APIs - Controller-based APIs - Custom formatters

In this article

When to use a custom formatter

Overview of how to create a custom formatter

• For serializing data sent to the client, create an output formatter class.

• For deserializing data received from the client, create an input formatter class.

• Add instances of formatter classes to the InputFormatters and OutputFormatters collections in MvcOptions.

Create a custom formatter

• Derive the class from the appropriate base class. The sample app derives from TextOutputFormatter and TextInputFormatter.

• Specify supported media types and encodings in the constructor.

• Override the CanReadType and CanWriteType methods.

• Override the ReadRequestBodyAsync and WriteResponseBodyAsync methods.

public class VcardOutputFormatter : TextOutputFormatter
{
    public VcardOutputFormatter()
    {
        SupportedMediaTypes.Add(MediaTypeHeaderValue.Parse("text/vcard"));

        SupportedEncodings.Add(Encoding.UTF8);
        SupportedEncodings.Add(Encoding.Unicode);
    }

    protected override bool CanWriteType(Type? type)
        => typeof(Contact).IsAssignableFrom(type)
            || typeof(IEnumerable<Contact>).IsAssignableFrom(type);

    public override async Task WriteResponseBodyAsync(
        OutputFormatterWriteContext context, Encoding selectedEncoding)
    {
        var httpContext = context.HttpContext;
        var serviceProvider = httpContext.RequestServices;

        var logger = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService<ILogger<VcardOutputFormatter>>();
        var buffer = new StringBuilder();

        if (context.Object is IEnumerable<Contact> contacts)
        {
            foreach (var contact in contacts)
            {
                FormatVcard(buffer, contact, logger);
            }
        }
        else
        {
            FormatVcard(buffer, (Contact)context.Object!, logger);
        }

        await httpContext.Response.WriteAsync(buffer.ToString(), selectedEncoding);
    }

    private static void FormatVcard(
        StringBuilder buffer, Contact contact, ILogger logger)
    {
        buffer.AppendLine("BEGIN:VCARD");
        buffer.AppendLine("VERSION:2.1");
        buffer.AppendLine($"N:{contact.LastName};{contact.FirstName}");
        buffer.AppendLine($"FN:{contact.FirstName} {contact.LastName}");
        buffer.AppendLine($"UID:{contact.Id}");
        buffer.AppendLine("END:VCARD");

        logger.LogInformation("Writing {FirstName} {LastName}",
            contact.FirstName, contact.LastName);
    }
}

Derive from the appropriate base class

public class VcardOutputFormatter : TextOutputFormatter

Specify supported media types and encodings

public VcardOutputFormatter()
{
    SupportedMediaTypes.Add(MediaTypeHeaderValue.Parse("text/vcard"));

    SupportedEncodings.Add(Encoding.UTF8);
    SupportedEncodings.Add(Encoding.Unicode);
}

Override CanReadType and CanWriteType

protected override bool CanWriteType(Type? type)
    => typeof(Contact).IsAssignableFrom(type)
        || typeof(IEnumerable<Contact>).IsAssignableFrom(type);

The CanWriteResult method

• The action method returns a model class.

• There are derived classes that might be returned at runtime.

• The derived class returned by the action must be known at runtime.

• Signature returns a Person type.

• Can return a Student or Instructor type that derives from Person.

• It's not necessary to use CanWriteResult.

• The CanWriteType method receives the runtime type.

Override ReadRequestBodyAsync and WriteResponseBodyAsync

public override async Task WriteResponseBodyAsync(
    OutputFormatterWriteContext context, Encoding selectedEncoding)
{
    var httpContext = context.HttpContext;
    var serviceProvider = httpContext.RequestServices;

    var logger = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService<ILogger<VcardOutputFormatter>>();
    var buffer = new StringBuilder();

    if (context.Object is IEnumerable<Contact> contacts)
    {
        foreach (var contact in contacts)
        {
            FormatVcard(buffer, contact, logger);
        }
    }
    else
    {
        FormatVcard(buffer, (Contact)context.Object!, logger);
    }

    await httpContext.Response.WriteAsync(buffer.ToString(), selectedEncoding);
}

private static void FormatVcard(
    StringBuilder buffer, Contact contact, ILogger logger)
{
    buffer.AppendLine("BEGIN:VCARD");
    buffer.AppendLine("VERSION:2.1");
    buffer.AppendLine($"N:{contact.LastName};{contact.FirstName}");
    buffer.AppendLine($"FN:{contact.FirstName} {contact.LastName}");
    buffer.AppendLine($"UID:{contact.Id}");
    buffer.AppendLine("END:VCARD");

    logger.LogInformation("Writing {FirstName} {LastName}",
        contact.FirstName, contact.LastName);
}

Configure MVC to use a custom formatter

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddControllers(options =>
{
    options.InputFormatters.Insert(0, new VcardInputFormatter());
    options.OutputFormatters.Insert(0, new VcardOutputFormatter());
});

The complete VcardInputFormatter class

public class VcardInputFormatter : TextInputFormatter
{
    public VcardInputFormatter()
    {
        SupportedMediaTypes.Add(MediaTypeHeaderValue.Parse("text/vcard"));

        SupportedEncodings.Add(Encoding.UTF8);
        SupportedEncodings.Add(Encoding.Unicode);
    }

    protected override bool CanReadType(Type type)
        => type == typeof(Contact);

    public override async Task<InputFormatterResult> ReadRequestBodyAsync(
        InputFormatterContext context, Encoding effectiveEncoding)
    {
        var httpContext = context.HttpContext;
        var serviceProvider = httpContext.RequestServices;

        var logger = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService<ILogger<VcardInputFormatter>>();

        using var reader = new StreamReader(httpContext.Request.Body, effectiveEncoding);
        string? nameLine = null;

        try
        {
            await ReadLineAsync("BEGIN:VCARD", reader, context, logger);
            await ReadLineAsync("VERSION:", reader, context, logger);

            nameLine = await ReadLineAsync("N:", reader, context, logger);

            var split = nameLine.Split(";".ToCharArray());
            var contact = new Contact(FirstName: split[1], LastName: split[0].Substring(2));

            await ReadLineAsync("FN:", reader, context, logger);
            await ReadLineAsync("END:VCARD", reader, context, logger);

            logger.LogInformation("nameLine = {nameLine}", nameLine);

            return await InputFormatterResult.SuccessAsync(contact);
        }
        catch
        {
            logger.LogError("Read failed: nameLine = {nameLine}", nameLine);
            return await InputFormatterResult.FailureAsync();
        }
    }

    private static async Task<string> ReadLineAsync(
        string expectedText, StreamReader reader, InputFormatterContext context,
        ILogger logger)
    {
        var line = await reader.ReadLineAsync();

        if (line is null || !line.StartsWith(expectedText))
        {
            var errorMessage = $"Looked for '{expectedText}' and got '{line}'";

            context.ModelState.TryAddModelError(context.ModelName, errorMessage);
            logger.LogError(errorMessage);

            throw new Exception(errorMessage);
        }

        return line;
    }
}

Test the app

• Send a Post request to /api/contacts with a tool like http-repl.

• Set the Content-Type header to text/vcard.

• Set vCard text in the body, formatted like the preceding example.

Additional resources

• Format response data in ASP.NET Core Web API

• Manage Protobuf references with dotnet-grpc

Ref: Custom formatters in ASP.NET Core Web API