RenderBody() and RenderSection() must be on every child layout?

Question

I have three simple layout,

_Layout.cshtml (this is the base layout)

@RenderSection("something", required: false)
@RenderBody()

_Main.cshtml

@{
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
}
@section something {
   Hey I'm actually on the _Main layout.
}

Index.cshtml

@{
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Main.cshtml";
}

When I try to render Index view in an action, I got this error,

The "RenderBody" method has not been called for layout page "~/Views/Shared/_Main.cshtml".

But wait, _Main.cshtml has a parent layout which already has a RenderBody(). So am I wrong, must I call RenderBody() for every child layout?

Yes, you can nest layouts. Usually you can either have different inner layout pages or conditionally display content in your view. — Raciel R., Aug 19 '13 at 21:23
Because you are using _Main.cshtml as the layout page, you'll need to add RenderBody() — Andy T, Aug 19 '13 at 21:24

score 25 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 11 '14 at 11:09

25

Yes, RenderBody should be included on every layout page, regardless the nesting.

@RenderBody works as a placeholder for the engine to know where to drop the content of the view using the layout page.

edited Apr 11 '14 at 11:09

Rudi Visser

answered Aug 19 '13 at 21:21

Raciel R.

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 23 '14 at 04:13

This code should work properly:

_Layout.cshtml

@RenderSection("something", required: false)
@RenderBody()

_Main.cshtml

@{
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";
 }
@section something {
   Hey I'm actually on the _Main layout.
}

Index.cshtml

@{
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Main.cshtml";
 }
<div id="Index Content Here">
 @RenderBody()
 </div>

<head>
Hey I'm actually on the _Main layout.   
</head>
 <div id="Index Content Here">
</div>
</div>

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 05 '16 at 15:38

1

Sections can be made optional by rendering them with required: false

@RenderSection("SectionName", required: false)

answered Apr 05 '16 at 15:38

Georg Patscheider

chromigo · Answer 4 · 2016-04-05T20:49:06.180

0

Try to include section in last view.

@{
    Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Main.cshtml";
}

@section something {
    content
}

UPDATE: Okay, I fogot to say that you need also write @RenderSection in _Main layout

@section something {
    Hey I'm actually on the _Main layout.
    @RenderSection("something", required:false)
}
enter code here

edited Apr 05 '16 at 20:49

answered Apr 05 '16 at 14:01

chromigo

4 Answers4