ASP.Net Web API Help Page returning empty output

Question

I have a preexisting MVC app that I added Web API and Web API Self Documentation using Nuget. While the Web API controllers function fine (return valid responses to HTTP requests) the Help controller is not finding any Web API methods to document.

In the Help controller Index action "Configuration.Services.GetApiExplorer().ApiDescriptions" is returning with 0 results.

I even went as far as copying the entire "HelpPage" area from another functioning web app.

What populated ApiDescriptions and are there any config settings I need to set to expose my api to documentations?

Things I have tried:

Reinstalling nuget packages
Copying over HelpPage area from working project
Copying over routes from working project
Comparing references from working project to broken project
Comparing Global.asax.cs from working project to broken project
Comparing web.config's from working project to broken project

Could you share how your configured routes and a controller that is not showing up? — Kiran, Jul 30 '13 at 23:16
Ok. Could you share a controller(only the declarations should be enough) for which the help page isn't showing the descriptions? — Kiran, Jul 30 '13 at 23:30
This is boilerplate as well. I added a test controller straight from the wizard as a test to be sure I had not altered anything. — William Edmondson, Jul 30 '13 at 23:37
hmm..this sounds like a pretty basic scenario and would have expected to work...we need more details to look into the problem otherwise its just guesswork... — Kiran, Jul 30 '13 at 23:54

William Edmondson · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-31T14:25:56.087

7

It turns out my Glimpse MVC 4 installation was interfering. This is a known issue with Glimpse and Web API Help Pages. Uninstalling Glimpse fixes the problem.

edited Jul 31 '13 at 14:25

answered Jul 31 '13 at 14:16

William Edmondson

3,619
3
32
41

My project does not have Glimpse reference, still it doesn't work. Any idea about it? – RKS Feb 15 '16 at 11:07

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 28 '13 at 01:18

The link provided by William also provides the following work-around in this comment which worked for me:

For now, you can use a simple workaround by ignoring the RoutesInspector. Just add this to your web.config:

<glimpse defaultRuntimePolicy="On" endpointBaseUri="~/Glimpse.axd">
<inspectors>
      <ignoredTypes>
        <add type="Glimpse.AspNet.Inspector.RoutesInspector, Glimpse.AspNet"/>
      </ignoredTypes>
    </inspectors>
</glimpse>

ASP.Net Web API Help Page returning empty output

2 Answers2

Linked