C# – ASP.NET MVC – Views location Issue: The view ‘Index’ or its master was not found

asp.netasp.net-mvcc

I've create an asp.net MVC 2 project, it works fine!!

I've been asked to integrate the project in an existing web project in classic asp.net

(I've add the folder containing the source, and not make a new project, because they have to bee in same project)

I've configured my web.config file

<pages pageBaseType="System.Web.UI.Page" >
      <controls>
        <add tagPrefix="asp"
             namespace="System.Web.UI"
             assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" />
        <add tagPrefix="asp"
             namespace="System.Web.UI.WebControls"
             assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" />
      </controls>
      <namespaces>
        <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc" />
        <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Ajax" />
        <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" />
        <add namespace="System.Web.Routing" />
        <add namespace="System.Linq" />
        <add namespace="System.Collections.Generic" />
        <add namespace="SearchApp.Helpers.CheckBoxList"/>
        <add namespace="SearchApp.Helpers.Pager"/>
      </namespaces>
    </pages>
    <httpModules>
      <add name="ScriptModule" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" />
      <add name="UrlRoutingModule" type="System.Web.Routing.UrlRoutingModule, System.Web.Routing, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"  />
    </httpModules>
    <!--- END MVC config section-->

and my global.asax file (I'm working under IIS 5.1) :

public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
        {
            routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");           

            routes.MapRoute(
                "SearchApp", // Route name
                "SearchApp/{controller}.aspx/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
                new { controller = "Search", action = "Index", id = "" } // Parameter defaults
            );
        }

protected void Application_Start(Object sender, EventArgs e)
{
            AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();

            RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
}

The hierarchy of the project is (I can’t find how to insert Image in the post):

 +Project
 ++MVC2AppFolder
 +++Controller
 ++++SearchController.cs
 +++Views
 ++++Search
 +++++Index.aspx
 ++global.asax
 ++web.config

as you can see the global.asax is not in the MVC App folder

when I try to access the page Search/index.aspx using this url http://localhost/cstfwsrv/SearchApp/Search.aspx/Index[^] have the following error :

I

The view `Index` or its master was not found. The following locations were searched:
~/Views/Search/Index.aspx
~/Views/Search/Index.ascx
~/Views/Shared/Index.aspx
~/Views/Shared/Index.ascx
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.InvalidOperationException: The view 'Index' or its master was not found. The following locations were searched:
~/Views/Search/Index.aspx
~/Views/Search/Index.ascx
~/Views/Shared/Index.aspx
~/Views/Shared/Index.ascx

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below. 

Stack Trace:


[InvalidOperationException: The view 'Index' or its master was not found. The following locations were searched:
~/Views/Search/Index.aspx
~/Views/Search/Index.ascx
~/Views/Shared/Index.aspx
~/Views/Shared/Index.ascx]
   System.Web.Mvc.ViewResult.FindView(ControllerContext context) +253553
   System.Web.Mvc.ViewResultBase.ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context) +139
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResult(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +10
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass14.<InvokeActionResultWithFilters>b__11() +20
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilter(IResultFilter filter, ResultExecutingContext preContext, Func`1 continuation) +251
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass16.<InvokeActionResultWithFilters>b__13() +19
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList`1 filters, ActionResult actionResult) +178
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeAction(ControllerContext controllerContext, String actionName) +314
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.ExecuteCore() +105
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerBase.Execute(RequestContext requestContext) +39
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerBase.System.Web.Mvc.IController.Execute(RequestContext requestContext) +7
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass8.<BeginProcessRequest>b__4() +34
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass1.<MakeVoidDelegate>b__0() +21
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass8`1.<BeginSynchronous>b__7(IAsyncResult _) +12
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult`1.End() +59
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +44
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result) +7
   System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +8677678
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +155

As you can see he search for the Index.aspx page under ~/Views/Search/Index.aspx , wich is under ~/MVC2AppFolder/Views/Search/Index.aspx

Is there a way to set in the Route Method, or any where else, the View Path?

Thanks’ in advance

Best Answer

You can create your own ViewEngine that will look in the right place to find your view. Basically just prepend ~/MVC2AppFolder/{0} before your view path.

Since you're using MVC2, you might want to see this post by Phil Haack about MVC2 Areas: http://haacked.com/archive/2008/11/04/areas-in-aspnetmvc.aspx