Is it possible to create a generic @helper method with Razor?
This is possible to achieve inside a helper file with the @functions
syntax but if you want the razor-style readability you are referring to you will also need to call a regular helper to do the HTML fit and finish.
Note that functions in a Helper file are static so you would still need to pass in the HtmlHelper instance from the page if you were intending to use its methods.
e.g. Views\MyView.cshtml:
@MyHelper.DoSomething(Html, m=>m.Property1)
@MyHelper.DoSomething(Html, m=>m.Property2)
@MyHelper.DoSomething(Html, m=>m.Property3)
App_Code\MyHelper.cshtml:
@using System.Web.Mvc;
@using System.Web.Mvc.Html;
@using System.Linq.Expressions;
@functions
{
public static HelperResult DoSomething<TModel, TItem>(HtmlHelper<TModel> html, Expression<Func<TModel, TItem>> expr)
{
return TheThingToDo(html.LabelFor(expr), html.EditorFor(expr), html.ValidationMessageFor(expr));
}
}
@helper TheThingToDo(MvcHtmlString label, MvcHtmlString textbox, MvcHtmlString validationMessage)
{
<p>
@label
<br />
@textbox
@validationMessage
</p>
}
...
No, this is not currently possible. You could write a normal HTML helper instead.
public static MvcHtmlString DoSomething<T, U>(
this HtmlHelper htmlHelper,
Expression<Func<T, U>> expr
) where T : class
{
...
}
and then:
@(Html.DoSomething<SomeModel, string>(x => x.SomeProperty))
or if you are targeting the model as first generic argument:
public static MvcHtmlString DoSomething<TModel, TProperty>(
this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper,
Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expr
) where TModel : class
{
...
}
which will allow you to invoke it like this (assuming of course that your view is strongly typed, but that's a safe assumption because all views should be strongly typed anyways :-)):
@Html.DoSomething(x => x.SomeProperty)