Creating new IHttpActionResult action result methods

Question

Is there a way I can use the new IHttpActionResult interface to return a HttpStatusCode.NoContent response message?

I am currently using return new HttpResponseMessage( HttpStatusCode.NoContent ); and would like to convert this into return NoContent();.

IHttpActionResult has already got Ok(), Conflict() and NotFound() but I cannot find any for Forbidden() and NoContent() which I need to use in my project.

How easy is it to add other result types?

Answer 1

There's no convenience method for no-content result because, by default, when a action returns void, the response will have the HTTP status 204.

If you wish to explicitly indicate that on the action, you could also return a StatusCode(HttpStatusCode.NoContent) from your action or a

ResponseMessage(new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.NoContent)). 

The Unauthorized() convenience method gives you a 401 status so, for Forbidden (403), you would also have to use StatusCode(HttpStatusCode.Forbidden) or

ResponseMessage(new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.Forbidden)) 

Answer 2

I found this example site that shows how to add a custom IHttpActionResult method and I've used this to create the Forbidden() and NoContent() methods with great success.

public abstract class CommonApiController : ApiController {     public class ForbiddenResult : IHttpActionResult     {         private readonly HttpRequestMessage _request;         private readonly string _reason;          public ForbiddenResult(HttpRequestMessage request,string reason)         {             _request = request;             _reason = reason;         }          public ForbiddenResult(HttpRequestMessage request)         {             _request = request;             _reason = "Forbidden";         }          public Task<HttpResponseMessage> ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)         {             var response = _request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.Forbidden,_reason);             return Task.FromResult(response);         }     }      public class NoContentResult : IHttpActionResult     {         private readonly HttpRequestMessage _request;         private readonly string _reason;          public NoContentResult(HttpRequestMessage request,string reason)         {             _request = request;             _reason = reason;         }          public NoContentResult(HttpRequestMessage request)         {             _request = request;             _reason = "No Content";         }          public Task<HttpResponseMessage> ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)         {             var response = _request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.NoContent,_reason);             return Task.FromResult(response);         }     } } 

And then I can use it like this:

public class InvoiceController : CommonApiController {     public async Task<IHttpActionResult> Post([FromBody]Invoice invoice)     {         if(User.IsInRole("Readonly"))         {             return Forbidden();         }          // Rest of code      } }