Post string from javascript code to ApiController on server

Question

I start to play with ASP.NET Web API. I am wondering with serialization feature when I get my entity in the Controler like next: ``` public class EntitiesController : ApiController { [Queryable] public IEnumerable Get() { return m_repository.GetAll(); } public HttpResponseMessage Post(Entity entity) { if (ModelState.IsValid) { m_repository.Post(entity); var response = Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.Created, entity); return response; } return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest); } } ``` and on the JavaScript side: ``` // create new entity. $.post("api/entities", $(formElement).serialize(), "json") .done(function (newEntity) { self.contacts.push(newEntity); }); ``` But I don't need entity. I want to receive string. So I've changed controller in the next manner: ``` public class EntitiesController : ApiController { [Queryable] public IEnumerable Get() { return m_repository.GetAll(); } public HttpResponseMessage Post(string entity) { if (ModelS…

Accepted Answer

If you want to post your form data as a string you need to do two things:

By default, Web API tries to get simple types like `int`, `string` etc. from the request URI. You need to use `FromBody` attribute tells Web API to read the value from the request body:

```
public HttpResponseMessage Post([FromBody]string entity)
{
   //...
}
```

And you need to post your value with an empty key:

```
$.post("api/entities", { "": $(formElement).serialize() }, "json")
    .done(function (newEntity) { self.contacts.push(newEntity); });
```

You can read more about this Web.API tutorial article: Sending HTML Form Data

Post string from javascript code to ApiController on server

Solution

Problem