Attempting to pass empty body to POST endpoint with WebClient

Question

I currently have an endpoint in my project:

[HttpPost("process")]
public IActionResult Process (string Val1, [FromBody] object Json)
{
     //processing.....

     Return Ok(...);  
}

And on my client side I am trying to call this endpoint with WebClient like so:

string response = null;

string body = "{}";

using (var client = new WebClient())
{
     client.UserDefaultCredentials = true;
     client.Headers.Add(HttpRequestHeader.ContentType, "application/json; charset=utf-8");

     response = client.UploadString("localhost:55555/api/process?Val1=Param", body);
}

Here's where my concerns are:

For this endpoint, I will typically be passing a JSON object
However, I want this endpoint to also NOT require a body, I would want it to be empty, as the endpoint should not require it
If you look at my body variable - I am setting it to "{}" otherwise I've not found a different way to pass "EMPTY" body to the endpoint

Questions:

How do I properly pass an EMPTY body to this endpoint? (this endpoint will be used by different clients, and I am just looking for best practice approach to this?
In my endpoint, I have [FromBody] object Json parameter. Is it a better practice to have it be as object or can I alternatively do JObject that could still accept an Empty body

Forgive my "noobness" with these questions if they seem obvious, I'm just getting started in the API development and want to make sure I am using best practices.

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 05 '21 at 13:48

You're currently using a WebClient, which is outdated in favour of HttpClient (see this answer). When using HttpClient you can post empty bodies as follows: await client.PostAsync("localhost:55555/api/process?Val1=Param", null);

As for your second question. Look into Data Transfer Objects, aka DTOs. They are in a nutshell dumb types you can use purely for passing and receiving data through your API, you can add things like validation to them as well. Using object or JObject is only needed if you're receiving dynamic data, otherwise use DTOs where possible.

Attempting to pass empty body to POST endpoint with WebClient

1 Answers1