ASP.NET Web Api built from/with Console

Question

I want to be able to use an ASP.Net Web Api that opens and outputs to the Console .

The reason why is because I am initializing a lot of elements and objects before launching the Web Api. Then I register those objects with dependency injection to access them within my ApiController .

When I launch the Web Api, I need the Console to open so I can see how things are being initialized and how long does it takes.

I know it is possible to send logs from the Web Api to the debug console but this isn't what I want.

Maybe there is a way to start a console project and incorporate the Web Api framework into it ?

Answer 1

OWIN way:

1. Create a Console App
2. Add "Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.OwinSelfHost" package and its dependencies to the project

3. Add Startup.cs file with the following content:

    using Owin; using System.Web.Http; namespace YourConsoleAppProjectNamespace { public class Startup { public void Configuration(IAppBuilder appBuilder) { HttpConfiguration config = new HttpConfiguration(); config.Routes.MapHttpRoute( name: "DefaultApi", routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}", defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional } ); appBuilder.UseWebApi(config); } } }

4. Modify your project's Main()

    using Microsoft.Owin.Hosting; using System; namespace YourConsoleAppProjectNamespace { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { WebApp.Start<Startup>("http://localhost:3333/"); Console.ReadLine(); // block main thread } } }

5. Define a controller with action method and test.