Question

My knowledge of MVC and Razor is quite basic so I’m hoping its something rather simple. Basically, I have my Controllers as normal but my Views folder has a nested structure. For example, instead of:

Views -> Index.cshtml

It is like

Views -> BrandName -> Index.cshtml

I created a custom helper to work around this, but I’m not sure how it would work with query string urls? As an example here is a controller:

    private DataService ds = new DataService();

    //
    // GET: /Collections/

    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return View();
    }


    //
    // GET: /Collections/Collection?id=1
    public ActionResult Collection(int id)
    {
        var collectionModel = ds.GetCollection(id);
        return View(collectionModel);
    }

But how do I get ActionResult Collection to look at:

Views -> Brand2 -> Collection.cshtml

Here is the workaround method I was using:

public static string ResolvePath(string pageName)
    {
        string path = String.Empty;
        //AppSetting Key=Brand
        string brand = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["Brand"];

        if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(brand))
            path = "~/Views/Shared/Error.cshtml"; //Key [Brand] was not specified
        else
            path = String.Format("~/Views/{0}/{1}", brand, pageName);

        return path;
    }

Answer 1

Use the following

public ActionResult Collection(int id)
{
    var collectionModel = ds.GetCollection(id);
    return View("/Brand2/Collection", collectionModel);
}

The above code will search for the following views.

~/Views/Brand2/Collection.aspx
~/Views/Brand2/Collection.ascx
~/Views/Shared/Brand2/Collection.aspx
~/Views/Shared/Brand2/Collection.ascx
~/Views/Brand2/Collection.cshtml
~/Views/Brand2/Collection.vbhtml
~/Views/Shared/Brand2/Collection.cshtml
~/Views/Shared/Brand2/Collection.vbhtml

or to be more direct

public ActionResult Collection(int id)
    {
        var collectionModel = ds.GetCollection(id);
        return View("~/Brand2/Collection.cshtml", collectionModel);
    }

Now, I want to be the first to warn you that you should never, never, never use this answer. There is a good reason for following the conventions inherent in an MVC application. Placing your files in known locations makes it easier for everyone to understand your application.