Is there something special about a MVC controller called properties?

Question

After trying to work this out for ages, thinking about routing conflict and more - I started a separate project from the start.

It looks like an MVC controller called "properties" always returns a 403.14 forbidden message when you try to access the root site (http://site/properties) - however, other pages work (http://site/properties/index).

It works fine as a controller in an area, but, I just can't create it in the main site.

I was wondering if anyone knows why and what the best way round this is?

Answer 1

In addtion to DavidG's answer.

When you publish the project the compiled build does not have a Properties folder. To solve the issue while developing locally you can set RouteExistingFiles to true so ASP.NET routing handles all requests.

public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
{
       routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");
       routes.RouteExistingFiles = true;

       routes.MapRoute(
           name: "Default",
           url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
           defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
       );
}

Answer 2

The issue is that your project already contains a folder called Properties which is mainly used for the AssemblyInfo.cs file but has other stuff in there too. The engine used to resolve what files to send to the client prioritises files and folders over routing. so the URL http://site/properties is trying to server content from there, which is ultimately blocked anyway.