ASP.NET MVC Route with dash - asp.net-mvc

Question

I've got ASP.NET MVC routing question.
I prepared following routing table to map such url
mywebsite/mycontroller/myaction/14-longandprettyseoname
to parameters:
14 => id (integer)
longandprettyseoname -> seo_name (string)
routes.MapRoute(
"myname",
"mycontroller/myaction/{id}-{seo_name}",
new { controller = "mycontroller", action = "myaction", id = 0, seo_name = (string)null });
routes.MapRoute(
"Default",
"{controller}/{action}/{id}",
new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = "" });
It works for URL above but it has problems for following type of urls
mywebsite/mycontroller/myaction/14-long-and-pretty-seo-name
Is that possible to make it working?
EDIT:
"mycontroller/myaction/{seo_name}-{id}"
seems to be working

Answer 1

The most obvious way to do this is to use constraints.
Since that your id is an integer, you can add a constraint which will look for an integer value:
new { id = #"\d+" }
and here is the whole route:
routes.MapRoute("myname","mycontroller/myaction/{id}-{seo_name}",
new { controller = "mycontroller", action = "myaction" },
new { id = #"\d+"});

Answer 2

My solution is define route as:
routes.MapRoute("myname","mycontroller/myaction/{id}",
new { controller = "mycontroller", action = "myaction"});
and parse id and seoname manualy using Regex in HTTP handler:
var routeData = RouteTable.Routes.GetRouteData(new HttpContextWrapper(context));
var match = System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Match((string)routeData.Values["id"], #"^(?<id>\d+)-(?<seoname>[\S\s]*)$");
if (!match.Success)
{
context.Response.StatusCode = 400;
context.Response.StatusDescription = "Bad Request";
return;
}
int id = Int32.Parse(match.Groups["id"].Value);
string seoname = match.Groups["seoname"].Value;

Answer 3

I don't think the route will be distinguishable as it will not be able to figure which "-" to split at to specify the {id} and the {seo-name}.
How about using underscores for your SEO name? Or you could just use the SEO name as the actual {id}. If the SEO name is something that is going to be unique, this is a very viable option you can use as a pseudo primary key to that entry in your db (assuming it's pulling something from a DB)
Also, utilize Phil Haack's route debugger to see what works and doesn't work.

Answer 4

Define a specific route such as:
routes.MapRoute(
"TandC", // Route controllerName
"CommonPath/{controller}/Terms-and-Conditions", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Home", action = "Terms_and_Conditions" } // Parameter defaults
);
But this route has to be registered BEFORE your default route.

Answer 5

What you could do is create a custom controller factory. That way you can have custom code to decide which controller needs to be called when.
public class CustomControllerFactory : IControllerFactory
{
#region IControllerFactory Members
public IController CreateController(RequestContext requestContext, string controllerName)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(controllerName))
throw new ArgumentNullException("controllerName");
//string language = requestContext.HttpContext.Request.Headers["Accept-Language"];
//can be used to translate controller name and get correct controller even when url is in foreign language
//format controller name
controllerName = String.Format("MyNamespace.Controllers.{0}Controller",controllerName.Replace("-","_"));
IController controller = Activator.CreateInstance(Type.GetType(controllerName)) as IController;
controller.ActionInvoker = new CustomInvoker(); //only when using custominvoker for actionname rewriting
return controller;
}
public void ReleaseController(IController controller)
{
if (controller is IDisposable)
(controller as IDisposable).Dispose();
else
controller = null;
}
#endregion
}
To use this custom controllerfactory, you should add this in your global.asax
protected void Application_Start()
{
RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
ControllerBuilder.Current.SetControllerFactory(typeof(CustomControllerFactory));
}
Note that this only works for the controller, not for the actions... To hook up custom rewriting on actions before they get executed, use this code:
public class CustomInvoker : ControllerActionInvoker
{
#region IActionInvoker Members
public override bool InvokeAction(ControllerContext controllerContext, string actionName)
{
return base.InvokeAction(controllerContext, actionName.Replace("-", "_"));
}
#endregion
}
I got most of this code from this blog and adjusted it to my needs. In my case, I want dashes to separate words in my controller name but you can't create an action with a dash in the name.
Hope this helps!