ASP.net MVC4 WebApi route with file-name in it

Question

I'm trying to get the following (and similar) urls to work in my ASP.net MVC4/WebApi project:

http://127.0.0.1:81/api/nav/SpotiFire/SpotiFire.dll

The route responsible for this url looks like this:

        config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
            name: "Nav",
            routeTemplate: "api/nav/{project}/{assembly}/{namespace}/{type}/{member}",
            defaults: new { controller = "Nav", assembly = RouteParameter.Optional, @namespace = RouteParameter.Optional, type = RouteParameter.Optional, member = RouteParameter.Optional }
        );

It works just fine if I remove the . in the file-name, or if I add a slash behind the URL, but that also means I can't use the Url.Route-methods etc. The error I get is a generic 404-error (image below).

enter image description here

I've tried adding <httpRuntime targetFramework="4.5" relaxedUrlToFileSystemMapping="true" /> to my web.config, and I've also tried adding

<compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.5">
  <buildProviders>
    <remove extension=".dll"/>
    <remove extension=".exe"/>
  </buildProviders>
</compilation>

And none of it seems to work. So my question is basically, how can I get this URL to work, and map correctly?

Only the last portion of a route can be optional. In the example you have shown you have made all the route parameters except project optional which obviously is not possible. Also in the url you have shown you are missing namespace and type portions of the url. Only the member portion can be optional because it is defined at the end of the route. — Darin Dimitrov
– Darin Dimitrov, Commented Feb 2, 2013 at 17:46
This is not true, and it's proven to work without problems. You can have as many parts optional as you want to. For instance, even before the change I just made in my answer, the url /api/nav/SpotiFire worked as a charm. — Alxandr
– Alxandr, Commented Feb 2, 2013 at 17:48

Darin Dimitrov · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-02 17:52:27Z

52

You could add the following handler to the <handlers> section of your <system.webServer>:

<add 
    name="ManagedDllExtension" 
    path="api/nav/*/*.dll" 
    verb="GET" 
    type="System.Web.Handlers.TransferRequestHandler" 
    preCondition="integratedMode,runtimeVersionv4.0" 
/>

This will make all requests containing .dll be served through the managed pipeline. Also notice how I have limited them only to the GET verb to limit the performance impact.

answered Feb 2, 2013 at 17:52

Darin Dimitrov

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4 Comments

Alxandr Over a year ago

Brilliant, thought shouldn't this

<add name="ExtensionlessUrlHandler-Integrated-4.0" path="*." verb="GET,HEAD,POST,DEBUG,PUT,DELETE,PATCH,OPTIONS" type="System.Web.Handlers.TransferRequestHandler" preCondition="integratedMode,runtimeVersionv4.0" />

cover that already? I'm not sure what's covered by "*.".

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

No, it's not covering it. You need to specify the extension. If there's an extension in the url, IIS will take over thinking that it is a static file.

bonh Over a year ago

This is such a fantastic answer.

bluish Over a year ago

@DarinDimitrov, what if we use this: path="*.*"? It works, for any kind of file, but I'm wondering if it can create side problems. Kind regards.

Alxandr · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-02 17:47:23Z

13

Found it. What's needed is this (and maybe some of the things I've added above in the original post):

<system.webServer>
  <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true" />
</system.webServer>

answered Feb 2, 2013 at 17:47

Alxandr

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3 Comments

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

I wouldn't recommend you adding this because it will have a bad side effect => all requests will now go through the managed pipeline which will have a negative impact on the performance of your application.

Alxandr Over a year ago

True, I might find a better solution in time, however, already more than 90% of requests are managed requests, so I don't think the performance-hit will be too big at all... The only thing that isn't loaded through the managed pipeline are images, and I have about 2 of them on my entire page...

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

Checkout my answer for the correct way to make this without activating the runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true".

kim3er · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-27 11:27:30Z

5

My trade off was to append /end to the end of route. .'s are ignored before the last /.

The equivalent URL would be http://127.0.0.1:81/api/nav/SpotiFire/SpotiFire.dll/end.

The benefit being that you don't get a performance hit on your assets.

answered Sep 27, 2016 at 11:27

kim3er

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1 Comment

Jason Jong Over a year ago

This worked for me and was the simplest solution, though I just added a / at the end.

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