How to return raw string with ApiController?

Question

I have an ApiController that serves XML/JSON, but I would like one of my actions to return pure HTML. I tried the below but it still return XML/JSON.

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Answer 1

Another possible solution. In Web API 2 I used the base.Content() method of APIController:

    public IHttpActionResult Post()
    {
        return base.Content(HttpStatusCode.OK, new {} , new JsonMediaTypeFormatter(), "text/plain");
    }

I needed to do this to get around an IE9 bug where it kept trying to download JSON content. This should also work for XML-type data by using the XmlMediaTypeFormatter media formatter.

Hope that helps someone.

Answer 2

If you are using MVC rather than WebAPI you can use the base.Content method:

return base.Content(result, "text/html", Encoding.UTF8);

Answer 3

We must strive not to return html but pure data from our API's and format data accordingly in the UI, but maybe you can use:

return this.Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, 
     new{content=YourStringContent})

it works for me

Answer 4

Just return Ok(value) won't work, it will be treated as IEnumerable<char>.

Instead use return Ok(new { Value = value }) or simillar.

Answer 5

I call the following webapi2 controller method from an mvc controller method:

<HttpPost>
Public Function TestApiCall(<FromBody> screenerRequest As JsonBaseContainer) As IHttpActionResult
    Dim response = Me.Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK)
    response.Content = New StringContent("{""foo"":""bar""}", Encoding.UTF8, "text/plain")
    Return ResponseMessage(response)
End Function

I call it from this routine on the asp.net server:

Public Async Function PostJsonContent(baseUri As String, requestUri As String, content As String, Optional timeout As Integer = 15, Optional failedResponse As String = "", Optional ignoreSslCertErrors As Boolean = False) As Task(Of String)
    Return Await PostJsonContent(baseUri, requestUri, New StringContent(content, Encoding.UTF8, "application/json"), timeout, failedResponse, ignoreSslCertErrors)
End Function

Public Async Function PostJsonContent(baseUri As String, requestUri As String, content As HttpContent, Optional timeout As Integer = 15, Optional failedResponse As String = "", Optional ignoreSslCertErrors As Boolean = False) As Task(Of String)
    Dim httpResponse As HttpResponseMessage

    Using handler = New WebRequestHandler
        If ignoreSslCertErrors Then
            handler.ServerCertificateValidationCallback = New Security.RemoteCertificateValidationCallback(Function(sender, cert, chain, policyErrors) True)
        End If

        Using client = New HttpClient(handler)
            If Not String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(baseUri) Then
                client.BaseAddress = New Uri(baseUri)
            End If

            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Clear()
            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(New MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"))
            client.Timeout = New TimeSpan(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(timeout).Ticks)

            httpResponse = Await client.PostAsync(requestUri, content)

            If httpResponse.IsSuccessStatusCode Then
                Dim response = Await httpResponse.Content.ReadAsStringAsync
                If Not String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(response) Then
                    Return response
                End If
            End If
        End Using
    End Using

    Return failedResponse
End Function

Answer 6

You could have your Web Api action return an HttpResponseMessage for which you have full control over the Content. In your case you might use a StringContent and specify the correct content type:

public HttpResponseMessage Get()
{
    return new HttpResponseMessage()
    {
        Content = new StringContent(
            "<strong>test</strong>", 
            Encoding.UTF8, 
            "text/html"
        )
    };
}

or

public IHttpActionResult Get()
{
    return base.ResponseMessage(new HttpResponseMessage()
    {
        Content = new StringContent(
            "<strong>test</strong>", 
            Encoding.UTF8, 
            "text/html"
        )
    });
}