Failed to serialize the response in Web API with Json
If you are working with EF, besides adding the code below on Global.asax
GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SerializerSettings .ReferenceLoopHandling = Newtonsoft.Json.ReferenceLoopHandling.Ignore;GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters .Remove(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.Formatters.XmlFormatter); Dont`t forget to import
using System.Data.Entity;Then you can return your own EF Models
Simple as that!
When it comes to returning data back to the consumer from Web Api (or any other web service for that matter), I highly recommend not passing back entities that come from a database. It is much more reliable and maintainable to use Models in which you have control of what the data looks like and not the database. That way you don't have to mess around with the formatters so much in the WebApiConfig. You can just create a UserModel that has child Models as properties and get rid of the reference loops in the return objects. That makes the serializer much happier.
Also, it isn't necessary to remove formatters or supported media types typically if you are just specifying the "Accepts" header in the request. Playing around with that stuff can sometimes make things more confusing.
Example:
public class UserModel { public string Name {get;set;} public string Age {get;set;} // Other properties here that do not reference another UserModel class.}
Given right answer is one way to go, however it is an overkill when you can fix it by one config settings.
Better to use it in the dbcontext constructor
public DbContext() // dbcontext constructor : base("name=ConnectionStringNameFromWebConfig"){ this.Configuration.LazyLoadingEnabled = false; this.Configuration.ProxyCreationEnabled = false;}