C# – ASP.NET MVC 4 + Ninject MVC 3 = No parameterless constructor defined for this object

asp.net-mvcasp.net-mvc-4cninjectvisual studio 2012

UPDATE – Please look at my answer for a link and explanation of the solution to this problem

Before we start, I know this is a very common question and I've been using Ninject for many moons without issues, but now it's come up and I can't figure out a fix. Also, no, none of the results on Google and SO so far have helped me.

So, consider the following bit of code running on a very, very, very simple prototype ASP.NET MVC 4 project from Visual Studio 2012 on Windows Server 2008 R2:

public class DefaultController : Controller {
    private IGroupPrincipalRepository GroupPrincipalRepository { get; set; }

    [Inject]
    public DefaultController(
        IGroupPrincipalRepository groupPrincipalRepository) {
        this.GroupPrincipalRepository = groupPrincipalRepository;
    }
}

And here's the NinjectWebCommon.cs RegisterServices method:

kernel.Bind(typeof(IGroupPrincipalRepository)).ToConstructor(
    c =>
        new GroupPrincipalRepository(new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain, "?", "?", "?", "?"))).InSingletonScope();

Now, this is how my other projects that use Ninject (but are ASP.NET MVC 3 on .NET 4) work and as far as I know this is what's needed to make everything work. So, why am I suddenly getting No parameterless constructor defined for this object. exceptions?

UPDATE

Here's the full NinjectWebCommon.cs file:

[assembly: WebActivator.PreApplicationStartMethod(typeof(App_Start.NinjectWebCommon), "Start")]
[assembly: WebActivator.ApplicationShutdownMethodAttribute(typeof(App_Start.NinjectWebCommon), "Stop")]

namespace App_Start {
    using System;
    using System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement;
    using System.Repositories.ActiveDirectory;
    using System.Web;
    using Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure.DynamicModuleHelper;
    using Ninject;
    using Ninject.Web.Common;

    public static class NinjectWebCommon {
        private static readonly Bootstrapper bootstrapper = new Bootstrapper();

        public static void Start() {
            DynamicModuleUtility.RegisterModule(typeof(OnePerRequestHttpModule));
            DynamicModuleUtility.RegisterModule(typeof(NinjectHttpModule));
            bootstrapper.Initialize(CreateKernel);
        }

        public static void Stop() {
            bootstrapper.ShutDown();
        }

        private static IKernel CreateKernel() {
            var kernel = new StandardKernel();
            kernel.Bind<Func<IKernel>>().ToMethod(ctx => () => new Bootstrapper().Kernel);
            kernel.Bind<IHttpModule>().To<HttpApplicationInitializationHttpModule>();

            RegisterServices(kernel);
            return kernel;
        }

        private static void RegisterServices(
            IKernel kernel) {
            kernel.Bind(typeof(IGroupPrincipalRepository)).ToConstructor(
                c =>
                    new GroupPrincipalRepository(new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain, "", "", "", ""))).InSingletonScope();
        }
    }
}

UPDATE – Please look at my answer for a link and explanation of the solution to this problem

Best Answer

I know this is an old question but there don't seem to be any real answers and I've worked around the problem so here is my solution:

Create a custom controller factory:

public class NinjectControllerFactory : DefaultControllerFactory
{
    private IKernel ninjectKernel;
    public NinjectControllerFactory(IKernel kernel)
    {
        ninjectKernel = kernel;
    }
    protected override IController GetControllerInstance(RequestContext requestContext, Type controllerType)
    {
        return (controllerType == null) ? null : (IController) ninjectKernel.Get(controllerType);
    }
}

Then, if you are using NinjectHttpApplication, add the following line to OnApplicationStarted:

ControllerBuilder.Current.SetControllerFactory(new NinjectControllerFactory(Kernel));

If you aren't using NinjectHttpApplication, then add that line somewhere after you have created your kernel and pass it a reference to your freshly created kernel.

That's it.

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