ASP.NET Core Web API Not Returning List of Child Items - asp.net-core

Question

I am creating a ASP.NET Core web API that uses EF Core. I have a GET endpoint that returns a list of reports from the database. I have a related table which stores screenshots for the reports. The reportId is the foreign key in the images table.
I have a List item in the reports class which points to the ImagesList class.
I have the foreign key reportId in the ImageList class and identified as a foreign key. I also have a navigation property setup to the Reports class.
Reports Class:
[Table("Vw_ReportsList", Schema = "pbi")]
public class Reports
{
[Key]
public string reportId { get; set; }
[Required]
public string reportName { get; set; }
public string reportDescription { get; set; }
public string reportType { get; set; }
public string reportAuthor { get; set; }
public string reportLastUpdate { get; set; }
public string reportLastExecution { get; set; }
public List<ImagesList> Screenshots { get; set; }
//collection navigation property
}
ImageList Class:
[Table("Vw_ScreenshotsList", Schema = "pbi")]
public class ImagesList
{
[Key]
public int id { get; set; }
public string fileNameTest { get; set; }
public string imageData { get; set; }
public string created { get; set; }
public string reportId { get; set; }
[ForeignKey("reportId")]
public virtual Reports Reports { get; set; }
//navigation property
}
Context:
public class ServiceCatalogContext : DbContext
{
public ServiceCatalogContext(DbContextOptions<ServiceCatalogContext> options) : base(options) { }
public DbSet<Reports> Reports { get; set; }
public DbSet<ImagesList> ImagesLists { get; set; }
public DbSet<Images> Images { get; set; }
//used for the image upload POST call
protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
{
// modelBuilder.Entity<ImagesList>().HasOne<Reports>().WithMany().HasForeignKey(s => s.reportId);
modelBuilder.Entity<ImagesList>().HasOne(s => s.Reports).WithMany(s => s.Screenshots).HasForeignKey(s => s.reportId);
modelBuilder.Entity<Reports>().HasMany(r => r.Screenshots).WithOne().HasForeignKey(r => r.reportId);
}
}
My API works and returns the list of reports with no errors but I do not receive the screenshots list that I am expecting.
Here is a sample of the API output:
{
"reportId": "AC79F4CD-3771-42B2-B7F8-46AE4CE8DC80",
"reportName": "Dashboard Usage Metrics Report",
"reportDescription": "DESCRIPTION HERE - Dashboard Usage Metrics Report",
"reportType": "Excel",
"reportLastUpdate": "07/22/2020",
"reportLastExecution": "07/23/2020"
},
{
"reportId": "138CD5FA-6B5A-4C63-A449-DA9A9BBBF689",
"reportName": "Report Usage Metrics Report",
"reportDescription": "DESCRIPTION HERE - Report Usage Metrics Report",
"reportType": "Excel",
"reportLastUpdate": "07/22/2020",
"reportLastExecution": "07/23/2020"
}
I not receiving any error message from the API so I am not sure what I missed in order for each report to return the related images.
Edit: Adding Controller action
[HttpGet]
[EnableQuery()] //enabled OData querying
public IQueryable<Reports> Get()
{
return _context.Reports;
}
Edit: Updated ImagesList class
I also have Odata installed so here the metadata if that is of help:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<edmx:Edmx Version="4.0" xmlns:edmx="http://docs.oasis-open.org/odata/ns/edmx">
<edmx:DataServices>
<Schema Namespace="ServiceCatalog.API.Entities" xmlns="http://docs.oasis-open.org/odata/ns/edm">
<EntityType Name="Reports">
<Key>
<PropertyRef Name="reportId" />
</Key>
<Property Name="reportId" Type="Edm.String" Nullable="false" />
<Property Name="reportName" Type="Edm.String" Nullable="false" />
<Property Name="reportDescription" Type="Edm.String" />
<Property Name="reportType" Type="Edm.String" />
<Property Name="reportLastUpdate" Type="Edm.String" />
<Property Name="reportLastExecution" Type="Edm.String" />
<NavigationProperty Name="Screenshots" Type="Collection(ServiceCatalog.API.Entities.ImagesList)" />
</EntityType>
<EntityType Name="ImagesList">
<Key>
<PropertyRef Name="id" />
</Key>
<Property Name="id" Type="Edm.Int32" Nullable="false" />
<Property Name="fileNameTest" Type="Edm.String" />
<Property Name="imageData" Type="Edm.String" />
<Property Name="created" Type="Edm.String" />
<Property Name="reportId" Type="Edm.String" />
<NavigationProperty Name="Reports" Type="ServiceCatalog.API.Entities.Reports">
<ReferentialConstraint Property="reportId" ReferencedProperty="reportId" />
</NavigationProperty>
</EntityType>
</Schema>
<Schema Namespace="Default" xmlns="http://docs.oasis-open.org/odata/ns/edm">
<EntityContainer Name="Container">
<EntitySet Name="reports" EntityType="ServiceCatalog.API.Entities.Reports" />
</EntityContainer>
</Schema>
</edmx:DataServices>
</edmx:Edmx>

Answer 1

Design your model like below:
[Table("Vw_ReportsList", Schema = "pbi")]
public class Reports
{
[Key]
public string reportId { get; set; }
[Required]
public string reportName { get; set; }
public string reportDescription { get; set; }
public string reportType { get; set; }
public string reportAuthor { get; set; }
public string reportLastUpdate { get; set; }
public string reportLastExecution { get; set; }
public List<ImagesList> Screenshots { get; set; }
//collection navigation property
}
[Table("Vw_ScreenshotsList", Schema = "pbi")]
public class ImagesList
{
[Key]
public int id { get; set; }
public string fileNameTest { get; set; }
public string imageData { get; set; }
public string created { get; set; }
public string reportId { get; set; }
// [ForeignKey("reportId")]
public virtual Reports Reports { get; set; }
//navigation property
}
And your DbContext:
protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
{
modelBuilder.Entity<ImagesList>().HasOne(s => s.Reports)
.WithMany(s => s.Screenshots).HasForeignKey(s => s.reportId);
//modelBuilder.Entity<Reports>().HasMany(r => r.Screenshots).WithOne().HasForeignKey(r => r.reportId);
}
Your controller:
[HttpGet]
public IQueryable<Reports> Get()
{
return _context.Reports.Include(r=>r.Screenshots);
}
Be sure to install Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.NewtonsoftJson then use the following code:
services.AddControllers().AddNewtonsoftJson(options =>
{
options.SerializerSettings.ReferenceLoopHandling = ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore;
});