Why do I get an InvalidOperationException when I try to use attribute routing with Web API 2?

Question

I just updated my Web API packages in my MVC 4 application so that I can use attribute routing. When I add config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes() I get an error that says "The object has not yet been initialized. Ensure that HttpConfiguration.EnsureInitialized() is called in the application's startup code after all other initialization code." If I remove config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes() and the Route attributes, everything works as it did before. How can I resolve this error?

Here is my WebApiConfig class:

public static class WebApiConfig
    {
        public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
        {

            config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();
            config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
                name: "DefaultApi",
                routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
                defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
            );



            // Uncomment the following line of code to enable query support for actions with an IQueryable or IQueryable<T> return type.
            // To avoid processing unexpected or malicious queries, use the validation settings on QueryableAttribute to validate incoming queries.
            // For more information, visit http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=279712.
            //config.EnableQuerySupport();
        }
    }

And the error details:

The object has not yet been initialized. Ensure that HttpConfiguration.EnsureInitialized() is called in the application's startup code after all other initialization code.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.InvalidOperationException: The object has not yet been initialized. Ensure that HttpConfiguration.EnsureInitialized() is called in the application's startup code after all other initialization code.

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:

[InvalidOperationException: The object has not yet been initialized. Ensure that HttpConfiguration.EnsureInitialized() is called in the application's startup code after all other initialization code.]
   System.Web.Http.Routing.RouteCollectionRoute.get_SubRoutes() +127
   System.Web.Http.Routing.RouteCollectionRoute.GetRouteData(String virtualPathRoot, HttpRequestMessage request) +99
   System.Web.Http.WebHost.Routing.HttpWebRoute.GetRouteData(HttpContextBase httpContext) +191
   System.Web.Routing.RouteCollection.GetRouteData(HttpContextBase httpContext) +233
   System.Web.Routing.UrlRoutingModule.PostResolveRequestCache(HttpContextBase context) +60
   System.Web.Routing.UrlRoutingModule.OnApplicationPostResolveRequestCache(Object sender, EventArgs e) +82
   System.Web.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +136
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +69

Answer 1

In Global.asax, the Application_Start event needs to change from

WebApiConfig.Register(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);

to:

GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);