Unable to understand the Asp.net MVC routing - asp.net-mvc-3

Question

I have added the following route to my global.asax file :-
routes.MapRoute(
"Admin_Route",
"Admin/{controller}/{action}/{id}",
new { action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional },
new[] { "PriceCompare.Admin.Controllers" }
);
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional },
new[] { "PriceCompare.Controllers" }
);
The admin controllers i.e. ManageCatsController, ManageBrandsController, etc. reside in PriceCompare.Admin.Controllers namespace and other general controllers reside in PriceCompare.Controllers namespace.
The problem is that i am able to visit all the controllers by adding Admin/ in front of them, irrespective of whether they are in PriceCompare.Admin.Controllers namespace.
Also, I am able to visit admin controllers directly without prefixing Admin/.
Why is this happening. Am i misunderstanding the routing behaviour.

Answer 1

You need to register your Admin area.
When I have registered routes for areas I've always done it like this:
Inside App/Areas/Admin folder create an AdminAreaRegistration.cs file with this in it...
using System.Web.Mvc;
namespace AppName.Areas.Admin
{
public class AdminAreaRegistration : AreaRegistration
{
public override string AreaName
{
get
{
return "Admin";
}
}
public override void RegisterArea(AreaRegistrationContext context)
{
context.MapRoute(
"Admin",
"Admin/{controller}/{action}/{id}",
new { controller="Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional },
new string[] { "AppName.Areas.Admin.Controllers" }
);
}
}
}
Now do this in Global.asax:
protected void Application_Start()
{
// Add this next line
AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
// Add any other stuff (like IoC or whatever)
}
And only register your normal routes in RegisterRoutes in Global.asax, like this:
public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
{
routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }, // Parameter defaults
new string[] { "AppName.Controllers" }
);
}
I would also recommend keeping the Area part inside your Admin namespace (so calling it PriceCompare.Areas.Admin.Controller in your case) as it will make life a lot easier later on when.
Please try this and let me know if it works :-)