Cannot Inject Dependencies into Asp.net MVC 4 Web API Controller using Windsor Container

Question

I am unable to configure Windsor Container with asp.net web api, though it working fine with regular controller(IController).

I have regular controller and api controller in same project.

Here is the code for regular controller which working fine:

/// <summary>
    /// Controller Factory class for instantiating controllers using the Windsor IoC container.
    /// </summary>
    public class WindsorControllerActivator : IControllerActivator
    {
        private readonly IWindsorContainer container;
        public WindsorControllerActivator(IWindsorContainer container)
        {
            this.container = container;
        }
        public IController Create(RequestContext requestContext, Type controllerType)
        {
            var controller = (IController)container.GetService(controllerType);
            return controller;
        }

}

and in global.asax.cs

 container.Register(Component.For<IWindsorContainer>().Instance(container));
  container.Register(Component.For<IControllerActivator>().ImplementedBy<WindsorControllerActivator>());

and below is the problematic code:

public class WindsorApiControllerActivator : IHttpControllerActivator 
    {
        private readonly IWindsorContainer container;
        public WindsorApiControllerActivator(IWindsorContainer container)
        {
            this.container = container;
        }
        public IHttpController Create(HttpRequestMessage request, HttpControllerDescriptor controllerDescriptor, Type controllerType)
        {
            var controller = (IHttpController)container.GetService(controllerType);
            return controller;
        }
    }

and installer:

 container.Register(Component.For<IHttpControllerActivator>().ImplementedBy<WindsorApiControllerActivator>());

however, i am never able to execute WindsorApiControllerActivator.

when, i put debugger in WindsorControllerActivator it work as expected, but for WindsorApiControllerActivator it never get executed.

your help will be appreciated

How do you register your container as the dependencyresolver? — nemesv, Sep 24 '12 at 04:46
Why you customize WindsorApiControllerActivator whereas I don't see any special treatment? — cuongle, Sep 24 '12 at 04:59
Cuong le: because i using Nhibernate Session object in the api controllers
public ISession NSession { get; set; } public VendorController(ISession session) { NSession = session; } // GET api/ [HttpPost] public IList Search(SearchViewModel model) { IList searchResultViewModels = SearchVenues(model); return searchResultViewModels; //return "Hello World"; } — aamir sajjad, Sep 24 '12 at 05:34
Don't inject the Windsor container into your components: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4985455/dependency-injection-vs-service-location. — Steven, Sep 24 '12 at 12:04
@Steven: actually it is brown field application, therefore no other choice then using it:) — aamir sajjad, Sep 24 '12 at 13:48
@aamirsajjad: I'm sorry, your `WindsorControllerActivator` is probably part of your Composition Root. In that case it's fine to do so. — Steven, Sep 24 '12 at 14:10

aamir sajjad · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-25T05:57:15.393

I added the following code in global.asax.cs, and it works:)

 _windsorContainer = new WindsorContainer();
    _windsorContainer.Install(new EventSorbetInstaller());
    DependencyResolver.SetResolver(new WindsorDependencyResolver(_windsorContainer));
   ServiceLocator.SetLocatorProvider(() => new WindsorServiceLocator(_windsorContainer));
   RegisterFilterProviders(FilterProviders.Providers, _windsorContainer);

  var activator = _windsorContainer.Resolve<IHttpControllerActivator>();

   GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Services.Replace(typeof(IHttpControllerActivator), activator);

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 24 '12 at 09:59

You should be very carefull to use an IDependencyResolver for Windosr w/o decomissiong/release concern.

Have a look to this implementation http://nikosbaxevanis.com/2012/06/04/using-the-web-api-dependency-resolver-with-castle-windsor-part-2/ I didn't try it yet, but it seems the way to go w/ current webapi release

Cannot Inject Dependencies into Asp.net MVC 4 Web API Controller using Windsor Container

2 Answers2