Returning Complex Objects from an API in VBPI

Introduction

• Presenter: Venkat
• Series: VBPI Tutorials, Part 7
• Topic: How to return complex objects, such as classes or lists of classes, from an API

Previous Tutorial Recap

• Previously covered how to return a simple string from an action method or endpoint.

Objective of This Tutorial

• Demonstrate how to return complex objects or lists of classes from an API.
• Focus on updating the Student controller to return a list of student objects.

Steps Covered

Modifying the Student Controller

• Remove Unnecessary Controllers: Removed the ValuesController.
• Update Action Method: Modified the GetStudents action method to return IEnumerable<Student>.

Creating the Student Model

• Add Models Folder: Created a new folder named Models.
• Add Student Class: Inside the Models folder, added a new class named Student.
  • Fields in Student class:
    • StudentID
    • StudentName
    • EmailAddress
    • StudentAddress

Preparing List of Students

• Import Namespace: Ensure the relevant namespace is imported.
• Create Student Objects:
  • Created two instances of Student with example data:
    • StudentID = 1, StudentName = "Student 1", Email = "email1@gmail.com", Address = "Hyderabad, India"
    • StudentID = 2, StudentName = "Student 2", Email = "email2@gmail.com", Address = "Bangalore, India"
• Action Method:
  • The GetStudents action method returns a list of students.

Execution

• Use the "Try it out" feature to execute the method.
• Confirmed that two different student details are returned as expected:
  • Student 1: email1@gmail.com, Hyderabad, India
  • Student 2: email2@gmail.com, Bangalore, India

Refactoring for Better Practice

• Issue: Hardcoding student data directly in the action method is not elegant.
• Solution: Move the data to a repository (static repository for this example).
• Benefit: Improves code maintainability and readability.

Conclusion

• Appreciation for watching.
• Encouragement to like, share, and subscribe for more tutorials.