c# - How to send zip files to ASP.NET WebApi

Question

I'm wondering how I can send a zip file to a WebApi controller and vice versa. The problem is that my WebApi uses json to transmit data. A zip file is not serializable, either is a stream. A string would be serializable. But there has to be an other solution than to convert the zip into a string and than send the string. That just sounds wrong.

Any idea how this is done?

Answer 1

If your API method expects an HttpRequestMessage then you can pull the stream from that:

public HttpResponseMessage Put(HttpRequestMessage request)
{
    var stream = GetStreamFromUploadedFile(request);

    // do something with the stream, then return something
}

private static Stream GetStreamFromUploadedFile(HttpRequestMessage request)
{
    // Awaiting these tasks in the usual manner was deadlocking the thread for some reason.
    // So for now we're invoking a Task and explicitly creating a new thread.
    // See here: http://stackoverflow.com/q/15201255/328193
    IEnumerable<HttpContent> parts = null;
    Task.Factory
        .StartNew(() => parts = request.Content.ReadAsMultipartAsync().Result.Contents,
                        CancellationToken.None,
                        TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning,
                        TaskScheduler.Default)
        .Wait();

    Stream stream = null;
    Task.Factory
        .StartNew(() => stream = parts.First().ReadAsStreamAsync().Result,
                        CancellationToken.None,
                        TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning,
                        TaskScheduler.Default)
        .Wait();
    return stream;
}

This works for me when posting an HTTP form with enctype="multipart/form-data".