asp.net mvc3 - Controller method returns View(viewName, string) but weirdness ensues

Question

has anyone seen this issue? I'm an ASP.NET MVC newbie. I have an ASP.NET MVC 3 site that uses .aspx and .ascx views. Throughout the site, I use return View() or return View(viewName) in my controller methods, which directs to the appropriate aspx/ascx view. However, in my stock AccountController (modified to use DotNetOpenAuth), I take the same approach, but the MVC framework doesn't seek out aspx or ascx views. Instead, it's searching the path for .cshtml or .vbhtml views (Razor engine I'm assuming). Why woulnd't it just seek out aspx and ascx views like the rest of my site? Controller method follows:

public ActionResult Authenticate()
{
    var response = openid.GetResponse();
    var statusMessage = "";
    if (response == null)
    {
        Identifier id;
        //make sure your users openid_identifier is valid.
        if (Identifier.TryParse(Request.Form["openid_identifier"], out id))
        {
            try
            {
                //request openid_identifier
                return openid.CreateRequest(Request.Form["openid_identifier"])
                   .RedirectingResponse.AsActionResult();
            }
            catch (ProtocolException ex)
            {
                statusMessage = ex.Message;
                return View("LogOn", statusMessage);
            }
        }
        else
        {
            statusMessage = "Invalid identifier";
            return View("LogOn", statusMessage);
        }
    }
    else
    {
        //check the response status
        switch (response.Status)
        {
            //success status
            case AuthenticationStatus.Authenticated:
                Session["FriendlyIdentifier"] = response.FriendlyIdentifierForDisplay;
                FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie(response.ClaimedIdentifier, false);

                //TODO: response.ClaimedIdentifier, to login or create new account 

                return RedirectToAction("Index", "Home");

            case AuthenticationStatus.Canceled:
                statusMessage = "Canceled at provider";
                return View("LogOn", statusMessage);

            case AuthenticationStatus.Failed:
                statusMessage = response.Exception.Message;
                return View("LogOn", statusMessage);
        }
    }
    return View("LogOn");
}

Error detail follows:

The view 'LogOn' or its master was not found or no view engine supports the searched locations. The following locations were searched: ~/Views/Account/Canceled at provider.master ~/Views/Shared/Canceled at provider.master ~/Views/Account/LogOn.cshtml ~/Views/Account/LogOn.vbhtml ~/Views/Shared/LogOn.cshtml ~/Views/Shared/LogOn.vbhtml ~/Views/Account/Canceled at provider.cshtml ~/Views/Account/Canceled at provider.vbhtml ~/Views/Shared/Canceled at provider.cshtml ~/Views/Shared/Canceled at provider.vbhtml

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 'LogOn' or its master was not found or no view engine supports the searched locations. The following locations were searched: ~/Views/Account/Canceled at provider.master ~/Views/Shared/Canceled at provider.master ~/Views/Account/LogOn.cshtml ~/Views/Account/LogOn.vbhtml ~/Views/Shared/LogOn.cshtml ~/Views/Shared/LogOn.vbhtml ~/Views/Account/Canceled at provider.cshtml ~/Views/Account/Canceled at provider.vbhtml ~/Views/Shared/Canceled at provider.cshtml ~/Views/Shared/Canceled at provider.vbhtml

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 'LogOn' or its master was not found or no view engine supports the searched locations. The following locations were searched: ~/Views/Account/Canceled at provider.master ~/Views/Shared/Canceled at provider.master ~/Views/Account/LogOn.cshtml ~/Views/Account/LogOn.vbhtml ~/Views/Shared/LogOn.cshtml ~/Views/Shared/LogOn.vbhtml ~/Views/Account/Canceled at provider.cshtml ~/Views/Account/Canceled at provider.vbhtml ~/Views/Shared/Canceled at provider.cshtml ~/Views/Shared/Canceled at provider.vbhtml]
System.Web.Mvc.ViewResult.FindView(ControllerContext context) +315050
System.Web.Mvc.ViewResultBase.ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context) +129
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResult(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +13
System.Web.Mvc.<>c_DisplayClass1c.b_19() +23 System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilter(IResultFilter filter, ResultExecutingContext preContext, Func1 continuation) +260 System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass1e.<InvokeActionResultWithFilters>b__1b() +19 System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList1 filters, ActionResult actionResult) +177
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeAction(ControllerContext controllerContext, String actionName) +343 System.Web.Mvc.Controller.ExecuteCore() +116 System.Web.Mvc.ControllerBase.Execute(RequestContext requestContext) +97
System.Web.Mvc.ControllerBase.System.Web.Mvc.IController.Execute(RequestContext requestContext) +10
System.Web.Mvc.<>c_DisplayClassb.b_5() +37 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c_DisplayClass1.b_0() +21 System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c_DisplayClass81.<BeginSynchronous>b__7(IAsyncResult _) +12 System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult1.End() +62 System.Web.Mvc.<>c_DisplayClasse.b_d() +50 System.Web.Mvc.SecurityUtil.b_0(Action f) +7
System.Web.Mvc.SecurityUtil.ProcessInApplicationTrust(Action action) +22
System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +60
System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result) +9
System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +8841105 System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +184

Thanks Shan

Answer 1

The key is in the first line of your exception:

The view 'LogOn' or its master was not found or no view engine supports 
the searched locations. The following locations were searched: 
~/Views/Account/Canceled at provider.master 

If you pass two strings to View(), the first one is the view name and the second one is the name of the master view or template to use. If you want to pass statusMessage as the model for your view you can cast it to object which will force calling the overridden View() method where you pass a model:

return View("LogOn", (object)statusMessage);

You are apparently getting the "Cancelled at provider" message and passing that as the master page name to use. If the "Logon.aspx" view used a master page and you had a master page "Canceled at provider.master" in your Shared view folder for instance, this would load the "LogOn.aspx" view and force it to use the "Canceled at provider.master" master page even if it was setup to use a different master page by default:

string statusMessage = "Canceled at provider";
return View("LogOn", statusMessage);