MVC: No parameterless constructor defined for this object

Question

I have the following controller definition

public class FeaturedAccommodationController : Controller
{
   ...

   public FeaturedAccommodationController(IAccommodationService accommodationService)
   {
      ...
   }

   public ActionResult Index(int page = 1)
   {
      ...
   }
   ...
}

I have a link that I use to call this index action method

@Html.ActionLink("Featured Accommodations", "Index", "FeaturedAccommodation")

For some reason when I click on this link I get the following error. What is the problem here?

No parameterless constructor defined for this object.
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.MissingMethodException: No parameterless constructor defined for this object.

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:


[MissingMethodException: No parameterless constructor defined for this object.]
   System.RuntimeTypeHandle.CreateInstance(RuntimeType type, Boolean publicOnly, Boolean noCheck, Boolean& canBeCached, RuntimeMethodHandleInternal& ctor, Boolean& bNeedSecurityCheck) +0
   System.RuntimeType.CreateInstanceSlow(Boolean publicOnly, Boolean skipCheckThis, Boolean fillCache) +98
   System.RuntimeType.CreateInstanceDefaultCtor(Boolean publicOnly, Boolean skipVisibilityChecks, Boolean skipCheckThis, Boolean fillCache) +241
   System.Activator.CreateInstance(Type type, Boolean nonPublic) +69
   System.Web.Mvc.DefaultControllerActivator.Create(RequestContext requestContext, Type controllerType) +67

[InvalidOperationException: An error occurred when trying to create a controller of type 'JattCore.UI.Admin.Controllers.FeaturedAccommodationController'. Make sure that the controller has a parameterless public constructor.]
   System.Web.Mvc.DefaultControllerActivator.Create(RequestContext requestContext, Type controllerType) +182
   System.Web.Mvc.DefaultControllerFactory.GetControllerInstance(RequestContext requestContext, Type controllerType) +80
   System.Web.Mvc.DefaultControllerFactory.CreateController(RequestContext requestContext, String controllerName) +74
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.ProcessRequestInit(HttpContextBase httpContext, IController& controller, IControllerFactory& factory) +232
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass6.<BeginProcessRequest>b__2() +49
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClassb`1.<ProcessInApplicationTrust>b__a() +13
   System.Web.Mvc.SecurityUtil.<GetCallInAppTrustThunk>b__0(Action f) +7
   System.Web.Mvc.SecurityUtil.ProcessInApplicationTrust(Action action) +22
   System.Web.Mvc.SecurityUtil.ProcessInApplicationTrust(Func`1 func) +124
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.BeginProcessRequest(HttpContextBase httpContext, AsyncCallback callback, Object state) +98
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.BeginProcessRequest(HttpContext httpContext, AsyncCallback callback, Object state) +50
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.BeginProcessRequest(HttpContext context, AsyncCallback cb, Object extraData) +16
   System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +8970356
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +184

Answer 1

When you create your controller it needs in the constructor a parameter, called IAccommodationService.
If you don't, you can't create the controller.

One way to solve the problem is to use Dependency Injection (DI)/ Inversion of Control (IoC) like ninject or similar.
If you have one, then remember to register the IAccommodationService...

Answer 2

Add a constructor with no parameters to your Controller

public class FeaturedAccommodationController : Controller
{
   public FeaturedAccommodationController ()
   {
   }
   // your other parameterized constructors and action methods here
}