C# – How to read problem details JSON with HttpClient

Problem details (RFC7807) is a standardized error response format that has a Content-Type of application/problem+json, an error response code (i.e. 400 – Bad Request), and has a response body that looks like this: This can be extended to include any number of properties. The example shown above comes from the default way ASP.NET Core returns … Read more

C# – Disposing the request HttpContent when using HttpClient

In versions before .NET Core 3.0 (including .NET Framework), HttpClient disposes the request HttpContent object for you. This is surprising default behavior (a violation of the principle of least surprise for sure). This causes multiple problems, but one of the main problems is it prevents you from reusing the HttpContent object (you’re greeted with an … Read more

C# – How to send a file with HttpClient

In order to send a file in a request with HttpClient, add the file into a MultipartFormDataContent object, and send this object as the request content. Here’s an example: This sends the following multipart/form-data POST request: In this article, I’ll explain a few details about MultipartFormDataContent, and show a few other file-sending scenarios. MultipartFormDataContent Add() … Read more

C# – Newtonsoft extension methods for HttpClient

System.Net.Http.Json provides extension methods that simplify getting and sending JSON with HttpClient. Internally, it uses System.Text.Json for serialization. What if you want to use Newtonsoft instead of System.Text.Json? You can use the following extension methods for that: These are modeled off of the extension methods in System.Net.Http.Json. HttpClient is used to fetch the JSON content … Read more

C# – Switch from using HttpWebRequest to HttpClient

There are many reasons to use HttpClient instead of HttpWebRequest. For one, the MSDN docs strongly recommends against using HttpWebRequest, and using HttpClient instead. That should be enough, but if you need a little more convincing, take a look at the Practical reasons to not use HttpWebRequest section below. In addition to explaining why not … Read more