Sitecore context not loaded in custom controller - asp.net-mvc-3

Question

I followed this tutorial, and created this code:
using Glass.Sitecore.Mapper;
using Sitecore.Mvc.Controllers;
using Sitecore.SecurityModel;
using SitecoreCMSMVCBase.Models;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
namespace SitecoreCMSMVCBase.Controllers
{
public class CommentController : SitecoreController
{
ISitecoreContext _context;
ISitecoreService _master;
public CommentController()
: this(
new SitecoreContext(),
new SitecoreService("master"))
{
}
/// <summary>
/// This constructor can be used with dependency injection or unit testing
/// </summary>
public CommentController(ISitecoreContext context, ISitecoreService master)
{
_context = context;
_master = master;
}
[HttpGet]
public override ActionResult Index()
{
var model = _context.GetCurrentItem<CommentPage>();
return View(model);
}
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Index(Comment comment)
{
var webModel = _context.GetCurrentItem<CommentPage>();
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
var masterModel = _master.GetItem<CommentPage>(webModel.Id);
if (masterModel.CommentFolder == null)
{
CommentFolder folder = new CommentFolder();
folder.Name = "Comments";
using (new SecurityDisabler())
{
_context.Create(masterModel, folder);
}
masterModel.CommentFolder = folder;
}
using (new SecurityDisabler())
{
comment.Name = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMddhhmmss");
//create the comment in the master database
_master.Create(masterModel.CommentFolder, comment);
webModel.CommentAdded = true;
}
}
return View(webModel);
}
}
}
Models are identical with tutorial, so I will not paste them.
My route configuration looks like this:
routes.MapRoute(
"CommentController", // Route name
"Comment/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Comment", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional } // Parameter defaults
);
When I navigate to /comment I see this exception:
Glass.Sitecore.Mapper.MapperException: Context has not been loaded
I tried with commenting my route specification (as there was nothing about routes in tutorial), and then error is different (throwing by Sitecore CMS itself):
The requested document was not found
Do you know how to load Sitecore context into custom Controller, and make this simple example work? I was looking everywhere but couldn't find any good answer...

Answer 1

I think this is more a Glass setup issue, rather than an MVC routing problem.
To setup Glass, you need to initialise the context in your application start method in your Global.asax file.
var loader = new Glass.Sitecore.Mapper.Configuration.Attributes.AttributeConfigurationLoader(
"Glass.Sitecore.Mapper.Tutorial.Models, Glass.Sitecore.Mapper.Tutorial");
Glass.Sitecore.Mapper.Context context = new Context(loader);
For other Glass-setup related stuff I recommend following the first tutorial on the glass.lu website.
http://www.glass.lu/tutorials/glass-sitecore-mapper-tutorials/tutorial-1-setup/

Answer 2

This method doesn't need Glass at all!
First step is to set your route in Global.asax file.
routes.MapRoute(
"DemoController", // Route name
"Demo/{action}/{param}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Demo", action = "Index", param = "", scItemPath = "/sitecore/content/DemoHomePage" } // Parameter defaults
);
Notice that controller is not taken as parameter, but is fixed, to prevent handling it by Sitecore. More info here and here. Notice that there is one additional parameter - scItemPath. It contains path to item which by default will be included in page context.
Having this route our traffic from /demo is handled by DemoController and Index action. Inside this action all you need is to add is this line:
Sitecore.Data.Items.Item item = Sitecore.Mvc.Presentation.PageContext.Current.Item;
item variable will contain your Sitecore item pointed by scItemPath.
And that's all - it should work well now - hope it helps!