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Using ClientDataSource With Web API

This article will illustrate how you can use the RadClientDataSource control with Web API.

You can get a fully runnable sample from here.

Retrieving data

<telerik:RadNumericTextBox RenderMode="Lightweight" runat="server" ID="RadNumericTextBox1" Label="Filter by ID: " LabelWidth="65px" NumberFormat-DecimalDigits="0"></telerik:RadNumericTextBox>
<telerik:RadButton RenderMode="Lightweight" AutoPostBack="false" runat="server" ID="RadButton1" Text="Filter" OnClientClicked="btnClick"></telerik:RadButton>

<telerik:RadGrid RenderMode="Lightweight" AllowFilteringByColumn="true" AllowSorting="true" AllowPaging="true" runat="server" ID="RadGrid1" AutoGenerateColumns="false"
    ClientDataSourceID="RadClientDataSource1">
    <MasterTableView EditMode="Batch" CommandItemDisplay="Top" ClientDataKeyNames="ID">
        <Columns>
            <telerik:GridBoundColumn UniqueName="ID" DataField="ID" HeaderText="ID" ReadOnly="true" />
            <telerik:GridBoundColumn UniqueName="Name" DataField="Name" HeaderText="Name" />
            <telerik:GridTemplateColumn UniqueName="Category" HeaderText="Category" DataField="Category">
                <ClientItemTemplate>
                    <span>#=Category #</span>
                </ClientItemTemplate>
                <EditItemTemplate>
                <telerik:RadDropDownList RenderMode="Lightweight" runat="server" ID="CategoryIDDropDown">
                    <Items>
                        <telerik:DropDownListItem Text="Category1" Value="Category1" />
                        <telerik:DropDownListItem Text="Category2" Value="Category2" />
                        <telerik:DropDownListItem Text="Category3" Value="Category3" />
                        <telerik:DropDownListItem Text="Category4" Value="Category4" />
                    </Items>
                </telerik:RadDropDownList>
            </EditItemTemplate>
            </telerik:GridTemplateColumn>
            <telerik:GridBoundColumn UniqueName="Price" DataField="Price" HeaderText="Price" />
            <telerik:GridClientDeleteColumn HeaderText="Delete" ButtonType="ImageButton" HeaderStyle-Width="70px">
            </telerik:GridClientDeleteColumn>
        </Columns>
    </MasterTableView>
</telerik:RadGrid>

<telerik:RadClientDataSource runat="server" ID="RadClientDataSource1" EnableServerPaging="true">
    <ClientEvents OnCommand="dataSourceCommand" OnRequestStart="requestStart" />
    <DataSource>
        <WebServiceDataSourceSettings>
            <Select Url="api/products" RequestType="Get"  />
            <Insert Url="api/products" RequestType="Post" />
            <Update Url="api/products" RequestType="Put" />
            <Delete Url="api/products" RequestType="Delete" />
        </WebServiceDataSourceSettings>
    </DataSource>
    <Schema>
        <Model ID="ID">
            <telerik:ClientDataSourceModelField FieldName="ID" DataType="Number" />
            <telerik:ClientDataSourceModelField FieldName="Name" DataType="String" />
            <telerik:ClientDataSourceModelField FieldName="Category" DataType="String" />
            <telerik:ClientDataSourceModelField FieldName="Price" DataType="Number" />
        </Model>
    </Schema>
</telerik:RadClientDataSource>

Passing data to the server

Additional information can be passed to the server. The sample below uses the URL to pass additional data.

<telerik:RadCodeBlock runat="server" ID="RadCodeBlock1">
    <script>

        var updatedIDs = [], deletedIDs = [];

        function requestStart(sender, args) {
            var type = args.get_type();
            var transport = sender.get_dataSourceObject().options.transport;
            debugger
            switch (type) {
                case "read":
                    var textBox = $find('<%= RadNumericTextBox1.ClientID %>');
                    var value = textBox.get_value();
                    transport.read.url = "api/products/" + value;
                    break;

                case "create":
                    transport.create.url = "api/products/";
                    break;

                case "update":
                    transport.update.url = "api/products/" + updatedIDs.shift();
                    break;

                case "destroy":
                    transport.destroy.url = "api/products/" + deletedIDs.shift();
                    break;

                default: break;
            }
        }

        function btnClick(sender, args) {
            var grid = $find('<%= RadGrid1.ClientID %>');
            grid.get_masterTableView().rebind();
        }

        function dataSourceCommand(sender, args) {
            var commandName = args.get_commandName();
            var id = args.get_commandArgument().id;
            switch (commandName) {
                case "update":
                    updatedIDs.push(id);
                    break;

                case "remove":
                    deletedIDs.push(id);
                    break;

                default: break;
            }
        }

    </script>
</telerik:RadCodeBlock>

CRUD operations

In the first code snippet you will notice that Insert, Select and Delete are defined in the WebServiceDataSourceSettings. This allows the user to edit the data. The code below shows the code in the controller that performs each operation:

public IEnumerable<Product> GetAllProducts()
{
    return repository.GetAll();
}

public IHttpActionResult GetProduct(int id)
{
    var item = repository.Get(id);
    if (item == null)
    {
        throw new HttpResponseException(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);
    }
    return Ok(item);
}

public IHttpActionResult PostProduct(Product item)
{
    item = repository.Add(item);
    string uri = Url.Link("DefaultApi", new { id = item.ID });
    return Created(new Uri(uri), item);
}

public void PutProduct(int id, Product product)
{
    product.ID = id;
    if (!repository.Update(product))
    {
        throw new HttpResponseException(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);
    }
}

public void DeleteProduct(int id)
{
    Product item = repository.Get(id);
    if (item == null)
    {
        throw new HttpResponseException(HttpStatusCode.NotFound);
    }
    repository.Remove(id);
}

The repository is using dummy data. In a real world scenario you will likely retrieve the data from a database.

private List<Product> products;
private int currentID = 12;

public ProductRepository()
{
    products = new List<Product>(new Product[] 
    { 
        new Product { ID = 1, Name = "Product1", Category = "Category1", Price = 1.05M }, 
        new Product { ID = 2, Name = "Product2", Category = "Category2", Price = 3.75M }, 
        new Product { ID = 3, Name = "Product3", Category = "Category2", Price = 2.34M }, 
        new Product { ID = 4, Name = "Product4", Category = "Category3", Price = 1.63M }, 
        new Product { ID = 5, Name = "Product5", Category = "Category4", Price = 5.62M }, 
        new Product { ID = 6, Name = "Product6", Category = "Category1", Price = 7.68M }, 
        new Product { ID = 7, Name = "Product7", Category = "Category1", Price = 8.23M }, 
        new Product { ID = 8, Name = "Product8", Category = "Category2", Price = 9.44M }, 
        new Product { ID = 9, Name = "Product9", Category = "Category2", Price = 0.43M }, 
        new Product { ID = 10, Name = "Product10", Category = "Category3", Price = 2.12M }, 
        new Product { ID = 11, Name = "Product11", Category = "Category4", Price = 1.79M }, 
        new Product { ID = 12, Name = "Product12", Category = "Category4", Price = 4.22M } 
    });
}

public IEnumerable<Product> GetAll()
{
    return products;
}

public Product Get(int id)
{
    return products.FirstOrDefault(p => p.ID == id);
}

public Product Add(Product item)
{
    if (item == null)
    {
        throw new ArgumentNullException("item");
    }
    item.ID = ++currentID;
    products.Add(item);
    return item;
}

public void Remove(int id)
{
    products.RemoveAll(p => p.ID == id);
}

public bool Update(Product item)
{
    if (item == null)
    {
        throw new ArgumentNullException("item");
    }
    int index = products.FindIndex(p => p.ID == item.ID);
    if (index == -1)
    {
        return false;
    }
    products.RemoveAt(index);
    products.Add(item);
    return true;
}

See also

In this article