MVC Routes within WebAPI controller

Question

Quick question regarding routes within MVC and WebAPI. I have added a route to route config.cs:

        routes.MapRoute(
            name: "ConfirmEmail",
            url: "ConfirmEmail/{userid}",
            defaults: new { controller = "Email", action = "ConfirmEmail" }
        );

This is registered in the global.asax as per normal:

RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);

I am trying to generate a URL for use within an email which is sent as part of a function call within a WebAPI controller function. I am using the UrlHelper.Link function to attempt to generate a URL, however I receive an error saying the route cannot be found by name:

var url = Url.Link("ConfirmEmail", new { userid = "someUserId" });

Now I was under the impression route dictionaries were shared in both MVC and WebAPI controller contexts however I cannot see the MVC routes within the route dictionary of the incoming Web API call (on the Request object) however the WebAPI routes I have defined are there.

Am I missing something?

Answer 1

Here is a much more cleaner way to generate links to MVC routes from WebApi. I use this method in a custom base api controller.

protected string MvcRoute(string routeName, object routeValues = null)
{
    return new System.Web.Mvc.UrlHelper(System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Request.RequestContext)
       .RouteUrl(routeName, routeValues, System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Request.Url.Scheme);

}

Answer 2

Using Richards hint of where to find the routes, I have put together the following function:

    // Map an MVC route within ApiController
    private static string _MvcRouteURL(string routeName, object routeValues)
    {
        string mvcRouteUrl = "";

        // Create an HttpContextBase for the current context, used within the routing context
        HttpContextBase httpContext = new System.Web.HttpContextWrapper(HttpContext.Current);

        // Get the route data for the current request
        RouteData routeData = HttpContext.Current.Request.RequestContext.RouteData;

        // Create a new RequestContext object using the route data and context created above
        var reqContext = new System.Web.Routing.RequestContext(httpContext, routeData);

        // Create an Mvc UrlHelper using the new request context and the routes within the routing table
        var helper = new System.Web.Mvc.UrlHelper(reqContext, System.Web.Routing.RouteTable.Routes);

        // Can now use the helper to generate Url for the named route!
        mvcRouteUrl = helper.Action(routeName, null, routeValues, HttpContext.Current.Request.Url.Scheme);

        return mvcRouteUrl;
    }

It's a bit raw but did the job for me, just thought I'd put this here in case anyone else had the same problem!