Force CamelCase on ASP.NET WebAPI Per Controller

Question

In ASP.NET WebAPI, I know you can set the default json formatter to use camel case using CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver() in the global.aspx which will force ALL json serialization to camel case.

However, I need to be able to set it on a "Per Controller" instance, instead of a Global solution.

Is this possible?

Answer 1

Thanks to @KiranChalla I was able to achieve this easier than I thought.

Here is the pretty simple class I created:

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web.Http.Controllers;
using System.Net.Http.Formatting;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization;

public class CamelCaseControllerConfigAttribute : Attribute, IControllerConfiguration 
{
  public void Initialize(HttpControllerSettings controllerSettings, HttpControllerDescriptor controllerDescriptor)
  {
    var formatter = controllerSettings.Formatters.OfType<JsonMediaTypeFormatter>().Single();
    controllerSettings.Formatters.Remove(formatter);

    formatter = new JsonMediaTypeFormatter
    {
      SerializerSettings = {ContractResolver = new CamelCasePropertyNamesContractResolver()}
    };

    controllerSettings.Formatters.Add(formatter);

  }
}

Then just add the attribute to any Controller class you want CamelCase.

[CamelCaseControllerConfig]

Answer 2

Yes, it's possible...you can use IControllerConfiguration to define per-controller specific configuration..

This is a sample which describes this scenario. You can quickly take a look at how this interface should be used over here(from the sample).

Answer 3

This Stack Overflow answer should be helpful. It shows you how to create an ActionFilter which can be applied to any action where you wish to use CamelCasing.

Answer 4

I know this is pretty old, but I had a problem with the accepted answer because there were other necessary changes to the formatter that were no longer present after removing and re-adding. I did this by just modifying the existing formatter as shown in this Gist: https://gist.github.com/mauricedb/5356933.