Asp.Net MVC: How do I get virtual url for the current controller/view?

Question

Is it possible to get the route/virtual url associated with a controller action or on a view? I saw that Preview 4 added LinkBuilder.BuildUrlFromExpression helper, but it's not very useful if you want to use it on the master, since the controller type can be different. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Tarzan · Answer 1 · 2011-01-25T15:29:52.647

23

I always try to implement the simplest solution that meets the project requirements. As Enstein said, "Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler." Try this.

<%: Request.Path %>

edited Jan 25 '11 at 15:29

answered Jan 25 '11 at 04:44

Tarzan

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score 19 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 31 '12 at 09:48

19

This worked for me:

<%= this.Url.RouteUrl(this.ViewContext.RouteData.Values) %>

It returns the current Url as such; /Home/About

Maybe there is a simpler way to return the actual route string?

edited Aug 31 '12 at 09:48

Snake Eyes

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answered Mar 28 '09 at 01:41

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 12 '09 at 19:51

You can get that data from ViewContext.RouteData. Below are some examples for how to access (and use) that information:

/// These are added to my viewmasterpage, viewpage, and viewusercontrol base classes:

public bool IsController(string controller)
{
    if (ViewContext.RouteData.Values["controller"] != null)
    {
        return ViewContext.RouteData.Values["controller"].ToString().Equals(controller, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
    }
    return false;
}
public bool IsAction(string action)
{
    if (ViewContext.RouteData.Values["action"] != null)
    {
        return ViewContext.RouteData.Values["action"].ToString().Equals(action, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
    }
    return false;
}
public bool IsAction(string action, string controller)
{
    return IsController(controller) && IsAction(action);
}

/// Some extension methods that I added to the UrlHelper class.

public static class UrlHelperExtensions
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Determines if the current view equals the specified action
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="TController">The type of the controller.</typeparam>
    /// <param name="helper">Url Helper</param>
    /// <param name="action">The action to check.</param>
    /// <returns>
    ///     <c>true</c> if the specified action is the current view; otherwise, <c>false</c>.
    /// </returns>
    public static bool IsAction<TController>(this UrlHelper helper, LambdaExpression action) where TController : Controller
    {
        MethodCallExpression call = action.Body as MethodCallExpression;
        if (call == null)
        {
            throw new ArgumentException("Expression must be a method call", "action");
        }

        return (call.Method.Name.Equals(helper.ViewContext.ViewName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) &&
                typeof(TController) == helper.ViewContext.Controller.GetType());
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Determines if the current view equals the specified action
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="helper">Url Helper</param>
    /// <param name="actionName">Name of the action.</param>
    /// <returns>
    ///     <c>true</c> if the specified action is the current view; otherwise, <c>false</c>.
    /// </returns>
    public static bool IsAction(this UrlHelper helper, string actionName)
    {
        if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(actionName))
        {
            throw new ArgumentException("Please specify the name of the action", "actionName");
        }
        string controllerName = helper.ViewContext.RouteData.GetRequiredString("controller");
        return IsAction(helper, actionName, controllerName);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Determines if the current view equals the specified action
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="helper">Url Helper</param>
    /// <param name="actionName">Name of the action.</param>
    /// <param name="controllerName">Name of the controller.</param>
    /// <returns>
    ///     <c>true</c> if the specified action is the current view; otherwise, <c>false</c>.
    /// </returns>
    public static bool IsAction(this UrlHelper helper, string actionName, string controllerName)
    {
        if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(actionName))
        {
            throw new ArgumentException("Please specify the name of the action", "actionName");
        }
        if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(controllerName))
        {
            throw new ArgumentException("Please specify the name of the controller", "controllerName");
        }

        if (!controllerName.EndsWith("Controller", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
        {
            controllerName = controllerName + "Controller";
        }

        bool isOnView = helper.ViewContext.ViewName.SafeEquals(actionName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
        return isOnView && helper.ViewContext.Controller.GetType().Name.Equals(controllerName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Determines if the current request is on the specified controller
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="helper">The helper.</param>
    /// <param name="controllerName">Name of the controller.</param>
    /// <returns>
    ///     <c>true</c> if the current view is on the specified controller; otherwise, <c>false</c>.
    /// </returns>
    public static bool IsController(this UrlHelper helper, string controllerName)
    {
        if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(controllerName))
        {
            throw new ArgumentException("Please specify the name of the controller", "controllerName");
        }

        if (!controllerName.EndsWith("Controller", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
        {
            controllerName = controllerName + "Controller";
        }

        return helper.ViewContext.Controller.GetType().Name.Equals(controllerName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Determines if the current request is on the specified controller
    /// </summary>
    /// <typeparam name="TController">The type of the controller.</typeparam>
    /// <param name="helper">The helper.</param>
    /// <returns>
    ///     <c>true</c> if the current view is on the specified controller; otherwise, <c>false</c>.
    /// </returns>
    public static bool IsController<TController>(this UrlHelper helper) where TController : Controller
    {
        return (typeof(TController) == helper.ViewContext.Controller.GetType());
    }
}

@Mrunal This question is not about sharing data between controllers, but is rather about how to view the routes assicoated with a controller. I know it's possible with ASP.NET MVC 5 (now ASP.NET Core), but I don't know the syntax offhand. — qJake, Jul 06 '16 at 15:45
@qJake: thanks. Actually I started a project with ASP.Net Core using MVC 5. In that, I tried using HttpContext.Current.Session but I cannot access the same in my utilities classes where I would like to set-get the variables. Because I guess, once I get that I can pass data between the controllers through session. — Mrunal, Jul 07 '16 at 05:25

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 30 '08 at 14:13

3

You can use <%= Url.Action(action, controller, values) %> to build the URL from within the master page.

Are you doing this to maybe highlight a tab for the current page or something?

If so you can use ViewContext from the view and get the values you need.

answered Sep 30 '08 at 14:13

Ben Scheirman

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 28 '09 at 22:21

1

I wrote a helper class that allows me to access the route parameters. With this helper, you can get the controller, action, and all parameters passed to the action.

answered Feb 28 '09 at 22:21

Jim Geurts

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Asp.Net MVC: How do I get virtual url for the current controller/view?

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