Post JSON Array in Asp.Net Web API

Question

Hi every one I am new to ASP.Net Web API and I want to Post JSON array data any get there response.

My JSON POST Array format is

{
    "User_Id":"admi12n@1234","Key_Code":"3F-47-AB-84-9F-EB-D6-6B-9C-62-CC-85-98-4D-28-6B",
    "ProductDetails": [
        {"Product_Id":"ELT-7035","Price":"999","Quantity":"5"},
        {"Product_Id":"ELT-1254","Price":"1024","Quantity":"3"}
    ]
}

And I want response as follows

{
    "User_Id":"admi12n@1234","Key_Code":"3F-47-AB-84-9F-EB-D6-6B-9C-62-CC-85-98-4D-28-6B",
    "OrderID":"Ord-021","Name":"Sabyasachi"
    "ProductDetails": [
        {"Product_Id":"ELT-7035","Price":"999","Quantity":"5"},
        {"Product_Id":"ELT-1254","Price":"1024","Quantity":"3"}
    ]
}

I generate OrderID as Random and Name from posted User_Id. Here I want to post multiple product in one order.

My Order class is as follows

public class Order
    {
        [Key]
        public long ID { get; set; }
        public string Order_Id { get; set; }
        public string Product_Id { get; set; }
        public long Quantity { get; set; }
        public long Amount { get; set; }
        public string User_Id { get; set; }
        public string Key_Code { get; set; }
        public DateTime Order_Date { get; set; }
        public DateTime Modified_Date { get; set; }
    }

And my Product class as follows

public class Product
    {
        [Key]
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public string Product_Code { get; set; }
        public string Product_Name { get; set; }
        public string Product_Category { get; set; }
        public string Product_Description { get; set; }
        public string Quantity { get; set; }
        public string Price { get; set; }
        public string Image { get; set; }
        public DateTime Created_Date { get; set; }
        public DateTime Modified_Date { get; set; }
    }

I am not able to ind the best way to post the order

public Order Add(Order odrerDetails) //This will not give array of data for products
{
    using (var context = new EcommerceDBContext())
    {            
        odrerDetails.Order_Id = Helper.Random(7); //Generate random orderID from my class
        odrerDetails.Created_Date = DateTime.Now;
        odrerDetails.Modified_Date = DateTime.Now;
        //How to Save other details
        context.objOrderListing.Add(odrerDetails);
        context.SaveChanges();
        return odrerDetails;
    }
}

In API controllers my code is as follows

public HttpResponseMessage PostOrder([FromBody] Order_Listing orderData)
{
    orderData = repository.Add(orderData);
    var response = Request.CreateResponse<Order_Listing>(HttpStatusCode.Created, orderData);
    string uri = Url.Link("DefaultApi", new { customerID = orderData.ID });
    response.Headers.Location = new Uri(uri);
    return response;
}

Please help me how to achieve this.

Answer 1

There are several issues with your code:

1. Your Order and Product classes do not reflect the structure of your JSON.
2. The Order class contains product details in a 1:1 relationship. Based on the JSON I assume you want a 1:n relationship.
3. Properties in your JSON need to have the same name as in your classes or they won't be mapped.

Change your classes to the following and it should work. Of course you could also change the property names in your JSON.

If you can't or don't want to change your property names, consider using DTOs

public class Order
{
    public string User_Id { get; set; }
    public string Key_Code { get; set; }
    public string OrderID { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public List<Product> ProductDetails { get; set; }
    // add the rest of your properties
}

public class Product
{
    public string Product_Id { get; set; }
    public string Price { get; set; }
    public string Prd_Qty { get; set; }
    // add the rest of your properties
}

Update: added code for Add method and Api method

Your Add method would look like this:

public Order Add(Order orderWithDetails)
{
    using (var context = new EcommerceDBContext())
    {            
        orderWithDetails.Order_Id = Helper.Random(7); //Generate random orderID from my class
        orderWithDetails.Created_Date = DateTime.Now;
        orderWithDetails.Modified_Date = DateTime.Now;
        context.objOrderListing.Add(orderWithDetails);
        // Save each Product
        foreach (var detail in orderWithDetails.ProductDetails) 
        {
            //whatever you need to do in your db-context
            context.objOrderDetails.Add(detail); // just an example
        }
        context.SaveChanges();
        return orderWithDetails;
    }
}

The signature of your Api method looks wrong. What is Order_Listing? This should be Order, unless it's a DTO, in wich case you need a method to get an Order from Order_Listing.

public HttpResponseMessage PostOrder([FromBody] Order orderData)
{
    orderData = repository.Add(orderData);
    var response = Request.CreateResponse<Order_Listing>(HttpStatusCode.Created, orderData);
    string uri = Url.Link("DefaultApi", new { customerID = orderData.ID });
    response.Headers.Location = new Uri(uri);
    return response;
}

A few more remarks:

1. If it is indeed a 1:n relationship, you probably need a property Product.OrderId.
2. The Order class should not have any reference to Product except for the list.
3. Quantity and Price should most likely not be String but numerical values, e.g. decimal.
4. If Order.ID is your primary key, then having Order.Order_ID is really confusing. Consider renaming it to Order.Order_Number.

Answer 2

public class Order
{
    public string User_Id { get; set; }
    public string Key_Code { get; set; }
    public string OrderID { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public Product[] ProductDetails { get; set; }
 }