How do I do a custom modelbinder when binding from body?

Question

I've been trying to experiment with model binding to make our API easier to use. When using the API I can't get the model binding to bind when the data is in the body, only when it is part of the query. The code I have is: ``` public class FunkyModelBinder : IModelBinder { public bool BindModel(HttpActionContext actionContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext) { var model = (Funky) bindingContext.Model ?? new Funky(); var hasPrefix = bindingContext.ValueProvider .ContainsPrefix(bindingContext.ModelName); var searchPrefix = (hasPrefix) ? bindingContext.ModelName + "." : ""; model.Funk = GetValue(bindingContext, searchPrefix, "Funk"); bindingContext.Model = model; return true; } private string GetValue(ModelBindingContext context, string prefix, string key) { var result = context.ValueProvider.GetValue(prefix + key); return result == null ? null : result.AttemptedValue; } } ``` When looking at the `ValueProvider` property on the `bindingContext` I only see `QueryStringValueProvider` a…

Accepted Answer

I am looking into this as well.

WebApis Model Binder comes with two built in ValueProviders.

QueryStringValueProviderFactory & RouteDataValueProviderFactory

Which are searched when you call

```
context.ValueProvider.GetValue
```

This question has some code on how to bind data from the body.

how to pass the result model object out of System.Web.Http.ModelBinding.IModelBinder. BindModel?

You could create a custom ValueProvider to do this as well, probably a better idea - which will be searched for the value matching the key. The above link just does this within the model binder, which limits the ModelBinder to looking only in the body.

```
public class FormBodyValueProvider : IValueProvider
{
    private string body;

public FormBodyValueProvider ( HttpActionContext actionContext )
    {
        if ( actionContext == null ) {
            throw new ArgumentNullException( "actionContext" );
        }

//List out all Form Body Values
        body = actionContext.Request.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
    }

// Implement Interface and use code to read the body
    // and find your Value matching your Key
}
```

How do I do a custom modelbinder when binding from body?

Solution

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