Get the parent controller name from partialview action - asp.net-mvc

Question

I have a partialview called search. I want to put this partial view in many view.
The target is to take the search string input from the search controller and send it to the parent controller where the search view is used.
In this way I want to make the search partial view generic so that I can re-use it.
SearchController:
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Index(string searchString)
{
var controller = RouteData.Values.First().Value.ToString(); // this gives me "Search", which i dont want.
//here i want to take the parent controller name and redirect to that controller
return RedirectToAction("action", "controller", new { searchString = searchString });
}
can anyone help me to find the parent controller name ??

Answer 1

Instead of having a SearchController, you can make a base class for your controllers and write code that will be shared between them. It makes sense if your feature is needed in multiple controllers.
Let's say your have a base class for your controllers :
public class BaseController : Controller
{
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Search(string searchString)
{
// ... some process
return RedirectToAction("SomeAction", new { searchString = searchString });
}
public virtual ActionResult SomeAction(string searchString)
{
// ... some other process
}
}
Then your specific controller :
public class MyController : BaseController
{
public override ActionResult SomeAction(string searchString)
{
// ... again some process
}
// .. some other actions
}
Your partialview "Search" will target current controller instead of "SearchController" (by not specifying controller name in your view), so your RedirectToAction will also redirect to an action of that controller, without having to get his name (that's why there's no controller name in the code snipper above).
Instead of having a virtual method, you can also pass a string variable as the action name, if you need to name it differently according to current controller (it can become another parameter, along the searchString parameter) :
public class BaseController : Controller
{
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Search(string searchString, string targetAction)
{
// ... some process
return RedirectToAction(targetAction, new { searchString = searchString });
}
}
If you don't want to go with a base class, you can always get current controller name in your view, before triggering your search feature :
#HttpContext.Current.Request.RequestContext.RouteData.Values["controller"].ToString()
In your controller, it becomes :
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Search(string searchString, string controllerName)
{
// ... some process
return RedirectToAction("action", controllerName, new { searchString = searchString });
}
But going for a base class is a good way to make this kind of feature generic and reusable.