ApiController same route for int or string URI params

Question

I would like for my controllers to extent endpoints based on the data-type of the same variable name. For instance method A takes an int and method B takes a string. I don't want to declare a new route but rather for the routing mechanism to differentiate between ints and strings. Here is an example of what I mean.

The "ApiControllers" setup:

public class BaseApiController: ApiController
{
        [HttpGet]
        [Route("{controller}/{id:int}")]
        public HttpResponseMessage GetEntity(int id){}
}

public class StringBaseApiController: BaseApiController
{

        [HttpGet]
        [Route("{controller}/{id:string}")]
        public HttpResponseMessage GetEntity(string id){}
}

The "WebApionfig.cs" has the following route added:

config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
    "DefaultApi",
    "{controller}/{id}",
    new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
);

I want to call "http://controller/1" and "http://controller/one" and get results. Instead i see the the multiple route exception.

You call `config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();` in your webapiconfig, right? — Jeroen Vannevel, Oct 28 '14 at 16:49
Have you tried removing the default route or changing your parameter to be called something other than id? At the moment your attribute routes clash with the "normal" default route you are defining. — Ben Robinson, Oct 28 '14 at 16:54
duplicate of http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2710454/asp-net-mvc-can-i-have-multiple-names-for-the-same-action — dariogriffo, Oct 28 '14 at 17:00
@dariogriffo the answer to that question is what i do not want — Krolique, Oct 28 '14 at 17:05

BipinR · Answer 1 · 2018-04-20T17:42:57.583

You could the try the below possible solutions.

//Solution #1: If the string (id) has any numeric, it will not be caught.
//Only alphabets will be caught
public class StringBaseApiController: BaseApiController
{
 [HttpGet]
 [Route("{id:alpha}")]
 public HttpResponseMessage GetEntity(string id){}
}
//Solution #2: If a seperate route for {id:Int} is already defined, then anything other than Integer will be caught here.
public class StringBaseApiController: BaseApiController
{
 [HttpGet]
 [Route("{id}")]
 public HttpResponseMessage GetEntity(string id){}
}

score -2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 28 '14 at 16:52

-2

Use only the string, and check inside if you got an int, or a string or any other thing and call the appropriate method.

public class StringBaseApiController: BaseApiController
{

        [HttpGet]
        [Route("{controller}/{id:string}")]
        public HttpResponseMessage GetEntity(string id)
        {
            int a;
            if(int.TryParse(id, out a))
            {
                return GetByInt(a);
            }
            return GetByString(id);
        }

}

answered Oct 28 '14 at 16:52

dariogriffo

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This isn't really helpful if the OP wants to have multiple actions, in addition it still clashes with the default route. – Ben Robinson Oct 28 '14 at 16:55
@BenRobinson he cant have 2 actions with the same name. Period, I offered an alternative. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2710454/asp-net-mvc-can-i-have-multiple-names-for-the-same-action – dariogriffo Oct 28 '14 at 17:00
You can have 2 actions with the same route and parameter that only differ by the type of the parameter with Web API 2 and attribute routing. That link appears to be quite out of date. – Ben Robinson Oct 28 '14 at 17:04
@dariogriffo I can solve it this way, but I want inheritance as opposed to grouped functionality – Krolique Oct 28 '14 at 17:06
@dariogriffo there might be a way through using the IHttpRouteConstraint but I am not sure – Krolique Oct 28 '14 at 17:20

ApiController same route for int or string URI params

2 Answers2