access method 'System.Web.Http.HttpConfiguration.DefaultFormatters()' failed

Question

I have problem with unit testing my WEB API controller, I'm using moq to mock up my repository, do the setup and response for it. Then initiate the controller with mocked repository. The problem is when I try to execute a call from the controller I get an exception:

Attempt by method 'System.Web.Http.HttpConfiguration..ctor(System.Web.Http.HttpRouteCollection)' to access method 'System.Web.Http.HttpConfiguration.DefaultFormatters()' failed.

---

at System.Web.Http.HttpConfiguration..ctor(HttpRouteCollection routes) at System.Web.Http.HttpConfiguration..ctor() at EyeShield.Api.Tests.PersonsControllerTests.Get_Persons_ReturnsAllPersons()

To be honest do don't have an idea what could be the problem here. Do anyone has an idea what might be the issue here?

Controller:

using System;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Http;
using EyeShield.Api.DtoMappers;
using EyeShield.Api.Models;
using EyeShield.Service;
using System.Web.Http;

namespace EyeShield.Api.Controllers
{
    public class PersonsController : ApiController
    {
        private readonly IPersonService _personService;

        public PersonsController(IPersonService personService)
        {
            _personService = personService;
        }

        public HttpResponseMessage Get()
        {
            try
            {
                var persons = PersonMapper.ToDto(_personService.GetPersons());
                var response = Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, persons);
                return response;
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                return Request.CreateErrorResponse(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest, e.Message);
            }
        }
    }
}

Global.asax:

using EyeShield.Data.Infrastructure;
using EyeShield.Data.Repositories;
using EyeShield.Service;
using Ninject;
using Ninject.Web.Common;
using System;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Http;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Routing;

namespace EyeShield.Api
{
    public class MvcApplication : NinjectHttpApplication
    {
        protected override void OnApplicationStarted()
        {
            base.OnApplicationStarted();
            AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();

            WebApiConfig.Register(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);
            WebApiConfig.ConfigureCamelCaseResponse(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);

            FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
            RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
        }

        protected override IKernel CreateKernel()
        {
            var kernel = new StandardKernel();
            kernel.Bind<Func<IKernel>>().ToMethod(ctx => () => new Bootstrapper().Kernel);
            kernel.Bind<IHttpModule>().To<HttpApplicationInitializationHttpModule>();

            RegisterServices(kernel);

            // Install our Ninject-based IDependencyResolver into the Web API config
            GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.DependencyResolver = new NinjectDependencyResolver(kernel);

            return kernel;
        }

        private void RegisterServices(IKernel kernel)
        {
            // This is where we tell Ninject how to resolve service requests
            kernel.Bind<IDatabaseFactory>().To<DatabaseFactory>();
            kernel.Bind<IPersonService>().To<PersonService>();
            kernel.Bind<IPersonRepository>().To<PersonRepository>();
        }
    }
}

Unit Test:

using System.Collections.Generic;
using EyeShield.Api.Controllers;
using EyeShield.Api.DtoMappers;
using EyeShield.Api.Models;
using EyeShield.Service;
using Moq;
using NUnit.Framework;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Web.Http;
using System.Web.Http.Hosting;

namespace EyeShield.Api.Tests
{
    [TestFixture]
    public class PersonsControllerTests
    {
        private Mock<IPersonService> _personService;

        [SetUp]
        public void SetUp()
        {
            _personService = new Mock<IPersonService>();
        }

        [Test]
        public void Get_Persons_ReturnsAllPersons()
        {
            // Arrange
            var fakePesons = GetPersonsContainers();

            _personService.Setup(x => x.GetPersons()).Returns(PersonMapper.FromDto(fakePesons));

            // here exception occurs
            var controller = new PersonsController(_personService.Object)
            {
                Request = new HttpRequestMessage()
                {
                    Properties = { { HttpPropertyKeys.HttpConfigurationKey, new HttpConfiguration() } }
                }
            };

            // Act
            var response = controller.Get();
            string str = response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;

            // Assert
            Assert.AreEqual(HttpStatusCode.OK, response.StatusCode);
        }

        private static IEnumerable<PersonContainer> GetPersonsContainers()
        {
            IEnumerable<PersonContainer> fakePersons = new List<PersonContainer>
                {
                    new PersonContainer {Id = 1, Name = "Loke", Surname = "Lamora", PersonalId = "QWE654789", Position = "Software Engineer"},
                    new PersonContainer {Id = 2, Name = "Jean", Surname = "Tannen", PersonalId = "XYZ123456", Position = "Biology Lab Assistant"},
                    new PersonContainer {Id = 3, Name = "Edward", Surname = "Crowley", PersonalId = "ABC654789", Position = "System Infrastructure"}
                };

            return fakePersons;
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Try ensuring that Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client is installed.

My app wasn't working because I'd removed that for other reasons.

Open Package Manager Console and execute:

Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client

Answer 2

Make sure that the following Nuget packaged libraries are at the same version:

Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi
Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client
Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Core
Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.WebHost

Answer 3

Check your packages.config , Make sure that the following Nuget packaged libraries are at the same version:

<package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi" version="x.x.x" targetFramework="net45" />
<package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client" version="x.x.x" targetFramework="net45" />
<package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Core" version="x.x.x" targetFramework="net45" />
<package id="Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.WebHost" version="x.x.x" targetFramework="net45" />

Uninstall-package from WebApi, WebApiWebhost, WebApi.Core, WebApi.Client

PM> uninstall-package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi
PM> uninstall-package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.WebHost
PM> uninstall-package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Core
PM> uninstall-package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client

Reinstall-package,

PM> install-package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi -version x.x.x