Question

Is it possible to forward to a different action (within same controller) based on a certain condition that i can check for in the controller pre dispatch event?

So for example – the action about to be run is say index

If i create an observer for the pre dispatch event, if a certain condition is true, i would like to run a different action: myAction as opposed to indexAction

Answer 1

You could do something as the following method within a pre-dispatch hook.

public function yourMethod($observer)
{
    if ($condition) {
        $request = Mage::app()->getRequest();
        $request->initForward()
            ->setControllerName('controllername')
            ->setModuleName('modulename')
            ->setActionName('actionname')
            ->setDispatched(false);

        return false;
    }
}

Though, if you are working with a custom controller why not always route it to, for example, the indexAction()? And within that method figure out where you want to _forward() to next, like Kalpesh already mentioned in his answer? Performance wise there is no difference.