ASP.NET MVC has URL mapping to add custom routes so any URL can be processed by a controller.
For example,
[codesyntax lang=”csharp”]
routes.MapRoute(
"routename",
"products/{id}/{name}/", // URL
new { controller = "MyController", action = "MyAction"}
);
[/codesyntax]
Here URL can be any URL with any dynamic parameters.
Redirect URL to existing file
If we need to redirect an URL “some_folder/{filename}” to a file in another folder “another_folder/{filename}”, we can do it using standard method MapPageRoute in the Global.asax file:
routes.MapPageRoute(“routename”, “some_folder/filename.jpg”, “~/another_folder/new_filename.jpg”);
But what if we need to do it for every file in the folder ?
For example, we need every file “some_folder/*.jpg” to be redirected to files in another folder “another_folder/*.jpg”.
It will be great to define a route with a dynamic filename:
[codesyntax lang=”csharp”]
routes.MapPageRoute(
"routename",
"some_folder/{filename}.jpg",
"~/another_folder/{filename}.jpg"
);
[/codesyntax]
But it doesn’t work.
We can solve this problem using a controller action that will return file contents.
First, we add the route:
[codesyntax lang=”csharp”]
routes.MapRoute(
"routename",
"some_folder/{filename}.jpg",
new { controller = "Home", action = "RedirectImageFile"}
);
[/codesyntax]
And add the following code to the action method in HomeController:
[codesyntax lang=”csharp”]
public class HomeController : Controller
{
public ActionResult RedirectImageFile(string filename)
{
string url = Url.Content("~/another_folder/"+filename+".jpg");
return base.File(url, "image/jpeg");
//return base.File(url, "application/octet-stream");
}
}
[/codesyntax]
Now every time we access files “some_folder/prod1.jpg” or “some_folder/prod456.jpg” or any other file in that folder it will return the contents of files in another folder.
Mohanjerry1 says:
very helpful! Thanks.
Hassan Selim says:
I have a problem, when I do this I get a “resource cannot be found” error, because for some reason URLs ending with a file extension don’t pass through the Routing system at all, instead it looks for the file and fails to find it and so it shows that error.
I’m sure I’m missing a small thing but I can’t find it.
Note: I’m using ASP.NET MVC 3
Edit: I fixed it, apparently the {filename} route needs to be the first route otherwise it wont work even though no other route matches, I can’t understand why this is happening.
Anonymous says:
The more generic route should come the last.
What routes do you have? It should be a conflict with other routes.
for example, you might have this route:
routes.MapRoute(
“Catch All”,
“{*path}”,
new { controller = “Error”, action = “NotFound” }
);
Another reason could be that your IIS doesn’t process files of specific type.
But you said that it works when you place the route first, so it is not IIS.
Hassan Selim says:
The only other route I have is the one in the default MVC app, the “{controller}/{action}/{id}” one.
and there is an area route for SecurityGuard which I got from nuget.
Raghuvirsinh says:
hi max ..
i have a problem get dynamic url in routing into physical parameter not change ..
Raghuvirsinh says:
void Application_AcquireRequestState(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Session != null && System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Session[“Test1”] != null)
{
string V = System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Session[“Test1”].ToString();
RouteTable.Routes.MapPageRoute(“”, “WebForm001”, V);
}
}
System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Session[“Test1”].ToString(); not change