Please find some code that might help you to pass a file along with its details in a single call to the REST service:
First you would need something called a MultipartParser as shown below:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
namespace SampleService
{
public class MultipartParser
{
private byte[] requestData;
public MultipartParser(Stream stream)
{
this.Parse(stream, Encoding.UTF8);
ParseParameter(stream, Encoding.UTF8);
}
public MultipartParser(Stream stream, Encoding encoding)
{
this.Parse(stream, encoding);
}
private void Parse(Stream stream, Encoding encoding)
{
this.Success = false;
// Read the stream into a byte array
byte[] data = ToByteArray(stream);
requestData = data;
// Copy to a string for header parsing
string content = encoding.GetString(data);
// The first line should contain the delimiter
int delimiterEndIndex = content.IndexOf("\r\n");
if (delimiterEndIndex > -1)
{
string delimiter = content.Substring(0, content.IndexOf("\r\n"));
// Look for Content-Type
Regex re = new Regex(@"(?<=Content\-Type:)(.*?)(?=\r\n\r\n)");
Match contentTypeMatch = re.Match(content);
// Look for filename
re = new Regex(@"(?<=filename\=\"")(.*?)(?=\"")");
Match filenameMatch = re.Match(content);
// Did we find the required values?
if (contentTypeMatch.Success && filenameMatch.Success)
{
// Set properties
this.ContentType = contentTypeMatch.Value.Trim();
this.Filename = filenameMatch.Value.Trim();
// Get the start & end indexes of the file contents
int startIndex = contentTypeMatch.Index + contentTypeMatch.Length + "\r\n\r\n".Length;
byte[] delimiterBytes = encoding.GetBytes("\r\n" + delimiter);
int endIndex = IndexOf(data, delimiterBytes, startIndex);
int contentLength = endIndex - startIndex;
// Extract the file contents from the byte array
byte[] fileData = new byte[contentLength];
Buffer.BlockCopy(data, startIndex, fileData, 0, contentLength);
this.FileContents = fileData;
this.Success = true;
}
}
}
private void ParseParameter(Stream stream, Encoding encoding)
{
this.Success = false;
// Read the stream into a byte array
byte[] data;
if (requestData.Length == 0)
{
data = ToByteArray(stream);
}
else { data = requestData; }
// Copy to a string for header parsing
string content = encoding.GetString(data);
// The first line should contain the delimiter
int delimiterEndIndex = content.IndexOf("\r\n");
if (delimiterEndIndex > -1)
{
string delimiter = content.Substring(0, content.IndexOf("\r\n"));
string[] splitContents = content.Split(new[] {delimiter}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
foreach (string t in splitContents)
{
// Look for Content-Type
Regex contentTypeRegex = new Regex(@"(?<=Content\-Type:)(.*?)(?=\r\n\r\n)");
Match contentTypeMatch = contentTypeRegex.Match(t);
// Look for name of parameter
Regex re = new Regex(@"(?<=name\=\"")(.*)");
Match name = re.Match(t);
// Look for filename
re = new Regex(@"(?<=filename\=\"")(.*?)(?=\"")");
Match filenameMatch = re.Match(t);
// Did we find the required values?
if (name.Success || filenameMatch.Success)
{
// Set properties
//this.ContentType = name.Value.Trim();
int startIndex;
if (filenameMatch.Success)
{
this.Filename = filenameMatch.Value.Trim();
}
if(contentTypeMatch.Success)
{
// Get the start & end indexes of the file contents
startIndex = contentTypeMatch.Index + contentTypeMatch.Length + "\r\n\r\n".Length;
}
else
{
startIndex = name.Index + name.Length + "\r\n\r\n".Length;
}
//byte[] delimiterBytes = encoding.GetBytes("\r\n" + delimiter);
//int endIndex = IndexOf(data, delimiterBytes, startIndex);
//int contentLength = t.Length - startIndex;
string propertyData = t.Substring(startIndex - 1, t.Length - startIndex);
// Extract the file contents from the byte array
//byte[] paramData = new byte[contentLength];
//Buffer.BlockCopy(data, startIndex, paramData, 0, contentLength);
MyContent myContent = new MyContent();
myContent.Data = encoding.GetBytes(propertyData);
myContent.StringData = propertyData;
myContent.PropertyName = name.Value.Trim();
if (MyContents == null)
MyContents = new List<MyContent>();
MyContents.Add(myContent);
this.Success = true;
}
}
}
}
private int IndexOf(byte[] searchWithin, byte[] serachFor, int startIndex)
{
int index = 0;
int startPos = Array.IndexOf(searchWithin, serachFor[0], startIndex);
if (startPos != -1)
{
while ((startPos + index) < searchWithin.Length)
{
if (searchWithin[startPos + index] == serachFor[index])
{
index++;
if (index == serachFor.Length)
{
return startPos;
}
}
else
{
startPos = Array.IndexOf<byte>(searchWithin, serachFor[0], startPos + index);
if (startPos == -1)
{
return -1;
}
index = 0;
}
}
}
return -1;
}
private byte[] ToByteArray(Stream stream)
{
byte[] buffer = new byte[32768];
using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
{
while (true)
{
int read = stream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
if (read <= 0)
return ms.ToArray();
ms.Write(buffer, 0, read);
}
}
}
public List<MyContent> MyContents { get; set; }
public bool Success
{
get;
private set;
}
public string ContentType
{
get;
private set;
}
public string Filename
{
get;
private set;
}
public byte[] FileContents
{
get;
private set;
}
}
public class MyContent
{
public byte[] Data { get; set; }
public string PropertyName { get; set; }
public string StringData { get; set; }
}
}
Now define your REST method as shown:
[WebInvoke(Method = "POST", BodyStyle = WebMessageBodyStyle.WrappedRequest)]
AttachmentRequestDto AddAttachmentToNote(Stream stream);
Now the implemenation of the above method as shown:
public AttachmentRequestDto AddAttachmentToNote(Stream stream)
{
MultipartParser parser = new MultipartParser(stream);
if(parser != null && parser.Success)
{
foreach (var content in parser.MyContents)
{
// Observe your string here which is a serialized version of your file or the object being passed. Based on the string do the necessary action.
string str = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(content.Data);
}
}
return new AttachmentRequestDto();
}
My AttachmentRequestDto looks as shown:
[DataContract]
public class AttachmentRequestDto
{
[DataMember]
public string Title { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string Description { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string Filename { get; set; }
}
Now from the client i do perform a POST as shown :
Image image = Image.FromFile("C:\\Users\\Guest\\Desktop\\sample.png");
MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream();
image.Save(ms, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Png);
byte[] imageArray = ms.ToArray();
ms.Close();
AttachmentRequestDto objAttachmentRequestDto = new AttachmentRequestDto();
objAttachmentRequestDto.Title = "Sample";
objAttachmentRequestDto.Description = "Sample book";
objAttachmentRequestDto.FileName = "SampleBook.png";
var serializer = new DataContractSerializer(typeof(AttachmentRequestDto));
var ms = new MemoryStream();
serializer.WriteObject(ms, objAttachmentRequestDto);
ms.Position = 0;
var reader = new StreamReader(ms);
string requestBody = reader.ReadToEnd();
var client = new RestClient();
client.BaseUrl = "http://localhost/SampleService/Service1.svc";
var request = new RestRequest(method) { DateFormat = DataFormat.Xml.ToString(), Resource = resourceUrl };
if(requestBody !=null)
request.AddParameter("objAttachmentRequestDto", requestBody);
request.AddFile("stream", image, "Array.png");
var response = client.Execute(request);
I do use a third party dll for the above code called RESTSharp.
Once on the server the MultipartParser identifies your request boundary to split the necessary contents and then you can decide on what to do with each of the split contents (save to file,db, etc..)
Just make sure you have the approriate config entries for the above as well along with dataContractSerializer property and readerQuotas set for the webHttpBinding.
NOTE: The MultipartParser can be more re-factored if needed.