How to use private action method in .net mvc?

Question

How can i use private action method in controller? when i used private method it is not accessible. it throws error as "resource not found".

private ActionResult Index()
                {
                    return View();
                }

Answer 1

You can use a private/protected ActionResult to share logic between public actions.

private ActionResult SharedActionLogic( int foo ){
    return new EmptyResult();
}

public ActionResult PublicAction1(){
    return SharedActionLogic( 1 );
}

public ActionResult PublicAction2(){
    return SharedActionLogic( 2 );
}

But only public action methods will ever be invoked by the framework (see source below). This is by design.

From the internal class ActionMethodSelector in System.Web.Mvc:

private void PopulateLookupTables()
{
    // find potential matches from public, instance methods
    MethodInfo[] allMethods = ControllerType.GetMethods(BindingFlags.InvokeMethod | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public);

    // refine further if needed
    MethodInfo[] actionMethods = Array.FindAll(allMethods, IsValidActionMethod);

    // remainder of method omitted
}

It is common to have non-public code in a controller, and automatically routing all methods would violate expected behavior and increase attack footprint.