ASP.NET Web API format datetime differently between two APIs in the same Web app

Question

I am using the normal way to configure Web APIs in my project, however, I do have a legacy API which I need to support.

I configure the datetime format like this:

JsonMediaTypeFormatter jsonFormatter = GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.JsonFormatter;
        jsonFormatter.SerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings
        {
            NullValueHandling = NullValueHandling.Include,
            ContractResolver = new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver()
        };
        var converters = jsonFormatter.SerializerSettings.Converters;
        converters.Add(new IsoDateTimeConverter() { DateTimeFormat = "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss" });

This is exactly what I want for most of the API controllers, however, with the legacy API, it needs to output DateTimes using the old MS AJAX format, like this:

/Date(1345302000000)/

So anyone know how I can specify a different JSON date formatter for one of my API modules and leave the Global Configuration as-is? OR any alternative, such as a config per API would be fine. thanks

Answer 1

Web API has a concept called Per-Controller configuration just for scenarios like yours. Per-controller configuration enables you to have configuration on a per-controller basis.

public class MyConfigAttribute : Attribute, IControllerConfiguration
{
    public void Initialize(HttpControllerSettings controllerSettings, HttpControllerDescriptor controllerDescriptor)
    {
        // controllerSettings.Formatters is a cloned list of formatters that are present on the GlobalConfiguration
        // Note that the formatters are not cloned themselves
        controllerSettings.Formatters.Remove(controllerSettings.Formatters.JsonFormatter);

        //Add your Json formatter with the datetime settings that you need here
        controllerSettings.Formatters.Insert(0, **your json formatter with datetime settings**);
    }
}

[MyConfig]
public class ValuesController : ApiController
{
    public string Get(int id)
    {
        return "value";
    }
}

In the above example, ValuesController would be using the Json formatter with your date time settings, but rest of the controllers in your would be using the one on GlobalConfiguration.