RestSharp client returns all properties as null when deserializing JSON response

smercer picture smercer · Jun 18, 2012 · Viewed 17.2k times · Source

I'm trying to do a very simple example of using RestSharp's Execute method of querying a rest endpoint and serializing to a POCO. However, everything I try results in a response.Data object that has all properties with a NULL value.

Here is the JSON response:

{
   "Result":
   {
       "Location":
       {
           "BusinessUnit": "BTA",
           "BusinessUnitName": "CASINO",
           "LocationId": "4070",
           "LocationCode": "ZBTA",
           "LocationName": "Name of Casino"
       }
   }
}

Here is my test code

 [TestMethod]
    public void TestLocationsGetById()
    {
        //given
        var request = new RestRequest();
        request.Resource = serviceEndpoint + "/{singleItemTestId}";
        request.Method = Method.GET;
        request.AddHeader("accept", Configuration.JSONContentType);
        request.RootElement = "Location";
        request.AddParameter("singleItemTestId", singleItemTestId, ParameterType.UrlSegment);
        request.RequestFormat = DataFormat.Json;

        //when
        Location location = api.Execute<Location>(request);            

        //then
        Assert.IsNotNull(location.LocationId); //fails - all properties are returned null

    }

And here is my API code

 public T Execute<T>(RestRequest request) where T : new()
    {
        var client = new RestClient();
        client.BaseUrl = Configuration.ESBRestBaseURL;

        //request.OnBeforeDeserialization = resp => { resp.ContentLength = 761; };

        var response = client.Execute<T>(request);
        return response.Data;
    }

And finally, here is my POCO

 public class Location
{        
    public string BusinessUnit { get; set; }
    public string BusinessUnitName { get; set; }
    public string LocationId { get; set; }
    public string LocationCode { get; set; }
    public string LocationName { get; set; }
}

Additionally, the ErrorException and ErrorResponse properties on the response are NULL.

This seems like a very simple case, but I've been running around in circles all day! Thanks.

Answer

Pete picture Pete · Jun 18, 2012

What is the Content-Type in the response? If not a standard content type like "application/json", etc. then RestSharp won't understand which deserializer to use. If it is in fact a content type not "understood" by RestSharp (you can verify by inspecting the Accept sent in the request), then you can solve this by doing:

client.AddHandler("my_custom_type", new JsonDeserializer());

EDIT:

Ok, sorry, looking at the JSON again, you need something like:

public class LocationResponse
   public LocationResult Result { get; set; }
}

public class LocationResult {
  public Location Location { get; set; }
}

And then do:

client.Execute<LocationResponse>(request);