No ServiceStack WebServiceException.ResponseStatus on csv format request - csv

Question

When unit testing, I want to check csv formatted results, so I have the following code in my test.
MyDtoReq request = new MyDtoReq();
// ... assign some properties
string url = request.ToUrl("GET");
HttpWebRequest httpReq = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(url);
httpReq.Accept = "text/csv";
csv = new StreamReader(httpReq.GetResponse().GetResponseStream()).ReadToEnd();
That works fine, if the request succeeds. But when it fails, it raises a System.Net.WebException that doesn't have the expected WebServiceException.ResponseStatus details. NUnit reports the exception as follows:
Test Name: TestReq
Test FullName: [...].TestReq
Test Source: c:\Users\[...]\UnitTestProject1\ServiceTests.cs : line 261
Test Outcome: Failed
Test Duration: 0:00:27.104
Result Message: System.Net.WebException : The remote server returned an error: (400) Bad Request.
Result StackTrace: at [...].TestReq() in c:\Users\[...]\UnitTestProject1\ServiceTests.cs:line 287
Turns out that this is by design, as most clients requesting csv format are not able to parse a ResponseStatus. In order to see the actual error, I would re-submit the request with format=html in the browser - a frustrating waste of time.

Answer 1

Here's how to get the actual error message from failing csv format requests:
// Declared in test setup
public const string Host = "http://localhost:1337";
private const string BaseUri = Host + "/";
[Test]
public void TestMyDtoReqCsvFormat()
{
MyDtoReq request = new MyDtoReq();
request.startDate = "20130919";
request.endDate = "20130930";
request.source = "Token";
try
{
string requestUrl = request.ToUrl("GET");
HttpWebRequest httpReq = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(requestUrl);
httpReq.Accept = "text/csv";
var csv = new StreamReader(httpReq.GetResponse().GetResponseStream()).ReadToEnd();
// assert some facts about the contents of csv
}
catch (Exception)
{
try {
JsonServiceClient client = new JsonServiceClient(BaseUri);
MyDtoReqResponse response = client.Get(request);
// do something if re-request succeeds (i.e. was a transient error)
}
catch (WebServiceException webEx)
{
var message = webEx.ResponseStatus.ErrorCode +
" " + webEx.ResponseStatus.Message.Trim() +
" " + webEx.ResponseStatus.StackTrace.Trim();
throw new WebException(message,webEx);
}
catch (Exception otherEx) {
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(otherEx.Message);
throw new Exception(otherEx.Message, otherEx);
}
}
}