[c#] How to use System.Net.HttpClient to post a complex type?

I have a custom complex type that I want to work with using Web API.

public class Widget
{
    public int ID { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public decimal Price { get; set; }
}

And here is my web API controller method. I want to post this object like so:

public class TestController : ApiController
{
    // POST /api/test
    public HttpResponseMessage<Widget> Post(Widget widget)
    {
        widget.ID = 1; // hardcoded for now. TODO: Save to db and return newly created ID

        var response = new HttpResponseMessage<Widget>(widget, HttpStatusCode.Created);
        response.Headers.Location = new Uri(Request.RequestUri, "/api/test/" + widget.ID.ToString());
        return response;
    }
}

And now I'd like to use System.Net.HttpClient to make the call to the method. However, I'm unsure of what type of object to pass into the PostAsync method, and how to construct it. Here is some sample client code.

var client = new HttpClient();
HttpContent content = new StringContent("???"); // how do I construct the Widget to post?
client.PostAsync("http://localhost:44268/api/test", content).ContinueWith(
    (postTask) =>
    {
        postTask.Result.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
    });

How do I create the HttpContent object in a way that web API will understand it?

Make a service call like this:

public async void SaveActivationCode(ActivationCodes objAC)
{
    var client = new HttpClient();
    client.BaseAddress = new Uri(baseAddress);
    HttpResponseMessage response = await client.PutAsJsonAsync(serviceAddress + "/SaveActivationCode" + "?apiKey=445-65-1216", objAC);
} 

And Service method like this:

public HttpResponseMessage PutSaveActivationCode(ActivationCodes objAC)
{
}

PutAsJsonAsync takes care of Serialization and deserialization over the network

Note that if you are using a Portable Class Library, HttpClient will not have PostAsJsonAsync method. To post a content as JSON using a Portable Class Library, you will have to do this:

HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
HttpContent contentPost = new StringContent(argsAsJson, Encoding.UTF8, 
"application/json");

await client.PostAsync(new Uri(wsUrl), contentPost).ContinueWith(
(postTask) => postTask.Result.EnsureSuccessStatusCode());

You should use the SendAsync method instead, this is a generic method, that serializes the input to the service

Widget widget = new Widget()
widget.Name = "test"
widget.Price = 1;

HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
client.BaseAddress = new Uri("http://localhost:44268/api/test");
client.SendAsync(new HttpRequestMessage<Widget>(widget))
    .ContinueWith((postTask) => postTask.Result.EnsureSuccessStatusCode() );

If you don't want to create the concrete class, you can make it with the FormUrlEncodedContent class

var client = new HttpClient();

// This is the postdata
var postData = new List<KeyValuePair<string, string>>();
postData.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Name", "test"));
postData.Add(new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Price ", "100"));

HttpContent content = new FormUrlEncodedContent(postData); 

client.PostAsync("http://localhost:44268/api/test", content).ContinueWith(
    (postTask) =>
    {
        postTask.Result.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
    });

Note: you need to make your id to a nullable int (int?)

I think you can do this:

var client = new HttpClient();
HttpContent content = new Widget();
client.PostAsync<Widget>("http://localhost:44268/api/test", content, new FormUrlEncodedMediaTypeFormatter())
    .ContinueWith((postTask) => { postTask.Result.EnsureSuccessStatusCode(); });

If you want the types of convenience methods mentioned in other answers but need portability (or even if you don't), you might want to check out Flurl [disclosure: I'm the author]. It (thinly) wraps HttpClient and Json.NET and adds some fluent sugar and other goodies, including some baked-in testing helpers.

Post as JSON:

var resp = await "http://localhost:44268/api/test".PostJsonAsync(widget);

or URL-encoded:

var resp = await "http://localhost:44268/api/test".PostUrlEncodedAsync(widget);

Both examples above return an HttpResponseMessage, but Flurl includes extension methods for returning other things if you just want to cut to the chase:

T poco = await url.PostJsonAsync(data).ReceiveJson<T>();
dynamic d = await url.PostUrlEncodedAsync(data).ReceiveJson();
string s = await url.PostUrlEncodedAsync(data).ReceiveString();

Flurl is available on NuGet:

PM> Install-Package Flurl.Http

In case someone like me didn't really understand what all above are talking about, I give an easy example which is working for me. If you have a web api which url is "http://somesite.com/verifyAddress", it is a post method and it need you to pass it an address object. You want to call this api in your code. Here what you can do.

    public Address verifyAddress(Address address)
    {
        this.client = new HttpClient();
        client.BaseAddress = new Uri("http://somesite.com/");
        client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
        var urlParm = URL + "verifyAddress";
        response = client.PostAsJsonAsync(urlParm,address).Result;
        var dataObjects = response.IsSuccessStatusCode ? response.Content.ReadAsAsync<Address>().Result : null;
        return dataObjects;
    }

After investigating lots of alternatives, I have come across another approach, suitable for the API 2.0 version.

(VB.NET is my favorite, sooo...)

Public Async Function APIPut_Response(ID as Integer, MyWidget as Widget) as Task(Of HttpResponseMessage)
    Dim DesiredContent as HttpContent = New StringContent(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(MyWidget))
    Return Await APIClient.PutAsync(String.Format("api/widget/{0}", ID), DesiredContent)
End Function

Good luck! For me this worked out (in the end!).

Regards, Peter

This is the code I wound up with, based upon the other answers here. This is for an HttpPost that receives and responds with complex types:

Task<HttpResponseMessage> response = httpClient.PostAsJsonAsync(
                       strMyHttpPostURL,
                       new MyComplexObject { Param1 = param1, Param2 = param2}).ContinueWith((postTask) => postTask.Result.EnsureSuccessStatusCode());
                    //debug:
                    //String s = response.Result.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
                    MyOtherComplexType moct = (MyOtherComplexType)JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(response.Result.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result, typeof(MyOtherComplexType));