.net core replacement for MvcCodeRouting. Namespace based routing

Question

We have ASP.NET MVC 5 project, that we have plans to migrate to ASP.NET Core 3. Currently I gather dependency list and their equivalent replacements on the new new platform.

We are using MvcCodeRouting package to separate different workflows between different C# namespaces as was described in https://maxtoroq.github.io/2013/02/aspnet-mvc-workflow-per-controller.html.

Now with new platform in place, we need something similar. As last resort we could just specify all our namespaces in routing table, but I'd rather not to do so. Any suggestions on how accomplish similar behavior?

EDIT: I think with example it would be more understandable what I'm trying to accomplish.

We have following structure of controllers:

- Namespace1
-- Workflow1Controller.Index/Edit/Action
-- Workflow2Controller.Index/Edit/Action
-- Workflow3Controller.Index/Edit/Action
- Namespace2
-- Workflow4Controller.Index/Edit/Action

Workflow1Controller code:

namespace RootProjectNamespace.Controllers.Namespace1
{
    class Workflow1Controller : Controller
    {
         public ActionResult Index() {}
         // and so on
    }
}

Appropriate Views are placed in similar manner.

And using MvcCodeRouting we able to create Action urls by following:

Url.Action("Namespace1.Workflow1Controller", "Index") // Creates -> ~/Namespace1/Workflow1Controller/Index
Url.Action("Namespace2.Workflow4Controller", "Action") // Creates -> ~/Namespace2/Workflow4Controller/Index

Is there possibility to achieve similar in .net core without explicit hardcoding routes in route table?

Answer 1

As an start point for your solution, you can create a custom IApplicationModelConvention and change the routing to use namespace in the routing.

There's an example in docs showing how you can do this. To learn more you can take a look at this great docs article: Work with the application model in ASP.NET Core.

To do so, first create the following NamespaceRoutingConvention class:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ApplicationModels;
using System.Linq;

public class NamespaceRoutingConvention : IApplicationModelConvention
{
    public void Apply(ApplicationModel application)
    {
        foreach (var controller in application.Controllers)
        {
            var hasAttributeRouteModels = controller.Selectors
                .Any(selector => selector.AttributeRouteModel != null);

            if (!hasAttributeRouteModels)
            {
                controller.Selectors[0].AttributeRouteModel = new AttributeRouteModel()
                {
                    Template = controller.ControllerType.Namespace.Replace('.', '/') 
                        + "/[controller]/[action]/{id?}"
                };
            }
        }
    }
}

Then in startup, register the convention like this:

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    services.AddMvc(options => {
        options.Conventions.Add(new NamespaceRoutingConvention());
    });
}

Then you can browse:

http://localhost:xxxxx/SampleProject/Controllers/Home/Index