Using Controller.Content Outside MVC Controller c#

Question

I'm creating a static class with static methods for helping the controllers to do their job. When build the application I get the following error:

Error 40 'System.Web.Mvc.Controller.Content(string)' is inaccessible due to its protection level"

Any idea how to solve this problem?

Notes: It's a c# mvc aplication

public static ActionResult GetAlbumJSON(AlbumVO album)
{
    return Controller.Content(
        JsonConvert.SerializeObject(new
        {
            max_car = @ABookClient.maxCharsProjecName,
            trans_img = @ABookClient.Transparent_Image,
            show_description = @ABookClient.Show_Product_Description,
            product_type = "Album",
            obj = CreateObjAlbumVO(album),
        })
    );
}

Answer 1

Content method is protected internal, so you can't use it outside of controller. Controller.Content Method. Most probably your static class violates SRP principle. Let him do his job (initializing, serializing,...) and controller - controller's job - return result to the client.

protected internal ContentResult Content(string content)

It would look smth like:

public static class MyHelper
{
    public static object GetAlbum(AlbumVO album)
    {
        return new
            {
                max_car = @ABookClient.maxCharsProjecName,
                trans_img = @ABookClient.Transparent_Image,
                show_description = @ABookClient.Show_Product_Description,
                product_type = "Album",
                obj = CreateObjAlbumVO(album),
            };
    }
}

public class AlbumController : Controller
{
    public ActionResult GetAlbums(int id)
    {
        var album = Context.GetAlbum(id);
        var convertedResult = MyHelper.GetAlbum(album);
        return Json(convertedResult);
    }
}

Also I'd advice to take a look at AutoMapper for creating client response objects

Answer 2

I think this is valid case for a view-model for a JSON result since you do want a separation between the Domain model and the data sent back to the client. Using a view model also gives you a proper place to put this mapping between the domain model and the view (the JSON) so you don't need to delegate to a helper class.

public class AlbumModel
{
    [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "max_car")]
    public int MaxChars { get; private set; }
    [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "trans_img")]
    public string TransparentImage { get; private set; }
    [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "product_type")]
    public string ProductType { get; private set; }
    [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "obj")]
    public AlbumInfo Object { get; private set; }
    [JsonProperty(PropertyName = "show_description")]
    public bool ShowProductDescription { get; private set; }

    public AlbumModel(AlbumVO album)
    {
        MaxChars = album.maxCharsProjecName;
        TransparentImage = album.Transparent_Image;
        ShowProductDescription = album.Show_Product_Description;
        ProductType = "Album";
        Object = new AlbumInfo(album);
    }
}

The AlbumInfo class provides additional mappings for your JSON result, which becomes the "obj" property sent back to the client.

public class AlbumInfo
{
    // ... define properties here
    public AlbumInfo(AlbumVO album)
    {
        // ... map properties here
    }
}

And your controller becomes nice and clean:

public class AlbumController : Conrtoller
{
    public ActionResult GetAlbums(int id)
    {
        var album = Context.GetAlbum(id);
        var model = new AlbumModel(album);
        return Json(model);
    }
}