asp.net 4.0 web forms routing - default/wildcard route

Question

I there a simple way when using ASP.NET 4.0 routing with Web Forms to produce a route that will act as some kind of wildcard?

It seems to me that within WebForms, you have to specify a route for every page - I am looking for some kind of generic route that can be used where nothing specific is required, perhaps mapping directly from path to path so...

http://somedomain.com/folder1/folder2/page would possibly map to folder1/folder2/page.aspx

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Nitriding

Answer 1

You can match all remaining routes like this:

routes.MapPageRoute("defaultRoute", "{*value}", "~/Missing.aspx");

In this case, we know all routes, and want to send anything else to a "missing"/404 page. Just be sure to put this as the last route, since it is a wildcard and will catch everything.

Alternatively you could register a route the same way, but internally does mapping to a page, like this:

routes.Add(new Route("{*value}", new DefaultRouteHandler()));

That handler class would do your wildcard mapping, something like this:

public class DefaultRouteHandler : IRouteHandler
{
  public IHttpHandler GetHttpHandler(RequestContext requestContext)
  { 
    //Url mapping however you want here:
    var pageUrl = requestContext.RouteData.Route.Url + ".aspx";

    var page = BuildManager.CreateInstanceFromVirtualPath(pageUrl, typeof(Page)) 
               as IHttpHandler;
    if (page != null)
    {
      //Set the <form>'s postback url to the route
      var webForm = page as Page;
      if (webForm != null) 
         webForm.Load += delegate { webForm.Form.Action = 
                                    requestContext.HttpContext.Request.RawUrl; };
    }
    return page;
  }
}

This is broken a bit in odd places to prevent horizontal scrolling, but you get the overall point. Again, make sure this is the last route, otherwise it'll handle all your routes.

Wilda

Is it possible then to do something like: Dim prospect As String = Page.RouteData.Values("*value") I know it is when it isn't a wildcard, but what about a wildcard? – Camp

I am getting following error. What am I missing? (.Net 4.5) System.Web.Routing.RouteBase' does not contain a definition for 'Url' and no extension method 'Url' accepting a first argument of type 'System.Web.Routing.RouteBase' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) – Interfaith

Answer 2

Additionally - Keep in mind that you need to add an exception for the .axd files in your Global.asax file if there are validation controls in your web app:

http://basgun.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/getting-syntax-error-in-asp-net-routing-due-to-webresource-axd/

Otherwise, you will keep getting a syntax error because the routing picks up the .axd files and not properly loads the JavaScript files needed for the validation controls.

Cowan

Link is private, or the blog is private. – Subserve