Microsoft Web API: How to do a Server.MapPath

asp.net-web-api

Since Microsoft Web API isn't MVC, you cannot do something like this:

var a = Request.MapPath("~");

nor this

var b = Server.MapPath("~");

because these are under the System.Web namespace, not the System.Web.Http namespace.

So how do you figure out the relative server path in Web API ?
I used to do something like this in MVC:

var myFile = Request.MapPath("~/Content/pics/" + filename);

Which would give me the absolute path on disk:

"C:\inetpub\wwwroot\myWebFolder\Content\pics\mypic.jpg"

Best Answer

You can use HostingEnvironment.MapPath in any context where System.Web objects like HttpContext.Current are not available (e.g also from a static method).

var mappedPath = System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.MapPath("~/SomePath");

WebApiConfig.cs

public static class WebApiConfig
{
    public static string UrlPrefix         { get { return "api"; } }
    public static string UrlPrefixRelative { get { return "~/api"; } }

    public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
    {
        config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
            name: "DefaultApi",
            routeTemplate: WebApiConfig.UrlPrefix + "/{controller}/{id}",
            defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
        );
    }
}

Global.asax.cs

public class MvcApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
    ...

    protected void Application_PostAuthorizeRequest()
    {
        if (IsWebApiRequest())
        {
            HttpContext.Current.SetSessionStateBehavior(SessionStateBehavior.Required);
        }
    }

    private bool IsWebApiRequest()
    {
        return HttpContext.Current.Request.AppRelativeCurrentExecutionFilePath.StartsWith(WebApiConfig.UrlPrefixRelative);
    }

}

This solution has the added bonus that we can fetch the base URL in javascript for making the AJAX calls:

_Layout.cshtml

<body>
    @RenderBody()

    <script type="text/javascript">
        var apiBaseUrl = '@Url.Content(ProjectNameSpace.WebApiConfig.UrlPrefixRelative)';
    </script>

    @RenderSection("scripts", required: false)

and then within our Javascript files/code we can make our webapi calls that can access the session:

$.getJSON(apiBaseUrl + '/MyApi')
   .done(function (data) {
       alert('session data received: ' + data.whatever);
   })
);

WebForms

Do the above but change the WebApiConfig.Register function to take a RouteCollection instead:

public static void Register(RouteCollection routes)
{
    routes.MapHttpRoute(
        name: "DefaultApi",
        routeTemplate: WebApiConfig.UrlPrefix + "/{controller}/{id}",
        defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
    );
}

And then call the following in Application_Start:

WebApiConfig.Register(RouteTable.Routes);

Dot Net Core

Add the Microsoft.AspNetCore.Session NuGet package and then make the following code changes:

Startup.cs

Call the AddDistributedMemoryCache and AddSession methods on the services object within the ConfigureServices function:

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    services.AddMvc();
    ...

    services.AddDistributedMemoryCache();
    services.AddSession();

and in the Configure function add a call to UseSession:

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IHostingEnvironment env, 
ILoggerFactory loggerFactory)
{
    app.UseSession();
    app.UseMvc();

SessionController.cs

Within your controller, add a using statement at the top:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;

and then use the HttpContext.Session object within your code like so:

    [HttpGet("set/{data}")]
    public IActionResult setsession(string data)
    {
        HttpContext.Session.SetString("keyname", data);
        return Ok("session data set");
    }

    [HttpGet("get")]
    public IActionResult getsessiondata()
    {
        var sessionData = HttpContext.Session.GetString("keyname");
        return Ok(sessionData);
    }

you should now be able to hit:

http://localhost:1234/api/session/set/thisissomedata

and then going to this URL will pull it out:

http://localhost:1234/api/session/get

Plenty more info on accessing session data within dot net core here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/app-state

Performance Concerns

Read Simon Weaver's answer below regarding performance. If you're accessing session data inside a WebApi project it can have very serious performance consequence - I have seen ASP.NET enforce a 200ms delay for concurrent requests. This could add up and become disastrous if you have many concurrent requests.

Security Concerns

Make sure you are locking down resources per user - an authenticated user shouldn't be able to retrieve data from your WebApi that they don't have access to.

Read Microsoft's article on Authentication and Authorization in ASP.NET Web API - https://www.asp.net/web-api/overview/security/authentication-and-authorization-in-aspnet-web-api

Read Microsoft's article on avoiding Cross-Site Request Forgery hack attacks. (In short, check out the AntiForgery.Validate method) - https://www.asp.net/web-api/overview/security/preventing-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-attacks

Json – How to get ASP.NET Web API to return JSON instead of XML using Chrome

Note: Read the comments of this answer, it can produce a XSS Vulnerability if you are using the default error handing of WebAPI

I just add the following in App_Start / WebApiConfig.cs class in my MVC Web API project.

config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes
    .Add(new MediaTypeHeaderValue("text/html") );

That makes sure you get JSON on most queries, but you can get XML when you send text/xml.

If you need to have the response Content-Type as application/json please check Todd's answer below.

NameSpace is using System.Net.Http.Headers.