ASP.NET MVC Routing question

Question

I have simple question about MVC routing. How i can construct Html.ActionLink thhat generates following link http://mysite.com/phones/samsung
Now it's generates as http://mysite.com/phones/brand?brand=samsung
Also i want to avoid mentioning action name in URL
There is my code:

Route:

routes.MapRoute(null, "Phones/{brand}", 
new { controller = "Phones", action = "Index", brand = UrlParameter.Optional });

Controller:

MySyteDBEntities ms = new MySyteDBEntities();

public ActionResult Index()
{
    ViewBag.Brand = ms.Phones.Select(x => x.Brand).Distinct();
    return View();            
}

public ActionResult Brand(string brand)
{
    ViewBag.Standard = ms.Phones.Where(x => x.Brand == brand).Select(x => x.Standard).Distinct();
        return View();
}

Index View code:

@foreach (string item in ViewBag.Brand)
{                    
    <div>@Html.ActionLink(item, "Brand", new { brand = item })</div>
}

Answer 1

In your MapRoute you have no space for an action, so asp.net will always use the default action "Index".

By default your routing would look like this:

routes.MapRoute(" Default", "{controller}"/{action}/{id}", 
    new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }

You're missing the action part.

Routevalues in you actionlink which don't match parameters in your route, will be querystring parameters. So you need to change "category" to " brand" in your route.

Try this:

routes.MapRoute(null, "Phones/{brand}", 
 new { controller = "Phones", action = "Index", brand = UrlParameter.Optional });

and

@foreach (string item in ViewBag.Brand)
{                    
 <div>@Html.ActionLink(item, "Index", "Phones", new { brand = item }, null)</div>
}

Be sure to call the controller explicit in your ActionLink, if the current view is mapped through another route, otherwise it doesn't recognize the brand parameter.

Answer 2

Try (this route should be registered before the default route, if you have one)

        routes.MapRoute(
         "Phones", // Route name
         "Phones/{[^(Index)]brand}", // URL with parameters
         new { controller = "Phones", action = "Brand", brand = "" } // Parameter defaults
     );

With this, http://mysite.com/phones/ --> should go to Index Action and http://mysite.com/phones/samsung --> should go to the Brand Action.

Answer 3

i'm found source of problem. I just need to remove last piece (brand optional parameter) in MapRoute. Hare is code:

routes.MapRoute(null, "Phones/{brand}", new { controller = "Phones", action = "Brand" });

Answer 4

routes.MapRoute(null, "Phones/{id}", 
new { controller = "Phones", action = "Index", id= UrlParameter.Optional })

public ActionResult Brand(string id)
{
    ViewBag.Standard = ms.Phones.Where(x => x.Brand == brand).Select(x => x.Standard).Distinct();
        return View();
}

By using id as the parameter name, it will prevent the routing from using the querystring key value pairs.

Your parameterless GET and View code should still work without any changes.

Answer 5

If I remember correctly, the {brand} part needs to be included as is as part of your parameters:

routes.MapRoute(null, "Phones/{brand}", 
new { controller = "Phones", action = "Index", brand = UrlParameter.Optional });

Just remember, it needs to go before any default routes.