ASP.Net HelpPages not showing my controllers

Question

I have been here before, but this time I have managed to get further than I have before. I have been following this guide and done everything it has said. If I navigate to http://localhost:61589/help I actually see the help page, but there is only the introduction, there are no descriptions.

In my controller I have comments (always do) like this:

/// <summary>
/// For all answer related endpoints
/// </summary>
[RoutePrefix("answers")]
public class AnswersController : ApiController
{

    // Readonly properties
    private readonly IUnitOfWork _unitOfWork;
    private readonly AnswerService _service;
    private readonly StateService _stateService;

    /// <summary>
    /// Default constructor
    /// </summary>
    public AnswersController()
    {

        // Map our properties
        this._unitOfWork = new UnitOfWork<DatabaseContext>();
        this._service = new AnswerService(this._unitOfWork);
        this._stateService = new StateService(this._unitOfWork);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Get a list of answers
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns></returns>
    [HttpGet]
    [Route("")]
    public async Task<IHttpActionResult> GetAllAsync()
    {
        try
        {

            // Return all our answers
            return Ok(await this._service.GetAllAsync("States.Filters"));

            // If there is an error
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {

            // Return our error
            return BadRequest(ex.Message.ToString());
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Get a answer by id
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="id">The answer id</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    [HttpGet]
    [Route("")]
    public async Task<IHttpActionResult> GetAsync(int id)
    {
        try
        {

            // Return all our answers
            return Ok(await this._service.GetAsync(id, "States.Filters"));

            // If there is an error
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {

            // Return our error
            return BadRequest(ex.Message.ToString());
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Create a answer
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="model">The answer model</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    [HttpPost]
    [Route("")]
    public async Task<IHttpActionResult> CreateAsync(Answer model)
    {
        try
        {

            // Get our states
            var all = await this._stateService.GetAllAsync("Filters");
            var states = all.Where(m => model.States.Any(s => s.Id == m.Id)).ToList();

            // Create our model
            var answer = new Answer
            {
                Text = model.Text,
                QuestionId = model.QuestionId,
                Order = model.Order,
                States = states
            };

            // Save our model
            this._service.Create(answer);

            // Save the database changes
            await this._unitOfWork.SaveChangesAsync();

            // Return our updated model
            return Ok(answer);

            // If there is an error
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {

            // Return our error
            return BadRequest(ex.Message.ToString());
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Update a answer
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="model">The answer model</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    [HttpPut]
    [Route("")]
    public async Task<IHttpActionResult> UpdateAsync(Answer model)
    {
        try
        {

            // Create our model
            var answer = new Answer
            {
                Id = model.Id,
                QuestionId = model.QuestionId,
                Order = model.Order,
                Text = model.Text
            };

            // Save our model
            this._service.Update(answer);

            // Save the database changes
            await this._unitOfWork.SaveChangesAsync();

            // Return our updated model
            return Ok(model);

            // If there is an error
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {

            // Return our error
            return BadRequest(ex.Message.ToString());
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Delete a answer
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="id">The answer id</param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    [HttpDelete]
    [Route("")]
    public async Task<IHttpActionResult> DeleteAsync(int id)
    {
        try
        {

            // Get our model
            var model = await this._service.GetAsync(id);

            // Save our model
            this._service.Remove(model);

            // Save the database changes
            await this._unitOfWork.SaveChangesAsync();

            // Return Ok
            return Ok();

            // If there is an error
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {

            // Return our error
            return BadRequest(ex.Message.ToString());
        }
    }
}

In the generated XmlDocument.xml I have these memebers:

<member name="T:Piiick.Api.Controllers.AnswersController">
    <summary>
    For all answer related endpoints
    </summary>
</member>
<member name="M:Piiick.Api.Controllers.AnswersController.#ctor">
    <summary>
    Default constructor
    </summary>
</member>
<member name="M:Piiick.Api.Controllers.AnswersController.GetAllAsync">
    <summary>
    Get a list of answers
    </summary>
    <returns></returns>
</member>
<member name="M:Piiick.Api.Controllers.AnswersController.GetAsync(System.Int32)">
    <summary>
    Get a answer by id
    </summary>
    <param name="id">The answer id</param>
    <returns></returns>
</member>
<member name="M:Piiick.Api.Controllers.AnswersController.CreateAsync(Piiick.Data.Models.Answer)">
    <summary>
    Create a answer
    </summary>
    <param name="model">The answer model</param>
    <returns></returns>
</member>
<member name="M:Piiick.Api.Controllers.AnswersController.UpdateAsync(Piiick.Data.Models.Answer)">
    <summary>
    Update a answer
    </summary>
    <param name="model">The answer model</param>
    <returns></returns>
</member>
<member name="M:Piiick.Api.Controllers.AnswersController.DeleteAsync(System.Int32)">
    <summary>
    Delete a answer
    </summary>
    <param name="id">The answer id</param>
    <returns></returns>
</member>

But they are not appearing on the actual help page. Does anyone have any idea why this might be happening?

Answer 1

Turns out I only had to add this line:

GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);

to my Startup.cs file in the Configuration method. Once this was added, it started working. For anyone else, that looks like this:

public partial class Startup
{
    public void Configuration(IAppBuilder app)
    {

        // Get our http configuration
        var config = new HttpConfiguration();

        // Register all areas
        AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();  
        GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);

        // Use our web api
        app.UseWebApi(config);
    }
}

Answer 2

According to http://www.asp.net/web-api/overview/getting-started-with-aspnet-web-api/creating-api-help-pages

You can use XML documentation comments to create the documentation. To enable this feature, open the file Areas/HelpPage/App_Start/HelpPageConfig.cs and uncomment the following line:

config.SetDocumentationProvider(new XmlDocumentationProvider(
    HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/App_Data/XmlDocument.xml")));