In this article I will explain with an example, how to call Web API from another Project in ASP.Net MVC Razor.
The Web API 2 Controller’s Action method will fetch records from the SQL Server Database using Entity Framework in ASP.Net MVC Razor.
The Web API 2 Controller’s Action method will be called using WebClient class from another MVC Project using the Web API URL.
 
 
Database
Here I am making use of Microsoft’s Northwind Database. You can download it from here.
Download and install Northwind Database
 
 
Entity Framework Model
Once the Entity Framework is configured and connected to the database table, the Model will look as shown below.
Note: For beginners in ASP.Net MVC and Entity Framework, please refer my article ASP.Net MVC: Simple Entity Framework Tutorial with example. It covers all the information needed for connecting and configuring Entity Framework.
 
Call Web API from another Project in ASP.Net MVC
 
 
Model
The CustomerModel class consists of the following property.
public class CustomerModel
{
    ///<summary>
    /// Gets or sets Name.
    ///</summary>
    public string Name { get; set; }
}
 
 
Web API Controller
In order to add a Web API Controller you will need to Right Click the Controllers folder in the Solution Explorer and click on Add and then Controller.
Now from the Add Scaffold window, choose the Web API 2 Controller – Empty option as shown below.
Call Web API from another Project in ASP.Net MVC
 
Then give it a suitable name and click OK.
Call Web API from another Project in ASP.Net MVC
 
The next task is to register the Configuration for Web API in the Global.asax file so that the Web API is available for accessing on Web.
In order to do so open Global.asax file and add the following line.
System.Web.Http.GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);
 
Make sure you add it in the same order as shown below.
public class MvcApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
    protected void Application_Start()
    {
        AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
        System.Web.Http.GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);
        RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
    }
}
 
The next step is to code the Web API Controller. The Web API Controller consists of a method named GetCustomers which accepts an object of CustomerModel.
The records of the Customers are fetched using Entity Framework and are filtered using the StartsWith function based on the value of the Name property.
Finally, the records are returned as Generic List Collection.
This method is decorated with Route attribute which defines its Route for calling the Web API method and HttpPost attribute which signifies that the method will accept Http Post requests.
public class CustomerAPIController : ApiController
{
    [Route("api/CustomersAPI/GetCustomers")]
    [HttpPost]
    public List<Customer> GetCustomers(CustomerModel customer)
    {
        NorthwindEntities entities = new NorthwindEntities();
        return (from c in entities.Customers.Take(10)
                where c.ContactName.StartsWith(customer.Name) || string.IsNullOrEmpty(customer.Name)
                select c).ToList();
    }
}
 
 
Another MVC Project
Now in any other MVC Project, we will simply call the Web API using its URL with the help of WebClient class.
 
 
Namespaces
You will need to import the following namespaces.
using System.Net;
using System.Text;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;
 
 
Controller
The Controller consists of the following Action method.
Action method for handling GET operation
Inside this Action method, all the records from the Customers table is returned to the View as a Generic List collection.
The value of the Name parameter is wrapped into a JSON object which is then serialized into a JSON string.
The URL of the Web API along with its Controller’s Action method name and the serialized JSON string is passed to the UploadString method of the WebClient class.
The UploadString method of the WebClient class calls the Web API Controller’s Action method i.e. the GetCustomers method and returns the JSON string.
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    // GET: Home
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        string apiUrl = "http://localhost:26404/api/CustomersAPI";
        object input = new
        {
            Name = "Maria",
        };
        string inputJson = (new JavaScriptSerializer()).Serialize(input);
        WebClient client = new WebClient();
        client.Headers["Content-type"] = "application/json";
        client.Encoding = Encoding.UTF8;
        string json = client.UploadString(apiUrl + "/GetCustomers", inputJson);
 
        return View();
    }
}
 
 
Screenshot
Call Web API from another Project in ASP.Net MVC
 
 
Downloads
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