Optional query string parameters in ASP.NET Web API

Question

I need to implement the following WebAPI method:

/api/books?author=XXX&title=XXX&isbn=XXX&somethingelse=XXX&date=XXX

All of the query string parameters can be null. That is, the caller can specify from 0 to all of the 5 parameters.

In MVC4 beta I used to do the following:

public class BooksController : ApiController
{
    // GET /api/books?author=tolk&title=lord&isbn=91&somethingelse=ABC&date=1970-01-01
    public string GetFindBooks(string author, string title, string isbn, string somethingelse, DateTime? date) 
    {
        // ...
    }
}

MVC4 RC doesn't behave like this anymore. If I specify fewer than 5 parameters, it replies with a 404 saying:

No action was found on the controller 'Books' that matches the request.

What is the correct method signature to make it behave like it used to, without having to specify the optional parameter in the URL routing?

Answer 1

This issue has been fixed in the regular release of MVC4. Now you can do:

public string GetFindBooks(string author="", string title="", string isbn="", string  somethingelse="", DateTime? date= null) 
{
    // ...
}

and everything will work out of the box.