Have a WebAPI Controller send an http request to another controller within the same service

Question

I have a WebAPI service, and I want it to send an http request to itself. I'd like to confirm what the most appropriate way of doing this looks like. (Normally, I would just instantiate another instance of the target controller or refactor the code behind an interface and then make request that way, but for various reasons I do not want to use that method.)

Is the code below the most appropriate way to make the http request to a different controller within the same service?

using (HttpClient client = new HttpClient())
{
  var httpRequest = new HttpRequestMessage("GET", "https://localhost/SomeOtherController");
  return await client.SendAsync(httpRequest);
}

It seems rather valid, since it's an ordinary HTTP and it does not really matter if it's localhost or not. But I would really advise you not to do that, but reuse the common logic in the shared service as described below. — Ilya Chernomordik
– Ilya Chernomordik, Commented Nov 8, 2016 at 8:36

Haitham Shaddad · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-08 08:31:03Z

8

If you need to call another controller, that means there is some shared code there. The best approach is to abstract this piece of code into another class and use it in both controllers.

ex:

public class SomeService
{
 public void DoSomeLogic()
 { 
 }
}

public class FirstController : ApiController
{
 public IHttpActionResult SomeAction()
 {
   new SomeService().DoSomeLogic();
 }
}

public class SecondController : ApiController
{
 public IHttpActionResult SomeOtherAction()
 {
   new SomeService().DoSomeLogic();
 }
}

answered Nov 8, 2016 at 8:31

Haitham Shaddad

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3 Comments

Ilya Chernomordik Over a year ago

I'd rather add an ISomeService and depend on it and inject it in the constructor of controller in addition to sharing logic.

Haitham Shaddad Over a year ago

Exactly, i just made it short

rysama Over a year ago

As roughly mentioned in the OP, I'm aware of ways to refactor code via interfaces or static methods, etc... but that's not the approach I'd like to use here.

user270576 · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-08 20:05:30Z

2

Yes, this would be an appropriate way to call it.

If you need to do an actual HTTP request then it does not matter that the request goes out to a controller in the same service - it is just a generic HTTP request.

On a side note - you'd probably want to do something about that URI string, so that it is not all hardcoded.

answered Nov 8, 2016 at 20:05

user270576

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