Passing a complex object as a parameter to a JSON WCF method

Question

I have the following method and the filters parameter is a 2d array of key value pairs. After a bit of research a Post method seems to make more sense, how would I go about rewriting the method to be a post?

[WebGet(UriTemplate = "/tools/data/getall?tool={tool}&filters={filters}")]
public JsonArray GetAll(string tool, string filters)
{
}

Rajesh · Answer 1 · 2012-04-10T14:57:40.523

2

In order to change your above method to post it would look like something below:

[WebInvoke(UriTemplate = "/tools/data/SearchAll")]
public JsonArray SearchAll(string tool, Dictionary<int,string> filters)
{
}

Your requestBody for the above method might look as shown below (You can inspect using Fiddler):

{
"tool": "enter the value of tool parameter", 
"filters" : 
 {
  {"Key":1,"Value":"Test"},
  {"Key":2,"Value":"Test1"}
 }
}

NOTE:

Assuming your key,value pair to be int,string
When you have a POST method, query strings are not supported.
Also rename your method that make it valid as per REST principals where method names indicate a resource on the server which performs a task. GetAll method with WebInvoke attribute is not a good practise.
The default method for WebInvoke is "POST" hence i am not specifying it explicitly.

edited Apr 10 '12 at 14:57

answered Apr 10 '12 at 13:52

Rajesh

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Thanks for this how would I go about invoking it from jQuery – Burt Apr 10 '12 at 14:10
1

Please find some links that might help you invoke the service from JQuery: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/128478/Consuming-WCF-REST-Services-Using-jQuery-AJAX-Call and http://blogs.msdn.com/b/brunoterkaly/archive/2011/11/17/how-to-consume-restful-services-using-jquery-and-or-javascript.aspx – Rajesh Apr 10 '12 at 14:50

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 10 '12 at 13:42

To make it a post, you need to change the WebGet to WebInvoke with Method of POST. To use the body of the quest to pass variables, you simply need to add a Serializable object to the parameters list. So, if you have a Dictionary<string,string>, change your method to be

[WebInvoke(Method = "POST", UriTemplate = "/tools/data/getall?tool={tool}&filters={filters}")]
public JsonArray GetAll(string tool, string filters, 
                        Dictionary<string,string> whatever)

Passing a complex object as a parameter to a JSON WCF method

2 Answers2