ASP.NET Web Api Routing Customization

Question

I have WebApi controllers that end with the \"Api\" suffix in their names (For ex: StudentsApiController, InstructorsApiController). I do this to easily differentiate my MVC con

Answer 1

Now that ASP.NET Web API 2 is out, there is a much less cumbersome way to do more complex routing like that you suggested, by using attribute routing.

At the top of your controller just add the following attribute:

[RoutePrefix("api/students")]
public class StudentsApiController : ApiController
{
    ...
}

And then before each API method:

[Route("{id}"]
public HttpResponseMessage Get(int id)
{
    ...
}

There is a bit of setup required, but the positives of doing routing this way are many. For one, you can put the routing with the controllers and methods that do the actual work, so you're never searching around wondering if you have the right route. Secondly and more importantly, it's much easier to do more complex routing, like having the controller name different from the route name (like you want) or having very complex patterns to match against.