Where to put view-specific javascript files in an ASP.NET MVC application?
You can invert davesw's suggestion and block only .cshtml
<httpHandlers>
<add path="*.cshtml" verb="*" type="System.Web.HttpNotFoundHandler"/>
</httpHandlers>
One way of achieving this is to supply your own ActionInvoker
. Using the code included below, you can add to your controller's constructor:
ActionInvoker = new JavaScriptActionInvoker();
Now, whenever you place a .js
file next to your view:
You can access it directly:
http://yourdomain.com/YourController/Index.js
Below is the source:
namespace JavaScriptViews {
public class JavaScriptActionDescriptor : ActionDescriptor
{
private string actionName;
private ControllerDescriptor controllerDescriptor;
public JavaScriptActionDescriptor(string actionName, ControllerDescriptor controllerDescriptor)
{
this.actionName = actionName;
this.controllerDescriptor = controllerDescriptor;
}
public override object Execute(ControllerContext controllerContext, IDictionary<string, object> parameters)
{
return new ViewResult();
}
public override ParameterDescriptor[] GetParameters()
{
return new ParameterDescriptor[0];
}
public override string ActionName
{
get { return actionName; }
}
public override ControllerDescriptor ControllerDescriptor
{
get { return controllerDescriptor; }
}
}
public class JavaScriptActionInvoker : ControllerActionInvoker
{
protected override ActionDescriptor FindAction(ControllerContext controllerContext, ControllerDescriptor controllerDescriptor, string actionName)
{
var action = base.FindAction(controllerContext, controllerDescriptor, actionName);
if (action != null)
{
return action;
}
if (actionName.EndsWith(".js"))
{
return new JavaScriptActionDescriptor(actionName, controllerDescriptor);
}
else
return null;
}
}
public class JavaScriptView : IView
{
private string fileName;
public JavaScriptView(string fileName)
{
this.fileName = fileName;
}
public void Render(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer)
{
var file = File.ReadAllText(viewContext.HttpContext.Server.MapPath(fileName));
writer.Write(file);
}
}
public class JavaScriptViewEngine : VirtualPathProviderViewEngine
{
public JavaScriptViewEngine()
: this(null)
{
}
public JavaScriptViewEngine(IViewPageActivator viewPageActivator)
: base()
{
AreaViewLocationFormats = new[]
{
"~/Areas/{2}/Views/{1}/{0}.js",
"~/Areas/{2}/Views/Shared/{0}.js"
};
AreaMasterLocationFormats = new[]
{
"~/Areas/{2}/Views/{1}/{0}.js",
"~/Areas/{2}/Views/Shared/{0}.js"
};
AreaPartialViewLocationFormats = new []
{
"~/Areas/{2}/Views/{1}/{0}.js",
"~/Areas/{2}/Views/Shared/{0}.js"
};
ViewLocationFormats = new[]
{
"~/Views/{1}/{0}.js",
"~/Views/Shared/{0}.js"
};
MasterLocationFormats = new[]
{
"~/Views/{1}/{0}.js",
"~/Views/Shared/{0}.js"
};
PartialViewLocationFormats = new[]
{
"~/Views/{1}/{0}.js",
"~/Views/Shared/{0}.js"
};
FileExtensions = new[]
{
"js"
};
}
public override ViewEngineResult FindView(ControllerContext controllerContext, string viewName, string masterName, bool useCache)
{
if (viewName.EndsWith(".js"))
viewName = viewName.ChopEnd(".js");
return base.FindView(controllerContext, viewName, masterName, useCache);
}
protected override IView CreatePartialView(ControllerContext controllerContext, string partialPath)
{
return new JavaScriptView(partialPath);
}
protected override IView CreateView(ControllerContext controllerContext, string viewPath, string masterPath)
{
return new JavaScriptView(viewPath);
}
}
}
Old question, but I wanted to put my answer incase anyone else comes looking for it.
I too wanted my view specific js/css files under the views folder, and here's how I did it:
In the web.config folder in the root of /Views you need to modify two sections to enable the webserver to serve the files:
<system.web>
<httpHandlers>
<add path="*.js" verb="GET,HEAD" type="System.Web.StaticFileHandler" />
<add path="*.css" verb="GET,HEAD" type="System.Web.StaticFileHandler" />
<add path="*" verb="*" type="System.Web.HttpNotFoundHandler"/>
</httpHandlers>
<!-- other content here -->
</system.web>
<system.webServer>
<handlers>
<remove name="BlockViewHandler"/>
<add name="JavaScript" path="*.js" verb="GET,HEAD" type="System.Web.StaticFileHandler" />
<add name="CSS" path="*.css" verb="GET,HEAD" type="System.Web.StaticFileHandler" />
<add name="BlockViewHandler" path="*" verb="*" preCondition="integratedMode" type="System.Web.HttpNotFoundHandler" />
</handlers>
<!-- other content here -->
</system.webServer>
Then from your view file you can reference the urls like you expect:
@Url.Content("~/Views/<ControllerName>/somefile.css")
This will allow serving of .js and .css files, and will forbid serving of anything else.