Migrate custom route to ASP.NET MVC custom route to support List<string> - asp.net-mvc-3

Question

I have a URL in a Django based web app that looks similar to this:
/market/prices/2011-05-01/min/stocks/msft/dell/appl/
The application is being rewritten in ASP.NET MVC 3. I need to maintain the URL.
The crux of the problem is that I to support the multiple stock ticker symbols separated by forward slashes.
I want a custom route that looks like this:
routes.MapRoute(
"Stocks",
"{queryDate}/{minOrMax}/stocks/{listOfStocksSeparatedByForwardSlash}",
new { controller = "Market", action = "Prices" }
);
The controller would look something like:
public ActionResult Prices(string queryDate, string minOrMax, ICollection<string> listOfStocksSeparatedByForwardSlash) {
var model = repository.List(queryDate, minOrMax, listOfStocksSeparatedByForwardSlash);
return View(model );
}
My current solution is as follows:
routes.MapRoute(
"Stocks",
"{queryDate}/{minOrMax}/stocks/{*listOfStocksSeparatedByForwardSlash}",
new { controller = "Market", action = "Prices" }
);
public ActionResult Prices(string queryDate, string minOrMax, string listOfStocksSeparatedByForwardSlash) {
var list = listOfStocksSeparatedByForwardSlash.Split('/').ToList();
var model = repository.List(queryDate, minOrMax, list);
return View(model );
}
Although this works, I'm interested to know if there is a better way to do this?

Answer 1

Okay, this is an option, although I think your approach is easier.
You can provide a RouteHandler attached to a route, like so:
routes.MapRoute(
name: "Test",
url: "Test/{someDate}/{*tickerSymbols}",
defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Test" }).RouteHandler = new SlashSeparatedTrailingParametersRouteHandler("tickerSymbols", "tickers");
with the route handler being
public class SlashSeparatedTrailingParametersRouteHandler : IRouteHandler
{
private readonly string catchallParameterName;
private readonly string actionTargetParameter;
public SlashSeparatedTrailingParametersRouteHandler(string catchallParameterName, string actionTargetParameter)
{
this.catchallParameterName = catchallParameterName;
this.actionTargetParameter = actionTargetParameter;
}
public IHttpHandler GetHttpHandler(RequestContext requestContext)
{
if (requestContext == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("requestContext");
}
IRouteHandler handler = new MvcRouteHandler();
var vals = requestContext.RouteData.Values;
vals[this.actionTargetParameter] = vals[this.catchallParameterName].ToString().Split('/');
return handler.GetHttpHandler(requestContext);
}
}
If this is your controller action:
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult Test(DateTime someDate, string[] tickers)
{
if (tickers == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("tickers");
}
return Content(string.Format("{0} and {1}", someDate, tickers.Length.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)));
}
and this your post:
http://localhost/Test/12-06-2012/Foo/Bar
then your output is:
12/6/2012 12:00:00 AM and 2
On the elegance this this improves the parameter on the action method at the expense of having to write your own route handler.