ASP MVC 2 Ninject - asp.net-mvc

Question

I'm trying to learn a bit about MVC and have come across a problem when using Ninject. I want to bind repositories but keep getting the 'Object reference not set to an instance of an object' error.
I have created my NinjectControllerFactory:
public class NinjectControllerFactory : DefaultControllerFactory
{
// A Ninject "kernel" is the thing that can supply object instances
private IKernel kernel = new StandardKernel(new SportsShopServices());
// ASP .NET MVC calls this to get the controller for each request
protected override IController GetControllerInstance(RequestContext context, Type controllerType)
{
if (controllerType == null)
return null;
return (IController) kernel.Get(controllerType);
}
// Configure how abstract sevice types are mapped to concrete implementations
private class SportsShopServices : NinjectModule
{
public override void Load()
{
Bind<IProductRepository>().To<SqlProductsRepository>()
.WithConstructorArgument("connectionString",
ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["AppDb"].ConnectionString);
}
}
}
and my controller :
public class ProductsController : Controller
{
private IProductRepository productsRepository;
// Constructor used with Ninject
public ProductsController(IProductRepository _productsRepository)
{
this.productsRepository = _productsRepository;
}
public ViewResult List()
{
return View(productsRepository.Products.ToList());
}
}
I have modified the Web.config file to provide the db connection string and the Global.asax file Application_Start() method to include:
ControllerBuilder.Current.SetControllerFactory(new NinjectControllerFactory());
I am working on an example from the PRO ASP .NET MVC 2 book but just can't get this work, been trying all day.

Answer 1

If you just want out-out-the-box ninject functionality, you are doing too much by creating your own controller factory.
all you need is the following in global.asax
public class MvcApplication : NinjectHttpApplication
{
protected override IKernel CreateKernel()
{
var modules = new INinjectModule[]
{
new ServiceModule()
};
return new StandardKernel(modules);
}
protected override void OnApplicationStarted()
{
AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
RegisterAllControllersIn(Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
}
public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
{
routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = "" } // Parameter defaults
);
}
internal class ServiceModule : NinjectModule
{
public override void Load()
{
// controllers
this.Bind<Controllers.AccountController>().ToSelf();
this.Bind<Controllers.HomeController>().ToSelf();
// Repository
Bind<Controllers.IFormsAuthentication>().To<Controllers.FormsAuthenticationService>();
Bind<Controllers.IMembershipService>().To<Controllers.AccountMembershipService>();
}
}
}