CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#asp.net-web-api
Phillip Scott Givens
Phillip Scott Givens

Reputation: 5464

c#: Asp.net WebApi default route to index.html

I am trying to create an Asp.net WebApi / Single Page Application. I would like my server to dispense index.html if no route is given. I would like it to use a controller when one is specified in the normal "{controller}/{id}" fashion.

I realized that I can visit my index page by using http://localhost:555/index.html. How do I do the same by visiting http://localhost:555 ?

Upvotes: 10

Views: 11987

Answers (3)

Tobias Hoefer
Tobias Hoefer

Reputation: 1118

For ASP.NET Core users

As mentioned in the comments, you can use app.UseDefaultFiles() to achieve this. The method adds a rewriter that rewrites requests to the default route "/" to /index.html. For this to work, it is important that you place this line before .UseStaticFiles(). Example:

// ...
app.UseDefaultFiles();
app.UseStaticFiles();

app.MapControllers();

app.Run();

There is a good blog post that describes how this works in detail: Blog Post

Upvotes: 0

Phillip Scott Givens
Phillip Scott Givens

Reputation: 5464

The solution was to create an empty DefaultRoute. 

// I think this passes control through before trying to use a Controller
routes.MapHttpRoute(
    "DefaultRoute", "");

routes.MapHttpRoute(
    "DefaultAPI",
    "{controller}/{id}",
    new { Controller = "Home", Id = RouteParameter.Optional });

Another solution was to prefix my WebApi with 'api', which is not entirely what I wanted, but is a suitable solution. This was shown in Herman Guzman's answer, but is not his answer. 

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

Upvotes: 3

Hernan Guzman
Hernan Guzman

Reputation: 1235

Just add a route to your WebApiConfig file for index page. Your method should look like this:

    public static class WebApiConfig
    {
        public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config)
        {
            // Attribute routing
            config.MapHttpAttributeRoutes();

            // Route to index.html
            config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
                name: "Index",
                routeTemplate: "{id}.html",
                defaults: new {id = "index"});

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

Upvotes: 9

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