location = new Uri(Request.RequestUri, "/api/test/" + widget.ID.ToString()); return response; } } ``` And now I'd like to use `System.Net.HttpClient` to make the call to the method. However, I'm unsure of what type of object to pass into the `PostAsync` method, and how to construct it. Here is some sample client code. ``` var client = new HttpClient(); HttpContent content = new StringContent("???"); // how do I construct the Widget to post? client.PostAsync("http://localhost:44268/api/test", content).ContinueWith( (postTask) => { postTask.Result.EnsureSuccessStatusCode(); }); ``` How do I create the `HttpContent` object in a way that web API will understand it?