RestSharp "Error getting response stream (ReadAsync): ReceiveFailure Value cannot be null. Parameter name: src"

Question

Hello all am trying to do a login to my xamarin api using RestSharp, the API ought to return status code 200 OK if the authentication works and status code 415 if the authentication fails(wrong password) and other codes depending on what the case scenario, but instead i get a status code 0 on all other case asides when the authentication pass(status code 200 ok), the source code below is how i implement

 //payload am sending to the api
   RequestPayload res = new RequestPayload();
   res.appid = appid;
   res.data = data;
   res.method = "Login";

   //convert to json object
   var MySerializedObject =  JsonConvert.SerializeObject(res);
   string APIUrl = ""http://142.168.20.15:8021/RouteTask";

   //create client
   RestClient client = new RestClient(APIUrl);

   //create request
   RestRequest request = new RestRequest(Method.POST);

   // set request headeer
   request.AddHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");

   //request.AddJsonBody(MySerializedObject); --i have also tried this

   request.AddParameter("application/json", MySerializedObject, ParameterType.RequestBody);
   request.JsonSerializer.ContentType = "application/json; charset=utf-8";
   request.AddParameter("RequestSource", "Web", "application/json", ParameterType.QueryString);
   client.Timeout = 2000000;
   var response =  client.Execute(request); // where the issue appears
   //RestResponse response =  client.Execute(request); // i have tried this
   //IRestResponse response =  client.Execute(request); // i have tried this
    if (response.IsSuccessful)
        {
         //use response data
        }

on all scenerio it comes back with a StatusCode: 0, Content-Type: , Content-Length: 0) and errorMessage

"Error getting response stream (ReadAsync): ReceiveFailure Value cannot be null. Parameter name: src"

screenshot below indicate when the api call fails Response receieved when the authentication is valid

Answer 1

OK so after toying around with RestSharp for a bit, i realize just as @steve_In_Co mentioned earlier there were compatibility issues with MONO (we presume this is a bug) so i did it in a basic way using the .Net HTTP library and it works for me, so in case someone is still looking for a way out, find the working .net http implementation code below.

//payload am sending to the api 
   RequestPayload res = new RequestPayload();
   res.appid = appid;
   res.data = data;
   res.method = "Login";

   //convert to json object
   var MySerializedObject =  JsonConvert.SerializeObject(res);

   string APIUrl = ""http://142.168.20.15:8021/RouteTask";

   //create basic .net http client
   HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
   client.BaseAddress = new Uri(APIUrl);

   // this was required in the header of my request, 
   // you may not need this, or you may need to adjust parameter
   //("RequestSource","Web") or you own custom headers
   client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("RequestSource", "Web");
    // this class is custom, you can leave it out
   connectionService = new ConnectionService();
  //check for internet connection on users device before making the call
  if (connectionService.IsConnected)
    {
       //make the call to the api
        HttpResponseMessage response = await 
        client.PostAsJsonAsync(ApiConstants.APIDefault, res);
        if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
            {
                string o = response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
                dynamic payload = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(o);
                string msg = payload["valMessage"];
                resp.a = true;
                resp.msg = payload["responseDescription"];
            }
        else
            {
                string o = response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
                dynamic payload = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(o);
                resp.a = false;
                resp.msg = payload["response"];
            }
    }

Answer 2

I was finally able to find a workaround for this. Bear with the long-winded response.

The tags mention Xamarin, which is what I am working in as well - specifically with iOS. I think it may actually be a bug with Mono, but I didn't take it that far to confirm.

The problem lies with the default way of copying the response buffer. In the RestSharp code, this is done by an extension method in MiscExtensions.cs called ReadAsBytes. It appears that with certain response buffers, the call to the Stream.Read method is failing. When this happens, the exception causes RestSharp to "shortcut" the rest of the processing on the response, hence the status code never gets filled in since it happens after the call to ReadAsBytes.

The good news is RestSharp does give a way to replace this call to ReadAsBytes with one of your own. This is done via the ResponseWriter property on the IRestRequest object. If it has a function defined, it will bypass the ReadAsBytes call and call the function you gave it instead. The problem is, this is defined as an Action and you don't get a copy of the full response object, so it's somewhat useless. Instead you have to use the AdvancedResponseWriter property. This one includes both the response object and the response stream. But you still have to set the ResponseWriter property or it won't bypass the default handler and you'll still get the error.

Ok, so how do you make this work? I ended up implementing it as a wrapper to RestClient so I wouldn't have to implement the code all over the place. Here's the basic setup:

public class MyRestClient : RestClient
{
    public MyRestClient(string baseUrl) : base(baseUrl)
    { }

    public override IRestResponse Execute(IRestRequest request)
    {
        request.ResponseWriter = s => { };
        request.AdvancedResponseWriter = (input, response) => response.RawBytes = ReadAsBytes(input);

        return base.Execute(request);
    }

    private static byte[] ReadAsBytes(Stream input)
    {
        var buffer = new byte[16 * 1024];

        using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
        {
            int read;
            try
            {
                while ((read = input.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
                { ms.Write(buffer, 0, read); }

                return ms.ToArray();
            }
            catch (WebException ex)
            { return Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(ex.Message); }
        };
    }
}

The ReadAsBytes method is actually just a copy/paste of the RestSharp ReadAsBytes method with the addition of a try/catch. If it fails, it returns the exception reason in to the response buffer. This may or may not be what you want, so modify as needed. You may also need to override other methods for Execute, but in my case this is the only one we're using so it was enough.

So far this seems to be doing the trick for me. Perhaps if someone got ambitious they could trace it all the way in to Mono to try and see what it doesn't like about the stream, but I don't have the time for it at the moment.

Good luck!