Refit C# (How It Works For Developers)

Introduction

The best features of two potent libraries are combined to produce incredibly effective applications by integrating Refit with IronPDF in C#. Refit makes using RESTful APIs easier by letting developers design API interfaces with C# characteristics, generating HTTP requests automatically, and guaranteeing type-safe API access. Conversely, IronPDF offers a large range of powerful capabilities for working with PDF files, including merging and annotating PDFs as well as converting HTML content. These libraries provide for smooth workflows for data presentation and retrieval when combined. Data-driven application development can be made more efficient and productive by using tools like Refit to retrieve data from an API and IronPDF to produce thorough, excellent PDF reports based on that data.

What is Refit C#?

Refit is an open-source framework for .NET that uses a declarative, type-safe methodology to simplify the process of sending HTTP requests to RESTful APIs. Refit produces the required HTTP client code automatically by specifying API endpoints as C# interfaces embellished with characteristics. This greatly reduces boilerplate and improves code readability. By detecting mistakes during compilation rather than execution, this technique guarantees that method signatures correctly match API endpoints.

Additionally, Refit handles JSON serialization and deserialization with ease, enabling developers to interact with C# objects instead of manually converting API replies. By defining HTTP methods, headers, and parameters directly in the interface specifications, attributes make configuration simpler. Because the client code needs to be modified less when API endpoints are updated, the code becomes simpler and easier to maintain.

For instance, Refit can generate the required HTTP GET request string user name by creating a method in an interface with a [Get("/users/{id}")] attribute. This request can then be made via a type-safe method call. Refit is an all-around more productive solution for developers to integrate APIs into .NET applications by abstracting away the headaches associated with managing HTTP clients.

Features of Refit C#

Type-Safe API Availability

Refit detects mistakes at compilation time and makes sure that method signatures match the API endpoints. The possibility of runtime errors brought on by mismatched endpoints or improper request setups is decreased by this type-safety.

HTTP Client Declarative

C# interfaces and attributes can be used by developers to build API endpoints, which results in cleaner, more maintainable HTTP request code. This declarative method abstracts away the intricacy of implementing an HTTP request method per client.

Automatic Serialization and Deserialization

Refit takes care of the conversion of C# objects to JSON data automatically. Because developers no longer have to manually serialize request bodies or deserialize responses, data handling is much simpler.

Configuration Based on Attributes

Attributes are used to define HTTP methods (such as GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE) and parameters. This makes the configuration simple and easy to understand because it comprises headers, request body, content, path parameters, and query parameters.

Asynchronous Programming Support

Refit uses Task-based methods to handle asynchronous HTTP requests and is made to interact easily with asynchronous programming models in .NET.

Adaptable Web Browsers

The core HTTP client can be customized by developers by changing timeout numbers, default header settings, and message handler configurations for logging, authentication, and retry policies.

Integrated Error Management

Refit has built-in capabilities to handle HTTP problems, making it simple for developers to incorporate their own custom error-handling logic.

Adaptability

Developers can utilize multiple formats or handle unusual data types with Refit's support for custom serialization and deserialization converters.

Combining Dependency Injection Integration

Refit is an excellent fit for contemporary .NET applications that adhere to recommended practices for dependency injection (DI) since it is simple to integrate into DI applications.

Assistance with Verification

To secure API calls, Refit makes it simple to configure authentication headers, interface methods such as bearer tokens, and basic authentication.

Create and Config Refit C#

The steps below can be used to construct and set up a Refit client in C#:

Create a New Visual Studio Project

Making a Console project is easy using Visual Studio. To create a Console Application in Visual Studio, follow these steps:

Prior to using Visual Studio, confirm that it is installed on your computer.

Start a New Project

Open Visual Studio, click on the "Create a new project" option.

From the selection on the left side of the "Create a new project" box, select your preferred programming language (C#, for example).

From the following project template reference list, you can choose the "Console App" or "Console App (.NET Core)" template.

Give your project a name, and chose the project's storage location.

Select the appropriate .NET Framework. Then click on "Create" to create the Console application project.

Install Refit

The Refit library must first be included in your project. You can install the Refit NuGet Package using the NuGet Package Manager or use the .NET CLI in Visual Studio to accomplish this.

Employing the .NET CLI for installation:

dotnet add package Refit

dotnet add package Refit

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Define API Interface

Make an interface to symbolize your API. To define the HTTP methods and endpoints, use the Refit attributes.

using Refit;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
public interface IMyApi
{
    [Get("/users/{id}")]
    Task<User> GetUserAsync(int id);
    [Post("/users")]
    Task<User> CreateUserAsync([Body] User user);
}
public class User
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    // Other properties...
}

using Refit;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
public interface IMyApi
{
    [Get("/users/{id}")]
    Task<User> GetUserAsync(int id);
    [Post("/users")]
    Task<User> CreateUserAsync([Body] User user);
}
public class User
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    // Other properties...
}

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Create and Configure the Refit Client

Launch the Refit client and adjust its settings as necessary. This can be implemented directly in your main code or in a service, among other locations in your application.

using Refit;
using System;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
public class Program
{
    public static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Define the base URL of your API
        var apiClient = RestService.For<IMyApi>("https://api.example.com");
        // Use the API client to make requests
        var user = await apiClient.GetUserAsync(1);
        Console.WriteLine($"User ID: {user.Id}, Name: {user.Name}");
        // Create a new user
        var newUser = new User { Name = "John Doe" };
        var createdUser = await apiClient.CreateUserAsync(newUser);
        Console.WriteLine($"Created User ID: {createdUser.Id}, Name: {createdUser.Name}");
    }
}

using Refit;
using System;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
public class Program
{
    public static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        // Define the base URL of your API
        var apiClient = RestService.For<IMyApi>("https://api.example.com");
        // Use the API client to make requests
        var user = await apiClient.GetUserAsync(1);
        Console.WriteLine($"User ID: {user.Id}, Name: {user.Name}");
        // Create a new user
        var newUser = new User { Name = "John Doe" };
        var createdUser = await apiClient.CreateUserAsync(newUser);
        Console.WriteLine($"Created User ID: {createdUser.Id}, Name: {createdUser.Name}");
    }
}

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Advanced Configuration

By setting the underlying HttpClient, you can further personalize the Refit client. As an illustration, you can set timeouts, apply headers attribute, add default headers, or use message handlers for retry policies, authentication, and logging.

using System.Net.Http;
using Refit;
using System;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
public class Program
{
    public static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        var httpClient = new HttpClient(new HttpClientHandler
        {
            // Customize the HttpClientHandler as needed
        })
        {
            BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.example.com"),
            Timeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)
        };
        // Add default headers if needed
        httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE");
        var apiClient = RestService.For<IMyApi>(httpClient);
        // Use the API client to make requests
        var user = await apiClient.GetUserAsync(1);
        Console.WriteLine($"User ID: {user.Id}, Name: {user.Name}");
        // Create a new user
        var newUser = new User { Name = "John Doe" };
        var createdUser = await apiClient.CreateUserAsync(newUser);
        Console.WriteLine($"Created User ID: {createdUser.Id}, Name: {createdUser.Name}");
    }
}

using System.Net.Http;
using Refit;
using System;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
public class Program
{
    public static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        var httpClient = new HttpClient(new HttpClientHandler
        {
            // Customize the HttpClientHandler as needed
        })
        {
            BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.example.com"),
            Timeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)
        };
        // Add default headers if needed
        httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE");
        var apiClient = RestService.For<IMyApi>(httpClient);
        // Use the API client to make requests
        var user = await apiClient.GetUserAsync(1);
        Console.WriteLine($"User ID: {user.Id}, Name: {user.Name}");
        // Create a new user
        var newUser = new User { Name = "John Doe" };
        var createdUser = await apiClient.CreateUserAsync(newUser);
        Console.WriteLine($"Created User ID: {createdUser.Id}, Name: {createdUser.Name}");
    }
}

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You can use type-safe and maintainable RESTful API consumption by creating and configuring a Refit client in C# by following these instructions.

Getting Started

Installing both libraries, configuring a simple API client using Refit to retrieve data, and using IronPDF to create a PDF based on that data are the first steps in integrating Refit and IronPDF in a C# project. Here are the steps to make this happen:

What is IronPDF?

A feature-rich library for handling PDF documents in .NET applications is called IronPDF. With its extensive feature set, users can create PDFs from scratch or from HTML material, as well as change pre-existing PDF documents by adding, deleting, or changing parts. IronPDF gives developers a robust API for creating, modifying, and converting PDF files, making it easier to work with PDFs in .NET applications.

Key Features of IronPDF

Converting HTML to PDF

IronPDF lets you create high-quality PDF documents using HTML content, including CSS and JavaScript. This functionality is very helpful for creating PDFs from dynamic content or web pages.

Editing and manipulating PDFs

IronPDF offers modification tools for PDF documents that already exist. It is possible to extract pages from a PDF, add text, photos, watermarks, or notes, and combine several PDFs into one document.

Making a PDF from Start

With IronPDF's API, you can add text, photos, shapes, and other objects to new PDF documents programmatically. This makes it possible to generate PDF invoices, reports, and other document-based outputs dynamically.

Security of PDFs

You may manage access and safeguard critical data by encrypting PDF documents using IronPDF and adding password security.

Forms in PDF

By putting data into form fields, users can interact with PDF documents by creating and filling out PDF forms with IronPDF.

Text Extractions

IronPDF facilitates the easy search, analysis, and manipulation of text data by extracting text content from PDF documents.

Transformation to Picture Formats

IronPDF is appropriate for situations when images are required instead of PDFs since it can convert PDF documents to common image formats including PNG, JPEG, and BMP.

Install IronPDF

Use the .NET CLI or NuGet Package Manager to add IronPDF to your .NET projects.

dotnet add package IronPdf

dotnet add package IronPdf

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'dotnet add package IronPdf

Integrate IronPDF With Refit C#

Let's dissect a C# code example that combines Refit with IronPDF. In this example, we'll use Refit to retrieve data from a fictional RESTful API and use IronPDF to create a PDF document based on that data. This is the operation of the following code:

using System;
using IronPdf;
using Refit;
    public static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        var apiClient = RestService.For<IMyApi>("https://api.example.com");
        try
        {
        // Use the API client to make requests
        var user = await apiClient.GetUserAsync(1);
        GeneratePdf(user);
        Console.WriteLine($"User ID: {user.Id}, Name: {user.Name}");
        var rand = new Random(100);
        // Create a new user
        var newUser = new User { Id = rand.Next(), Name = "John Doe" };
        var createdUser = await apiClient.CreateUserAsync(newUser);
        Console.WriteLine($"Created User ID: {createdUser.Id}, Name: {createdUser.Name}");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Error: {ex.Message}");
        }
    }
//Passing html string as method parameter
public static void GeneratePdf(User user)
{
    var htmlContent = $@"
    <html>
        <head>
            <style>
                body {{ font-family: Arial, sans-serif; }}
                h1 {{ color: navy; }}
                p {{ font-size: 14px; }}
            </style>
        </head>
        <body>
            <h1>User Details</h1>
            <p><strong>ID:</strong> {user.Id}</p>
            <p><strong>Name:</strong> {user.Name}</p>
        </body>
    </html>";
    // Create an IronPDF ChromePdfRenderer instance
    var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
    var pdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);
    // Save the PDF to a file
    var filePath = "UserDetails.pdf";
    pdfDocument.SaveAs(filePath);
    Console.WriteLine($"PDF generated and saved to {filePath}");
}

using System;
using IronPdf;
using Refit;
    public static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        var apiClient = RestService.For<IMyApi>("https://api.example.com");
        try
        {
        // Use the API client to make requests
        var user = await apiClient.GetUserAsync(1);
        GeneratePdf(user);
        Console.WriteLine($"User ID: {user.Id}, Name: {user.Name}");
        var rand = new Random(100);
        // Create a new user
        var newUser = new User { Id = rand.Next(), Name = "John Doe" };
        var createdUser = await apiClient.CreateUserAsync(newUser);
        Console.WriteLine($"Created User ID: {createdUser.Id}, Name: {createdUser.Name}");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"Error: {ex.Message}");
        }
    }
//Passing html string as method parameter
public static void GeneratePdf(User user)
{
    var htmlContent = $@"
    <html>
        <head>
            <style>
                body {{ font-family: Arial, sans-serif; }}
                h1 {{ color: navy; }}
                p {{ font-size: 14px; }}
            </style>
        </head>
        <body>
            <h1>User Details</h1>
            <p><strong>ID:</strong> {user.Id}</p>
            <p><strong>Name:</strong> {user.Name}</p>
        </body>
    </html>";
    // Create an IronPDF ChromePdfRenderer instance
    var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
    var pdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);
    // Save the PDF to a file
    var filePath = "UserDetails.pdf";
    pdfDocument.SaveAs(filePath);
    Console.WriteLine($"PDF generated and saved to {filePath}");
}

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Using Refit characteristics, we construct an API interface called IMyApi and provide the endpoint for user data fetching. We build a Refit client for the API and asynchronously retrieve user data in the Main function. In the event that the data is successfully retrieved, the user object is passed to the GeneratePdf method. Using IronPDF's ChromePdfRenderer class, we create HTML text that represents the user details in the GeneratePdf method and then output it as a PDF document. After that, the created PDF is stored in a disk file.

Below is the screenshot of the generated PDF file.

Conclusion

To sum up, developers working with RESTful APIs and PDF production have a strong and effective solution in the form of Refit's integration with IronPDF in C#. The Refit interface reduces boilerplate code, improves maintainability, and offers a type-safe, declarative approach, making it easier to consume APIs. However, IronPDF provides an extensive collection of tools for producing, modifying, and working with PDF documents, which makes it simple to create high-quality PDFs from HTML text.

Developers may easily retrieve data from APIs with Refit and create dynamic PDF documents with IronPDF based on that data by integrating the two tools. Workflows are streamlined by this integration, which also creates a plethora of opportunities for creating dynamic, data-driven PDF reports, invoices, and other document-based outputs.

You can integrate IronPDF and other IronSoftware technologies into your enterprise applications development stack to deliver feature-rich, high-end software solutions for clients and end users. This solid base will also make projects, backend systems, and process enhancement easier.

Developers can make the best of the free-trial cost of IronPDF is $749. These technologies are an excellent option for modern software development projects because of their extensive documentation, active online developer community, and regular updates.

To know more about how to get started with IronPDF, please visit the code examples and documentation page.