Changing base view type on MVC4

Question

I've read a post about changing base view type on MVC from the link below:

http://haacked.com/archive/2011/02/21/changing-base-type-of-a-razor-view.aspx

I followed the instructions but my page still inherits from System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage. I can't reach any property defined in my custom view base and I get an error on runtime. When I use @inherits keyword, it fixes.

Web.config

<pages pageBaseType="[MyNamespace].WebViewPageBase">
  <namespaces>
    <add namespace="System.Web.Helpers" />
    <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc" />
    <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Ajax" />
    <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" />
    <add namespace="System.Web.Optimization" />
    <add namespace="System.Web.Routing" />
    <add namespace="System.Web.WebPages" />
  </namespaces>
</pages>

WebViewPageBase

public class WebViewPageBase : WebViewPage
{
    public SomeType MyProperty { get; set; }

    public override void InitHelpers()
    {
        base.InitHelpers();
        MyProperty = { foo };
    }

    public override void Execute()
    {

    }
}


public class WebViewPageBase<T> : WebViewPage<T>
{
    public SomeType MyProperty { get; set; }

    public override void InitHelpers()
    {
        base.InitHelpers();
        MyProperty = { foo };
    }

    public override void Execute()
    {

    }
}

Partial View

@model TopMenuModel

<div class="topMenu">
@MyProperty
</div>

But in the post I've read there is no instruction about @inherits keyword. Is there any thing that I miss or any way to make this work without @inherits keyword in all pages?

SOLVED:

web.config file in root directory is not the right one. I changed base type in the web.config file under View directory and it fixed.

Answer 1

The problem you're having is because you need to modify the VIEWS folder's web.config file. So basically this line:

 <pages pageBaseType="[MyNamespace].WebViewPageBase">

needs to be in the web.config from your views folder not the main project's web.config. Darin Dimitrov's answer clearly specifies that, but people usually overlook that detail. I know because I was one of them. Actually so does Phil Haack's article...

Answer 2

Why did you show two versions of WebViewPageBase: generic and non-generic?

You only need the generic version:

public class MyWebView<T> : WebViewPage<T>
{
    public SomeType MyProperty { get; set; }

    public override void InitHelpers()
    {
        base.InitHelpers();
        MyProperty = new SomeType();
    }

    public override void Execute()
    {
    }
}

and then:

<pages pageBaseType="MvcApplication1.WebViews.MyWebView">
  <namespaces>
    <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc" />
    <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Ajax" />
    <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" />
    <add namespace="System.Web.Routing" />
  </namespaces>
</pages>

Now inside your views you will be able to use the property:

@model TopMenuModel

<div class="topMenu">
    @MyProperty
</div>

---

UPDATE:

Step by step setup:

1. Create a new ASP.NET MVC 3 application using the Internet Template

2. Add a custom base view:

   namespace MvcApplication1
   {
       public class MyWebView<T> : WebViewPage<T>
       {
           public string MyProperty { get; set; }
   
           public override void InitHelpers()
           {
               base.InitHelpers();
               MyProperty = "Hello World";
           }
   
           public override void Execute()
           {
           }
       }
   }
   

3. Set the pageBaseType attribute in ~/Views/web.config (not to be confused with ~/web.config):

   <pages pageBaseType="MvcApplication1.MyWebView">
     <namespaces>
       <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc" />
       <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Ajax" />
       <add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" />
       <add namespace="System.Web.Routing" />
     </namespaces>
   </pages>
   

4. Inside ~/Views/Home/Index.cshtml use the property:

   <div>
       @MyProperty
   </div>
   

5. Hit Ctrl+F5 to run the application and if everything goes well you will be greeted with a Hello World.