EmptyResult in ASP.NET Core MVC

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EmptyResult in ASP.NET Core MVC

In this article, I am going to discuss the EmptyResult in ASP.NET Core MVC Web Application with Examples. Please read our previous article, where we discussed the Object Result in ASP in ASP.NET Core MVC Application.

EmptyResult in ASP.NET Core MVC

In ASP.NET Core MVC, the EmptyResult class is used to return an empty HTTP response with no content. This is commonly used when you want to indicate that a request has been successfully processed, but there is no specific content to return in the response body. Here’s how you can use EmptyResult in an ASP.NET Core MVC controller action:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
namespace ActionResultInASPNETCoreMVC.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        public IActionResult ProcessRequest()
        {
            // Perform some processing

            // Return an empty HTTP response
            return new EmptyResult();
        }
    }
}

In the example above, the ProcessRequest action performs some processing and then returns an EmptyResult to indicate the successful processing of the request. This can be useful when you don’t need to send any data in the response body but still want to signal that the request was handled successfully.

The EmptyResult is also often used in conjunction with other HTTP status codes to provide meaningful responses. For example, you might return an EmptyResult with a 204 No Content status code to indicate that the request was successful, but there’s no additional content to send:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
namespace ActionResultInASPNETCoreMVC.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        public IActionResult DeleteResource()
        {
            // Delete the resource

            // Return a 204 No Content response with an EmptyResult
            return NoContent();
        }
    }
}

In this example, the NoContent method returns a 204 No Content response, which is appropriate when you want to signal that the resource has been successfully deleted. Still, there’s no content to include in the response body.

When to Use EmptyResult in ASP.NET Core MVC?

The EmptyResult class in ASP.NET Core MVC is used when you want to return an empty HTTP response with no content in the response body. It’s typically used to indicate the successful handling of a request where there’s no specific data to return. Here are some scenarios where you might consider using EmptyResult:

• Deletion Operations: After successfully deleting a resource, you might want to return an empty response to indicate that the deletion was successful. This is often accompanied by an appropriate status code, such as 204 No Content.
• Confirmation Responses: In cases where a request’s primary purpose is to confirm or acknowledge an action, you can use EmptyResult to signal that the confirmation has been processed.
• Webhooks: When receiving webhook notifications, you might perform certain actions without needing to return any content. In such cases, an EmptyResult can indicate that the webhook notification was successfully processed.
• Status or Heartbeat Endpoints: For endpoints that are used for checking the status of a service or to ensure that the service is up and running, you might return an empty response as a simple confirmation.
• Response Codes without Data: When you need to return specific HTTP status codes (like 204 No Content) to indicate a certain outcome without any additional response body.

Ultimately, using EmptyResult is a way to communicate that a request was successfully processed without the need for returning any specific content in the response body.

In the next article, I am going to discuss HTML Tag Helpers in ASP.NET Core MVC Applications. In this article, I try to explain EmptyResult in ASP.NET Core MVC Application with Examples. I hope you enjoy this EmptyResult in ASP.NET Core MVC Application article.