Backend Web API Service / REST API
- 3 minutes to read
Overview
The Solution Wizard creates a back-end Web API Service (Web API) with integrated authorization and CRUD operations powered by Microsoft EF Core and DevExpress XPO ORM library. You can use OAuth2, JWT, or custom strategies for authentication. The built-in Security System also filters out secure server data based on permissions granted to users.
The Web API creates URLs (endpoints) that allow you to perform CRUD operations from your non-XAF UI applications (for instance, .NET MAUI, JavaScript, or Blazor clients). It uses ASP.NET Core OData 8.0 (OData v4.0) to support paging, filters, and other OData options. This service can be hosted as part of a Blazor Server project or as a standalone ASP.NET Core project.
The Web API utilizes Swagger (OpenAPI) to display and test endpoints. You can also test endpoints or consume the Web API with other platforms (for example, Postman, .NET, or JavaScript).
The basic functions of our Web API Service (including the Solution Wizard) are available for free as part of our .NET App Security & Web API Service free offer. To register your free copy today, please visit our .NET App Security & Web API – Free Offer from DevExpress page.
Additional services/benefits of our Web API Service ship as part of the DevExpress Universal Subscription and include:
- Technical support and full source code.
- XAF’s administrative UI to manage users and roles at runtime using WinForms, WebForms, and Blazor apps.
- Localization functions (endpoints to obtain localized captions for classes, members, and custom UI elements).
- Advanced/enterprise functions such as audit trail, endpoints to download reports, file attachments, check validation, etc.
See Also
Note
The Solution Wizard template for Web API .NET 6-based projects is available in Visual Studio 2022+ after you run the Universal Component Installer from the Download Manager.
How to Use
You can add the Web API to an existing Blazor Server project or create a new project with this service:
- Create a Standalone Web API Application
- Integrate the Web API into an Existing XAF Blazor Application
After you add the Web API to your project, you can use it as described in the following articles:
- Add CRUD Web API Endpoints
- Make HTTP Requests to the Web API from .NET Applications
- Execute Custom Operations on Endpoint Requests
- Create Custom Endpoints
- Access Object Space, Security System, and Caption Helper in Custom Endpoint Methods
Additionally, review our GitHub examples:
- JavaScript with DevExtreme + ASP.NET Core Web API/OData App
- JavaScript with Svelte + ASP.NET Core Web API/OData App
- Blazor WebAssembly App
- .NET MAUI (iOS/Android) App
Authentication Options
The Web API supports all standard ASP.NET Core authentication techniques that you can specify in the MySolution.WebApi\Startup.cs (MySolution.Blazor.Server.Startup.cs) file. See the following topic for details: Authentication in Web API Projects.
Performance Considerations
You can disable logging to improve the Web API performance. To do this, set the LogLevel.DevExpress.ExpressApp option to None.
File: MySolution.Blazor.Server\appsettings.json (MySolution.Blazor.Server\appsettings.Development.json for debugging)
// ...
"LogLevel": {
"Default": "Information",
"Microsoft": "Warning",
"Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime": "Information",
"DevExpress.ExpressApp": "None"
}
// ...
Use logging options other than None (for example, DevExpress.ExpressApp = Debug) only for debugging purposes because logging reduces performance. See the following topic for more information: Log Files.
Limitations
- The capability to use custom fields in an XPO data model is not supported. The underlying ASP.NET Core Web API / OData v4 infrastructure accesses type information directly through reflection in the form of System.Type objects, which do not contain information about custom fields.