I would like to call the MainController.GetData() action from a few different URLs without a bunch of copied/pasted code. Is there a preferred way people tackle this? Seems like I might be able to do it with routing as well. I would just like to reuse the view and action since all that code would be the same if I made a version for the GetMyData() action.
**Example urls**
*/main/getdata
/other/getmydata
/diffferent/getothersdata?userid=3
public ActionResult MainController::GetData()
{
var data = GetData();
return View(collection);
}
public ActionResult OtherController::GetMyData()
{
var userId = GetCurrentUserId();
var data = GetData(userId);
return View("../main/getdata", collection);
}
Although controllers look like simple classes, their behavior inside the MVC framework is more specialized. You can't, or perhaps it's better to say you shouldn't, just call an action from one in an action for another, as if it's just any old method. Mostly, this is because controllers have context, and you have to instantiate them and set them up just right so that everything works. That's non-trivial to do inside of an action method and it's going to make your code ugly as hell.
You have two choices really. If you just want the result of the action, the best method is to utilize HttpClient and actually submit an HTTP request for it, just like any other request that would activate it.
However, based on your problem description, option two is probably more appropriate. You can create a base class and then inherit from that. For example, if you know two controllers are both going to need GetData, you can do something like:
public abstract class BaseController : Controller
{
protected IEnumerable<Data> QueryData(int? userId = null)
{
...
}
}
public class MainController : BaseController
{
public ActionResult GetData()
{
var data = QueryData();
return View(data);
}
}
public class OtherController : BaseController
{
public ActionResult GetMyData()
{
var userId = GetCurrentUserId();
var data = QueryData(userId);
return View(data);
}
}
In other words, you factor out the common functionality into something both the actions on both derived controllers can use.
This is all you needed for this scenario, but you can also implement entire actions on the base controller. For example, if you added a Foo action to BaseController, both MainController and OtherController would then responds to requests for Foo, without having to actually explicitly define that. You can then also override these actions if you need to, as well.
I'm new to ASP.NET MVC and I'm confused about how in a compiled language like C#, class names can have any meaning after the project has been built. Can someone explain to me how the building process takes
public class SomePageController : Controller {
public ActionResult Index() { return View(); }
}
and grabs the names SomePage and Index to create a URL map SomePage/Index that calls the function Index()? I only understand how this works if there is some other C# file that somehow able to look at all classes derived from the Controller class and get a string that is their name without the suffix "Controller". But that seems weird to me coming from a C++ background because I've never seen a way that a language can have of variables referencing their own name, nor have I ever seen a way to iterate through all classes derived from a certain class.
Maybe someone can show me how to write a C# procedure like
public class SomePageController : Controller {
public ActionResult Index() { return View(); }
}
public class SomeOtherPageController : Controller {
public ActionResult Index() { return View(); }
}
public void printPageNames ( void )
{
// ... Will print "SomePage, SomeOtherPage" to the console
}
What you need to read into is Reflection. It allows you to look at all of the classes, properties, etc within an assembly.
To directly answer your question, Jon Skeet has the starting point of how to accomplish this.
Your code would look something like this:
var assembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
foreach (var controller in assembly.GetTypes().Where(a => a.Name.EndsWith("Controller"))
{
Console.WriteLine(controller.Name.TrimEnd("Controller"));
}
I've got problem how to design correctly flow for my controller witch will do some advanced things. I have to have multiple-step adding course in my site. It looks like this:
public class CoursesController : Controller {
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Create() //1 step - User fill some basic infos and send back forms to Save method
{
return View(model.GetNewInstanceOfCourse());
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Save(NewCourse newCourse) //2 step - Datas are stored in session
{
string Token = Guid.NewGuid().ToString("D");
Session.Add(Token, newCourse);
return RedirectToAction("Subjects", new { Token = Token });
}
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Subjects(string Token) //2 step - Users fill which Subjects will be on the course, then send forms to Confirm method
{
return View(model.GetAvaliableSubjects(Token/*to place Token in View and let retrieve object from session*/);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Confirm(Subjects subjects) //3 step - Users filled all required datas and now i want to store complete datas in database
{
//(assume that Session[...] return Dictionaty<string, ... > instead of object
if(!Session["stored-courses-from-first-step"].ContainsKey(subjects.RetrievedFromViewToken)
{
return RedirectToAction("Create");
}
model.AddNewCourse(Session["stored-courses-from-first-step"][subjects.RetrievedFromViewToken], subjects);
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
}
and it works perfectly... but i have to write adding new subjects for existing course so reuse step 2 in other part of my controller. I have to fill some different datas, then reuse adding subjects for this datas and then reuse function Confirm but instead of inserting some datas i want just update and insert some datas completed from user.
...
public AddNewSubject(int CourseId)
{
...
}
In course preview i have button "Add new subjects", this should bring me to AddNewSubject Method and i don't know what to do next. I can't do in this method something like that:
return RedirectToAction("Save", "Courses", new { newCourse = model.GetExistingCourseAnChangeItToNewCourseInstance(CourseId)})
i don't want to write specialized methods for this due to duplicating most of this code. I think it's possible to reorganize flow in my controller but i doesn't have good idea how to do that. Other problem is that i need to reuse method Confirm, one time it will insert some datas, other time it will update some datas. Maybe you will have some good tips for me.
For existing courses, where you will be passing the course ID, there's nothing stopping you overloading the action method:
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Save(int CourseId) //2 step - Datas are stored in session
{
// Do whatever you need to do...
}
This way, you do not have to worry about doing anything clever when trying to reuse the step 2 code you posted. You simply have a separate method for dealing with existing courses.
The cleanest solution is remove the real logic from the reusable actions, and put it in private methods.
In the method you decide what to do given some input params or something like that.
So, in your action you end up just calling the helper method. This helper methods can be private in the same controller... or if the amount of logic is large you can create a helper class to host that logic.
class MyBaseController : AsyncController
{
// ...
}
class SimpleController : MyBaseController
{
public ActionResult MySyncAction()
{
}
}
I ALWAYS have to do one thing, OperationX(). This is a long standing operation for ALL my requests. It's values are different based on many things, but that's a technical detail.
I'd like to do that in an ASync fashion, and then call the controller's action method in the regular way. We have a ton of code in the SimpleController world, and we have hundreds of controllers and routes, etc, so it's no-go to convert all this code into ASync.
The quesiton, therefore is, how do I intercept an action coming to MyBaseController's MySyncAction and then invoke MyBaseController's Async action ALWAYS, and then only on completion, of the async action in the basecontroller, do I then call the MySyncAction of SimplerController.
Is this possible, what's the best way?
If you only want to call the SimpleController's MySyncAction after the BaseController, then couldn't this be done using a FilterAttribute instead?
Here is an example of a custom filter attribute that does some logging...
http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/understanding-action-filters-cs
[MyFilterAttribute]
class SimpleController : AsyncController
{
public ActionResult MySyncAction()
{
}
}
I'm curious to see if you can overload controller methods in ASP.NET MVC. Whenever I try, I get the error below. The two methods accept different arguments. Is this something that cannot be done?
The current request for action 'MyMethod' on controller type 'MyController' is ambiguous between the following action methods:
You can use the attribute if you want your code to do overloading.
[ActionName("MyOverloadedName")]
But, you'll have to use a different action name for the same http method (as others have said). So it's just semantics at that point. Would you rather have the name in your code or your attribute?
Phil has an article related to this: http://haacked.com/archive/2008/08/29/how-a-method-becomes-an-action.aspx
Yes. I've been able to do this by setting the HttpGet/HttpPost (or equivalent AcceptVerbs attribute) for each controller method to something distinct, i.e., HttpGet or HttpPost, but not both. That way it can tell based on the type of request which method to use.
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Show()
{
...
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Show( string userName )
{
...
}
One suggestion I have is that, for a case like this, would be to have a private implementation that both of your public Action methods rely on to avoid duplicating code.
Here's something else you could do... you want a method that is able to have a parameter and not.
Why not try this...
public ActionResult Show( string username = null )
{
...
}
This has worked for me... and in this one method, you can actually test to see if you have the incoming parameter.
Updated to remove the invalid nullable syntax on string and use a default parameter value.
No,No and No. Go and try the controller code below where we have the "LoadCustomer" overloaded.
public class CustomerController : Controller
{
//
// GET: /Customer/
public ActionResult LoadCustomer()
{
return Content("LoadCustomer");
}
public ActionResult LoadCustomer(string str)
{
return Content("LoadCustomer with a string");
}
}
If you try to invoke the "LoadCustomer" action you will get error as shown in the below figure.
Polymorphism is a part of C# programming while HTTP is a protocol. HTTP does not understand polymorphism. HTTP works on the concept's or URL and URL can only have unique name's. So HTTP does not implement polymorphism.
In order to fix the same we need to use "ActionName" attribute.
public class CustomerController : Controller
{
//
// GET: /Customer/
public ActionResult LoadCustomer()
{
return Content("LoadCustomer");
}
[ActionName("LoadCustomerbyName")]
public ActionResult LoadCustomer(string str)
{
return Content("LoadCustomer with a string");
}
}
So now if you make a call to URL "Customer/LoadCustomer" the "LoadCustomer" action will be invoked and with URL structure "Customer/LoadCustomerByName" the "LoadCustomer(string str)" will be invoked.
The above answer i have taken from this codeproject article --> MVC Action overloading
To overcome this problem you can write an ActionMethodSelectorAttribute that examines the MethodInfo for each action and compares it to the posted Form values and then rejects any method for which the form values don't match (excluding the button name, of course).
Here's an example:- http://blog.abodit.com/2010/02/asp-net-mvc-ambiguous-match/
BUT, this isn't a good idea.
As far as I know you can only have the same method when using different http methods.
i.e.
[AcceptVerbs("GET")]
public ActionResult MyAction()
{
}
[AcceptVerbs("POST")]
public ActionResult MyAction(FormResult fm)
{
}
I have achieved this with the help of Attribute Routing in MVC5. Admittedly I am new to MVC coming from a decade of web development using WebForms, but the following has worked for me. Unlike the accepted answer this allows all the overloaded actions to be rendered by the same view file.
First enable Attribute Routing in App_Start/RouteConfig.cs.
public class RouteConfig
{
public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
{
routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");
routes.MapMvcAttributeRoutes();
routes.MapRoute(
name: "Default",
url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);
}
}
Optionally decorate your controller class with a default route prefix.
[RoutePrefix("Returns")]
public class ReturnsController : BaseController
{
//.......
Then decorate your controller actions that overload each other with a common route and parameters to suit. Using type constrained parameters you can use the same URI format with IDs of different types.
[HttpGet]
// Returns
public ActionResult Index()
{
//.....
}
[HttpGet]
[Route("View")]
// Returns/View
public ActionResult View()
{
// I wouldn't really do this but it proves the concept.
int id = 7026;
return View(id);
}
[HttpGet]
[Route("View/{id:int}")]
// Returns/View/7003
public ActionResult View(int id)
{
//.....
}
[HttpGet]
[Route("View/{id:Guid}")]
// Returns/View/99300046-0ba4-47db-81bf-ba6e3ac3cf01
public ActionResult View(Guid id)
{
//.....
}
Hope this helps and is not leading somebody down the wrong path. :-)
You could use a single ActionResult to deal with both Post and Get:
public ActionResult Example() {
if (Request.HttpMethod.ToUpperInvariant() == "GET") {
// GET
}
else if (Request.HttpMethod.ToUpperInvariant() == "POST") {
// Post
}
}
Useful if your Get and Post methods have matching signatures.
I've just come across this question and, even though it's quite old now, it's still very relevant. Ironically, the one correct comment in this thread was posted by a self-confessed beginner in MVC when he wrote the post. Even the ASP.NET docs are not entirely correct. I have a large project and I successfully overload action methods.
If one understands routing, beyond the simple {controller}/{action}/{id} default route pattern, it might be obvious that controller actions can be mapped using any unique pattern. Someone here talked about polymorphism and said: "HTTP does not understand polymorphism", but routing has nothing to do with HTTP. It is, simply put, a mechanism for string pattern matching.
The best way to make this work is to use the routing attributes, for example:
[RoutePrefix("cars/{country:length(3)}")]
public class CarHireController
{
[Route("{location}/{page:int=1}", Name = "CarHireLocation")]
public ActionResult Index(string country, string location, int page)
{
return Index(country, location, null, page);
}
[Route("{location}/{subLocation}/{page:int=1}", Name = "CarHireSubLocation")]
public ActionResult Index(string country, string location, string subLocation, int page)
{
//The main work goes here
}
}
These actions will take care of urls like /cars/usa/new-york and /cars/usa/texas/dallas, which will map to the first and second Index actions respectively.
Examining this example controller it's evident that it goes beyond the default route pattern mentioned above. The default works well if your url structure exactly matches your code naming conventions, but this is not always the case. Code should be descriptive of the domain, but urls often need to go further because their content should be based on other criteria, such as SEO requirements.
The benefit of the default routing pattern is that it automatically creates unique routes. This is enforced by the compiler since urls will match unique controller types and members. Rolling your own route patterns will require careful thought to ensure uniqueness and that they work.
Important note The one drawback is that using routing to generate urls for overloaded actions does not work when based on an action name, e.g., when using UrlHelper.Action. But it does work if one uses named routes, e.g., UrlHelper.RouteUrl. And using named routes is, according to well respected sources, the way to go anyhow (http://haacked.com/archive/2010/11/21/named-routes-to-the-rescue.aspx/).
Good luck!
You can use [ActionName("NewActionName")] to use the same method with a different name:
public class HomeController : Controller
{
public ActionResult GetEmpName()
{
return Content("This is the test Message");
}
[ActionName("GetEmpWithCode")]
public ActionResult GetEmpName(string EmpCode)
{
return Content("This is the test Messagewith Overloaded");
}
}
I needed an overload for:
public ActionResult Index(string i);
public ActionResult Index(int groupId, int itemId);
There were few enough arguments where I ended up doing this:
public ActionResult Index(string i, int? groupId, int? itemId)
{
if (!string.IsNullOrWhitespace(i))
{
// parse i for the id
}
else if (groupId.HasValue && itemId.HasValue)
{
// use groupId and itemId for the id
}
}
It's not a perfect solution, especially if you have a lot of arguments, but it works well for me.
I have faced same issue in my application too. Without Modifiyig any Method information, I have provided [ActionName("SomeMeaningfulName")] on Action head. issue resolved
[ActionName("_EmployeeDetailsByModel")]
public PartialViewResult _EmployeeDetails(Employee model)
{
// Some Operation
return PartialView(model);
}
}
[ActionName("_EmployeeDetailsByModelWithPagination")]
public PartialViewResult _EmployeeDetails(Employee model,int Page,int PageSize)
{
// Some Operation
return PartialView(model);
}
Create the base method as virtual
public virtual ActionResult Index()
Create the overridden method as override
public override ActionResult Index()
Edit: This obviously applies only if the override method is in a derived class which appears not to have been the OP's intention.
I like this answer posted in another thread
This is mainly used if you inherit from another controller and want to override an acction from the base controller
ASP.NET MVC - Overriding an action with differing parameters
There is only one public signature allowed for each controller method. If you try to overload it, it will compile, but you're getting the run-time error you've experienced.
If you're not willing to use different verbs (like the [HttpGet] and [HttpPost] attributes) to differentiate overloaded methods (which will work), or change the routing, then what remains is that you can either provide another method with a different name, or you can dispatch inside of the existing method. Here's how I did it:
I once came into a situation where I had to maintain backwards compatibility. The original method expected two parameters, but the new one had only one. Overloading the way I expected did not work because MVC didn't find the entry point any more.
To solve that, I did the following:
Changed the 2 overloaded action methods from public to private
Created one new public method which contained "just" 2 string parameters. That one acted as a dispatcher, i.e.:
public ActionResult DoSomething(string param1, string param2)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(param2))
{
return DoSomething(ProductName: param1);
}
else
{
int oldId = int.Parse(param1);
return DoSomething(OldParam: param1, OldId: oldId);
}
}
private ActionResult DoSomething(string OldParam, int OldId)
{
// some code here
return Json(result);
}
private ActionResult DoSomething(string ProductName)
{
// some code here
return Json(result);
}
Of course, this is a hack and should be refactored later. But for the time being, it worked for me.
You can also create a dispatcher like:
public ActionResult DoSomething(string action, string param1, string param2)
{
switch (action)
{
case "update":
return UpdateAction(param1, param2);
case "remove":
return DeleteAction(param1);
}
}
You can see, that UpdateAction needs 2 parameters, while DeleteAction just needs one.
Sorry for the delay. I was with the same problem and I found a link with good answers, could that will help new guys
All credits for BinaryIntellect web site and the authors
Basically, there are four situations: using differents verbs, using routing, overload marking with [NoAction] attribute and change the action attribute name with [ActionName]
So, depends that's your requiriments and your situation.
Howsoever, follow the link:
Link:
http://www.binaryintellect.net/articles/8f9d9a8f-7abf-4df6-be8a-9895882ab562.aspx
This answer for those who struggling with the same issue. You can
implement your own custom filter based on
ActionMethodSelectorAttribute. Here I found the best solution
for solving your question. Works fine on .net 5 project.
If you try to implement the same logic as was in web api controllers then use Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.WebApiCompatShim. This nuget package provides compatibility in ASP.NET Core MVC with ASP.NET Web API 2 to simplify migration of existing Web API implementations. Please check this answer but consider that
starting with ASP.NET Core 3.0, the Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.WebApiCompatShim package is no longer available.
If this is an attempt to use one GET action for several views that POST to several actions with different models, then try add a GET action for each POST action that redirects to the first GET to prevent 404 on refresh.
Long shot but common scenario.