Changing base view type on MVC4

Question

I've read a post about changing base view type on MVC from the link below:

http://haacked.com/archive/2011/02/21/changing-base-type-of-a-razor-view.aspx

I followed the instructions but my page still inherits from System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage. I can't reach any property defined in my custom view base and I get an error on runtime. When I use @inherits keyword, it fixes.

Web.config

<pages pageBaseType="[MyNamespace].WebViewPageBase">   <namespaces>     <add namespace="System.Web.Helpers" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Ajax" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Optimization" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Routing" />     <add namespace="System.Web.WebPages" />   </namespaces> </pages> 

WebViewPageBase

public class WebViewPageBase : WebViewPage {     public SomeType MyProperty { get; set; }      public override void InitHelpers()     {         base.InitHelpers();         MyProperty = { foo };     }      public override void Execute()     {      } }   public class WebViewPageBase<T> : WebViewPage<T> {     public SomeType MyProperty { get; set; }      public override void InitHelpers()     {         base.InitHelpers();         MyProperty = { foo };     }      public override void Execute()     {      } } 

Partial View

@model TopMenuModel  <div class="topMenu"> @MyProperty </div> 

But in the post I've read there is no instruction about @inherits keyword. Is there any thing that I miss or any way to make this work without @inherits keyword in all pages?

SOLVED:

web.config file in root directory is not the right one. I changed base type in the web.config file under View directory and it fixed.

Answer 1

Why did you show two versions of WebViewPageBase: generic and non-generic?

You only need the generic version:

public class MyWebView<T> : WebViewPage<T> {     public SomeType MyProperty { get; set; }      public override void InitHelpers()     {         base.InitHelpers();         MyProperty = new SomeType();     }      public override void Execute()     {     } } 

and then:

<pages pageBaseType="MvcApplication1.WebViews.MyWebView">   <namespaces>     <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Ajax" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Routing" />   </namespaces> </pages> 

Now inside your views you will be able to use the property:

@model TopMenuModel  <div class="topMenu">     @MyProperty </div> 

---

UPDATE:

Step by step setup:

1. Create a new ASP.NET MVC 3 application using the Internet Template

2. Add a custom base view:

   namespace MvcApplication1 {     public class MyWebView<T> : WebViewPage<T>     {         public string MyProperty { get; set; }          public override void InitHelpers()         {             base.InitHelpers();             MyProperty = "Hello World";         }          public override void Execute()         {         }     } } 

3. Set the pageBaseType attribute in ~/Views/web.config (not to be confused with ~/web.config):

   <pages pageBaseType="MvcApplication1.MyWebView">   <namespaces>     <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Ajax" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" />     <add namespace="System.Web.Routing" />   </namespaces> </pages> 

4. Inside ~/Views/Home/Index.cshtml use the property:

   <div>     @MyProperty </div> 

5. Hit Ctrl+F5 to run the application and if everything goes well you will be greeted with a Hello World.