The MVC Programming Model

MVC is one of three ASP.NET programming models.

MVC is a framework for building web applications using a MVC (Model View Controller)
design:

 The Model represents the application core (for instance a list of database records).
 The View displays the data (the database records).
 The Controller handles the input (to the database records).

The MVC model also provides full control over HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

The MVC model defines web

applications with 3 logic layers:

 The business layer (Model

logic)
 The display layer (View logic)
 The input control (Controller
logic)

The Model is the part of the application that handles the logic for the application data.
Often model objects retrieve data (and store data) from a database.

The View is the parts of the application that handles the display of the data.
Most often the views are created from the model data.

The Controller is the part of the application that handles user interaction.
Typically controllers read data from a view, control user input, and send input data to the
model.

The MVC separation helps you manage complex applications, because you can focus on one
aspect a time. For example, you can focus on the view without depending on the business
logic. It also makes it easier to test an application.

The MVC separation also simplifies group development. Different developers can work on
the view, the controller logic, and the business logic in parallel.
Web Forms vs MVC
The MVC programming model is a lighter alternative to traditional ASP.NET (Web Forms).
It is a lightweight, highly testable framework, integrated with all existing ASP.NET features,
such as Master Pages, Security, and Authentication.

Visual Studio Express 2012/2010

Visual Studio Express is a free version of Microsoft Visual Studio.

Visual Studio Express is a development tool tailor made for MVC (and Web Forms).

Visual Studio Express contains:

 MVC and Web Forms

 Drag-and-drop web controls and web components
 A web server language (Razor using VB or C#)
 A web server (IIS Express)
 A database server (SQL Server Compact)
 A full web development framework (ASP.NET)

If you install Visual Studio Express, you will get more benefits from this tutorial.

If you want to install Visual Studio Express, click on one of these links:

Visual Web Developer 2012 (If you have Windows 7 or Windows 8)

Visual Web Developer 2010 (If you have Windows Vista or XP)

ASP.NET MVC - Internet Application

To learn ASP.NET MVC, we will build an Internet Application

Part I: Creating the Application

What We Will Build

We will build an Internet application that supports adding, editing, deleting, and listing of
information stored in a database.

What We Will Do
Visual Web Developer offers different templates for building web applications.

We will use Visual Web Developer to create an empty MVC Internet application with
HTML5 markup.
When the empty Internet application is created, we will gradually add code to the application
until it is fully finished. We will use C# as the programming language, and the newest Razor
server code markup.

Along the way we will explain the content, the code, and all the components of the
application.

Creating the Web Application

If you have Visual Web Developer installed, start Visual Web Developer and select New
Project. Otherwise just read and learn.

In the New Project dialog box:

 Open the Visual C# templates

 Select the template ASP.NET MVC 3 Web Application
 Set the project name to MvcDemo
 Set the disk location to something like c:\w3schools_demo
 Click OK

When the New Project Dialog Box opens:

 Select the Internet Application template

 Select the Razor Engine
 Select HTML5 Markup
  Click OK

Visual Studio Express will create a project much like this:

We will explore the content of the files and folders in the next chapter of this tutorial.

ASP.NET MVC - Application Folders

To learn ASP.NET MVC, we are Building an Internet application

Part II: Exploring the Application Folders

MVC Folders
A typical ASP.NET MVC web application has the following folder content:
 Application information

Properties
References

Application folders

App_Data Folder
Content Folder
Controllers Folder
Models Folder
Scripts Folder
Views Folder

Configuration files

Global.asax
packages.config
Web.config

The folder names are equal in all MVC applications. The MVC framework is based on
default naming. Controllers are in the Controllers folder, Views are in the Views folder, and
Models are in the Models folder. You don't have to use the folder names in your application
code.

Standard naming reduces the amount of code, and makes it easier for developers to
understand MVC projects.

Below is a brief summary of the content of each folder:

The App_Data Folder

The App_Data folder is for storing application data.

We will add an SQL database to the App_Data folder, later in this tutorial.

The Content Folder

The Content folder is used for static files like style sheets (css files), icons and images.

Visual Web Developer automatically adds a themes folder to the Content folder. The themes
folder is filled with jQuery styles and pictures. In this project you can delete the themes
folder.

Visual Web Developer also adds a standard style sheet file to the project: the file Site.css in
the content folder. The style sheet file is the file to edit when you want to change the style of
the application.
We will edit the style sheet file (Site.css) file in the next chapter of this tutorial.

The Controllers Folder

The Controllers folder contains the controller classes responsible for handling user input and
responses.

MVC requires the name of all controller files to end with "Controller".

Visual Web Developer has created a Home controller (for the Home and the About page) and
an Account controller (for Login pages):

We will create more controllers later in this tutorial.

The Models Folder
The Models folder contains the classes that represent the application models. Models hold
and manipulate application data.

We will create models (classes) in a later chapter of this tutorial.

The Views Folder

The Views folder stores the HTML files related to the display of the application (the user
interfaces).

The Views folder contains one folder for each controller. 

Visual Web Developer has created an Account folder, a Home folder, and a Shared folder
(inside the Views folder).

The Account folder contains pages for registering and logging in to user accounts.

The Home folder is used for storing application pages like the home page and the about page.

The Shared folder is used to store views shared between controllers (master pages and layout
pages).

 
We will edit the layout files in the next chapter of this tutorial.

The Scripts Folder

The Scripts folder stores the JavaScript files of the application.

By default Visual Web Developer fills this folder with standard MVC, Ajax, and jQuery files:

Note: The files named "modernizr" are JavaScript files used for supporting HTML5 and CSS3
features in the application.
ASP.NET MVC - Styles and Layout
To learn ASP.NET MVC, we are Building an Internet Application.

Part III: Adding Styles and a Consistent Look (Layout).

Adding a Layout
The file _Layout.cshtml represent the layout of each page in the application. It is located in
the Shared folder inside the Views folder.

Open the file and swap the content with this:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<title>@ViewBag.Title</title>
<link href="@Url.Content("~/Content/Site.css")" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery-1.5.1.min.js")"></script>
<script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/modernizr-1.7.min.js")"></script>
</head>
<body>
<ul id="menu">
<li>@Html.ActionLink("Home", "Index", "Home")</li>
<li>@Html.ActionLink("Movies", "Index", "Movies")</li>
<li>@Html.ActionLink("About", "About", "Home")</li>
</ul>
<section id="main">
@RenderBody()
<p>Copyright W3schools 2012. All Rights Reserved.</p>
</section>
</body>
</html>

HTML Helpers
In the code above, HTML helpers are used to modify HTML output:

@Url.Content() - URL content will be inserted here.

@Html.ActionLink() - HTML link will be inserted here.

You will learn more about HTML helpers in a later chapter of this tutorial.
Razor Syntax
In the code above, the code marked red are C# using Razor markup.

@ViewBag.Title - The page title will be inserted here.

@RenderBody() - The page content will be rendered here.

You can learn about Razor markup for both C# and VB (Visual Basic) in our Razor tutorial.

Adding Styles
The style sheet for the application is called Site.css. It is located in the Content folder.

Open the file Site.css and swap the content with this:

body
{
font: "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, sans-serif;
background-color: #5c87b2;
color: #696969;
}
h1
{
border-bottom: 3px solid #cc9900;
font: Georgia, serif;
color: #996600;
}
#main
{
padding: 20px;
background-color: #ffffff;
border-radius: 0 4px 4px 4px;
}
a
{
color: #034af3;
}
/* Menu Styles ------------------------------*/
ul#menu
{
padding: 0px;
position: relative;
margin: 0;
}
ul#menu li
{
display: inline;
}
ul#menu li a
{
background-color: #e8eef4;
padding: 10px 20px;
text-decoration: none;
line-height: 2.8em;
/*CSS3 properties*/
border-radius: 4px 4px 0 0;
}
ul#menu li a:hover
{
background-color: #ffffff;
}
/* Forms Styles ------------------------------*/
fieldset
{
padding-left: 12px;
}
fieldset label
{
display: block;
padding: 4px;
}
input[type="text"], input[type="password"]
{
width: 300px;
}
input[type="submit"]
{
padding: 4px;
}
/* Data Styles ------------------------------*/
table.data
{
background-color:#ffffff;
border:1px solid #c3c3c3;
border-collapse:collapse;
width:100%;
}
table.data th
{
background-color:#e8eef4;
border:1px solid #c3c3c3;
padding:3px;
}
table.data td
{
border:1px solid #c3c3c3;
padding:3px;
}
The _ViewStart File
The _ViewStart file in the Shared folder (inside the Views folder) contains the following
content:

@{Layout = "~/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml";}

This code is automatically added to all views displayed by the application.

If you remove this file, you must add this line to all views.

You will learn more about views in a later chapter of this tutorial.

ASP.NET MVC - Controllers

To learn ASP.NET MVC, we are Building an Internet Application.

Part IV: Adding a Controller.

The Controllers Folder

The Controllers Folder contains the controller classes responsible for handling user input
and responses.

MVC requires the name of all controllers to end with "Controller".

In our example, Visual Web Developer has created the following files: HomeController.cs
(for the Home and About pages) and AccountController.cs (For the Log On pages):
Web servers will normally map incoming URL requests directly to disk files on the server.
For example: a URL request like "http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp" will map directly
to the file "default.asp" at the root directory of the server.

The MVC framework maps differently. MVC maps URLs to methods. These methods are in
classes called "Controllers".

Controllers are responsible for processing incoming requests, handling input, saving data, and
sending a response to send back to the client.

The Home controller

The controller file in our application HomeController.cs, defines the two controls Index and
About.

Swap the content of the HomeController.cs file with this:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;

namespace MvcDemo.Controllers
{
public class HomeController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{return View();}

public ActionResult About()

{return View();}
}
}

The Controller Views

The files Index.cshtml and About.cshtml in the Views folder defines the ActionResult
views Index() and About() in the controller.

ASP.NET MVC - Views

To learn ASP.NET MVC, we are Building an Internet Application.

Part V: Adding Views for Displaying the Application.

The Views Folder
The Views folder stores the files (HTML files) related to the display of the application (the
user interfaces). These files may have the extensions html, asp, aspx, cshtml, and vbhtml,
depending on the language content.

The Views folder contains one folder for each controller. 

Visual Web Developer has created an Account folder, a Home folder, and a Shared folder
(inside the Views folder).

The Account folder contains pages for registering and logging in to user accounts.

The Home folder is used for storing application pages like the home page and the about page.

The Shared folder is used to store views shared between controllers (master pages and layout
pages).

 
ASP.NET File Types
The following HTML file types can be found in the Views Folder:

File Type Extention

Plain HTML .htm or .html

Classic ASP .asp

Classic ASP.NET .aspx

ASP.NET Razor
.cshtml
C#

ASP.NET Razor
.vbhtml
VB

The Index File

The file Index.cshtml represents the Home page of the application. It is the application's
default file (index file).

Put the following content in the file:

@{ViewBag.Title = "Home Page";}

<h1>Welcome to W3Schools</h1>

<p>Put Home Page content here</p>

The About File

The file About.cshtml represent the About page of the application.

Put the following content in the file:

@{ViewBag.Title = "About Us";}

<h1>About Us</h1>

<p>Put About Us content here</p>

Run the Application

Select Debug, Start Debugging (or F5) from the Visual Web Developer menu.
Your application will look like this:

Click on the "Home" tab and the "About" tab to see how it works.

Congratulations
Congratulations. You have created your first MVC Application.

Note: You cannot click on the "Movies" tab yet. We will add code for the "Movies" tab in the
next chapters of this tutorial.

ASP.NET MVC - SQL Database

To learn ASP.NET MVC, we are Building an Internet Application.

Part VI: Adding a Database.

Creating the Database

Visual Web Developer comes with a free SQL database called SQL Server Compact.

The database needed for this tutorial can be created with these simple steps:

 Right-click the App_Data folder in the Solution Explorer window

 Select Add, New Item
 Select SQL Server Compact Local Database *
 Name the database Movies.sdf.
 Click the Add button
* If SQL Server Compact Local Database is not an option, you have not installed SQL Server
Compact on your computer. Install it from this link: SQL Server Compact

Visual Web Developer automatically creates the database in the App_Data folder.

Note: In this tutorial it is expected that you have some knowledge about SQL databases. If
you want to study this topic first, please visit our SQL Tutorial.

Adding a Database Table

Double-clicking the Movies.sdf file in the App_Data folder will open a Database Explorer
window.

To create a new table in the database, right-click the Tables folder, and select Create Table.

Create the following columns:

Column Type Allow Nulls

ID int (primary key) No

Title nvarchar(100) No

Director nvarchar(100) No

Date datetime No

Columns explained:

ID is an integer (whole number) used to identify each record in the table.

Title is a 100 character text column to store the name of the movie.

Director is a 100 character text column to store the director's name.

Date is a datetime column to store the release date of the movie.

After creating the columns described above, you must make the ID column the table's
primary key (record identifier). To do this, click on the column name (ID) and select
Primary Key. Also, in the Column Properties window, set the Identity property to True:
When you have finished creating the table columns, save the table and name it MovieDBs.

Note:

We have deliberately named the table "MovieDBs" (ending with s). In the next chapter, you
will see the name "MovieDB" used for the data model. It looks strange, but this is the naming
convention you have to use to make the controller connect to the database table.

Adding Database Records

You can use Visual Web Developer to add some test records to the movie database.

Double-click the Movies.sdf file in the App_Data folder.

Right-click the MovieDBs table in the Database Explorer window and select Show Table
Data.

Add some records:

 ID Title Director Date

1 Psycho Alfred Hitchcock 01.01.1960

2 La Dolce Vita Federico Fellini 01.01.1960

Note: The ID column is updated automatically. You should not edit it.

ASP.NET MVC - Models

To learn ASP.NET MVC, we are Building an Internet Application.

Part VII: Adding a Data Model.

MVC Models
The MVC Model contains all application logic (business logic, validation logic, and data
access logic), except pure view and controller logic.

With MVC, models both hold and manipulate application data.

The Models Folder

The Models Folder contains the classes that represent the application model.

Visual Web Developer automatically creates an AccountModels.cs file that contains the
models for application security.

AccountModels contains a LogOnModel, a ChangePasswordModel, and a

RegisterModel.

Adding a Database Model

The database model needed for this tutorial can be created with these simple steps:

 In the Solution Explorer, right-click the Models folder, and select Add and Class.
 Name the class MovieDB.cs, and click Add.
 Edit the class:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Data.Entity;

namespace MvcDemo.Models
{
public class MovieDB
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Title { get; set; }
public string Director { get; set; }
public DateTime Date { get; set; }

}
public class MovieDBContext : DbContext
{
public DbSet<MovieDB> Movies { get; set; }
}
}

Note:

We have deliberately named the model class "MovieDB". In the previous chapter, you saw
the name "MovieDBs" (ending with s) used for the database table. It looks strange, but this is
the naming convention you have to use to make the model connect to the database table.

Adding a Database Controller

The database controller needed for this tutorial can be created with these simple steps:

 Re-Build your project: Select Debug, and then Build MvcDemo from the menu.
 In the Solution Explorer, right-click the Controllers folder, and select Add and Controller
 Set controller name to MoviesController
 Select template: Controller with read/write actions and views, using Entity Framework
 Select model class: MovieDB (MvcDemo.Models)
 Select data context class: MovieDBContext (MvcDemo.Models)
 Select views Razor (CSHTML)
 Click Add

Visual Web Developer will create the following files:

 A MoviesController.cs file in the Controllers folder

 A Movies folder in the Views folder

Adding Database Views

The following files are automatically created in the Movies folder:

 Create.cshtml
 Delete.cshtml
 Details.cshtml
 Edit.cshtml
 Index.cshtml
Adding a Connection String
Add the following element to the <connectionStrings> element in your Web.config file:

<add name="MovieDBContext"
connectionString="Data Source=|DataDirectory|\Movies.sdf"
providerName="System.Data.SqlServerCe.4.0"/>

ASP.NET MVC - Security

To learn ASP.NET MVC, we are Building an Internet Application.

Part VIII: Adding Security.

MVC Application Security

The Models Folder contains the classes that represent the application model.

Visual Web Developer automatically creates an AccountModels.cs file that contains the
models for application authentication.

AccountModels contains a LogOnModel, a ChangePasswordModel, and a

RegisterModel:
The Change Password Model
public class ChangePasswordModel
{

[Required]
[DataType(DataType.Password)]
[Display(Name = "Current password")]
public string OldPassword { get; set; }

[Required]
[StringLength(100, ErrorMessage = "The {0} must be at least {2}      characters long.",
MinimumLength = 6)]
[DataType(DataType.Password)]
[Display(Name = "New password")]
public string NewPassword { get; set; }

[DataType(DataType.Password)]
[Display(Name = "Confirm new password")]
[Compare("NewPassword", ErrorMessage = "The new password and confirmation password do not
match.")]
public string ConfirmPassword { get; set; }

The Logon Model

public class LogOnModel
{

[Required]
[Display(Name = "User name")]
public string UserName { get; set; }

[Required]
[DataType(DataType.Password)]
[Display(Name = "Password")]
public string Password { get; set; }

[Display(Name = "Remember me?")]

public bool RememberMe { get; set; }

}
The Register Model
public class RegisterModel
{

[Required]
[Display(Name = "User name")]
public string UserName { get; set; }

[Required]
[DataType(DataType.EmailAddress)]
[Display(Name = "Email address")]
public string Email { get; set; }

[Required]
[StringLength(100, ErrorMessage = "The {0} must be at least {2} characters long.", MinimumLength
= 6)]
[DataType(DataType.Password)]
[Display(Name = "Password")]
public string Password { get; set; }

[DataType(DataType.Password)]
[Display(Name = "Confirm password")]
[Compare("Password", ErrorMessage = "The password and confirmation password do not match.")]
public string ConfirmPassword { get; set; }

ASP.NET MVC - HTML Helpers

HTML Helpers are used to modify HTML output

HTML Helpers
With MVC, HTML helpers are much like traditional ASP.NET Web Form controls.

Just like web form controls in ASP.NET, HTML helpers are used to modify HTML. But
HTML helpers are more lightweight. Unlike Web Form controls, an HTML helper does not
have an event model and a view state.

In most cases, an HTML helper is just a method that returns a string.

With MVC, you can create your own helpers, or use the built in HTML helpers.

Standard HTML Helpers

MVC includes standard helpers for the most common types of HTML elements, like HTML
links and HTML form elements.

HTML Links
The easiest way to render an HTML link in is to use the HTML.ActionLink() helper.

With MVC, the Html.ActionLink() does not link to a view. It creates a link to a controller
action.

Razor Syntax:

@Html.ActionLink("About this Website", "About")

ASP Syntax:

<%=Html.ActionLink("About this Website", "About")%>

The first parameter is the link text, and the second parameter is the name of the controller
action.

The Html.ActionLink() helper above, outputs the following HTML:

<a href="/Home/About">About this Website</a>

The Html.ActionLink() helper has several properties:

Property Description

.linkText The link text (label)

.actionName The target action

.routeValues The values passed to the action

.controllerName The target controller

.htmlAttributes The set of attributes to the link

.protocol The link protocol

.hostname The host name for the link

.fragment The anchor target for the link

Note: You can pass values to a controller action. For example, you can pass the id of a
database record to a database edit action:

Razor Syntax C#:

@Html.ActionLink("Edit Record", "Edit", new {Id=3})

Razor Syntax VB:

@Html.ActionLink("Edit Record", "Edit", New With{.Id=3})

The Html.ActionLink() helper above, outputs the following HTML:

<a href="/Home/Edit/3">Edit Record</a>

HTML Form Elements

There following HTML helpers can be used to render (modify and output) HTML form
elements:

 BeginForm()
 EndForm()
 TextArea()
 TextBox()
 CheckBox()
 RadioButton()
 ListBox()
 DropDownList()
 Hidden()
 Password()

ASP.NET Syntax C#:

<%= Html.ValidationSummary("Create was unsuccessful. Please correct the errors and try again.")
%>
<% using (Html.BeginForm()){%>
<p>
<label for="FirstName">First Name:</label>
<%= Html.TextBox("FirstName") %>
<%= Html.ValidationMessage("FirstName", "*") %>
</p>
<p>
<label for="LastName">Last Name:</label>
<%= Html.TextBox("LastName") %>
<%= Html.ValidationMessage("LastName", "*") %>
</p>
<p>
<label for="Password">Password:</label>
<%= Html.Password("Password") %>
<%= Html.ValidationMessage("Password", "*") %>
</p>
<p>
<label for="Password">Confirm Password:</label>
<%= Html.Password("ConfirmPassword") %>
<%= Html.ValidationMessage("ConfirmPassword", "*") %>
</p>
<p>
<label for="Profile">Profile:</label>
<%= Html.TextArea("Profile", new {cols=60, rows=10})%>
</p>
<p>
<%= Html.CheckBox("ReceiveNewsletter") %>
<label for="ReceiveNewsletter" style="display:inline">Receive Newsletter?</label>
</p>
<p>
<input type="submit" value="Register" />
</p>
<%}%>

ASP.NET MVC - Publishing the Website

Learn how to publish an MVC application without using Visual Web Developer.

Publish Your Application Without Using Visual Web

Developer
An ASP.NET MVC application can be published to a remote server by using the Publish
commands in WebMatrix ,Visual Web Developer, or Visual Studio.

This function copies all your application files, controllers, models, images, and all the
required DLL files for MVC, Web Pages, Razor, Helpers, and SQL Server Compact (if a
database is used).

Sometimes you don't want to use this option. Maybe your hosting provider only supports
FTP? Maybe you already have a web site based on classic ASP? Maybe you want to copy the
files yourself? Maybe you want to use Front Page, Expression Web, or some other publishing
software?

Will you get a problem? Yes, you will. But you can solve it.

To perform a web copy, you have to know how to include the right files, what DDL files to
copy, and where store them.
Follow these steps:

1. Use the Latest Version of ASP.NET

Before you continue, make sure your hosting computer runs the latest version of ASP.NET
(4.0).

2. Copy the Web Folders

Copy your website (all folders and content) from your development computer to an
application folder on your remote hosting computer (server).

If your App_Data folder contains test data, don't copy the App_Data folder (see SQL Data
below).

3. Copy the DLL Files

On the remote server create a bin folder in the root of your application. (If you have installed
Helpers, you already have a bin folder)

Copy everything from your folders:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft ASP.NET\ASP.NET Web Pages\v1.0\Assemblies

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft ASP.NET\ASP.NET MVC 3\Assemblies

to your application's bin folder on the remote server.

4. Copy the SQL Server Compact DLL Files

If your application has a SQL Server Compact database (an .sdf file in App_Data folder), you
must copy the SQL Server Compact DLL files:

Copy everything from your folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition\v4.0\Private

to your application's bin folder on the remote server.

Create (or edit) the Web.config file for your application:

Example C#
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
<system.data>
<DbProviderFactories>
<remove invariant="System.Data.SqlServerCe.4.0" />

<add invariant="System.Data.SqlServerCe.4.0"
name="Microsoft SQL Server Compact 4.0"
description=".NET Framework Data Provider for Microsoft SQL Server Compact"
type="System.Data.SqlServerCe.SqlCeProviderFactory, System.Data.SqlServerCe,
Version=4.0.0.1,Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89845dcd8080cc91" />

</DbProviderFactories>
</system.data>
</configuration>

5. Copy SQL Server Compact Data

Do you have .sdf files in your App_Data folder that contains test data?

Do you want to publish the test data to the remote server?

Most likely not.

If you have to copy the SQL data files (.sdf files), you should delete everything in the
database, and then copy the empty .sdf file from your development computer to the server.

ASP.NET MVC - Reference

Classes
Class Description

Represents an attribute that specifies which HTTP

AcceptVerbsAttribute
verbs an action method will respond to.

Provides information about an action method, such as

ActionDescriptor
its name, controller, parameters, attributes, and filters.

Provides the context for the ActionExecuted method

ActionExecutedContext
of the ActionFilterAttribute class.

Provides the context for the ActionExecuting method

ActionExecutingContext
of the ActionFilterAttribute class.

ActionFilterAttribute Represents the base class for filter attributes.

Represents an attribute that is used to influence the

ActionMethodSelectorAttribute
selection of an action method.
 Represents an attribute that is used for the name of an
ActionNameAttribute
action.

Represents an attribute that affects the selection of an

ActionNameSelectorAttribute
action method.

Encapsulates the result of an action method and is

ActionResult used to perform a framework-level operation on behalf
of the action method.

Provides a class that implements the IMetadataAware

AdditionalMetadataAttribute
interface in order to support additional metadata.

Represents support for rendering HTML in AJAX

AjaxHelper
scenarios within a view.

Represents support for rendering HTML in AJAX

AjaxHelper(Of TModel)
scenarios within a strongly typed view.

Represents a class that extends the HttpRequestBase

AjaxRequestExtensions class by adding the ability to determine whether an
HTTP request is an AJAX request.

Allows a request to include HTML markup during

model binding by skipping request validation for the
property. (It is strongly recommended that your
AllowHtmlAttribute
application explicitly check all models where you
disable request validation in order to prevent script
exploits.)

Provides a way to register one or more areas in an

AreaRegistration
ASP.NET MVC application.

Encapsulates the information that is required in order

AreaRegistrationContext to register an area within an ASP.NET MVC
application.

Provides an abstract class to implement a metadata

AssociatedMetadataProvider
provider.

Provides an abstract class for classes that implement a

AssociatedValidatorProvider
validation provider.

AsyncController Provides the base class for asynchronous controllers.

Represents an attribute that is used to set the timeout

AsyncTimeoutAttribute
value, in milliseconds, for an asynchronous method.

Encapsulates the information that is required for using

AuthorizationContext
an AuthorizeAttribute attribute.

Represents an attribute that is used to restrict access

AuthorizeAttribute
by callers to an action method.

BindAttribute Represents an attribute that is used to provide details

 about how model binding to a parameter should occur.

Represents the base class for views that are compiled

BuildManagerCompiledView by the BuildManager class before being rendered by a
view engine.

BuildManagerViewEngine Provides a base class for view engines.

ByteArrayModelBinder Maps a browser request to a byte array.

Represents an attribute that is used to indicate that an

ChildActionOnlyAttribute
action method should be called only as a child action.

Represents a value provider for values from child

ChildActionValueProvider
actions.

Represents a factory for creating value provider

ChildActionValueProviderFactory
objects for child actions.

ClientDataTypeModelValidatorProvider Returns the client data-type model validators.

Provides an attribute that compares two properties of a

CompareAttribute
model.

Represents a user-defined content type that is the

ContentResult
result of an action method.

Provides methods that respond to HTTP requests that

Controller
are made to an ASP.NET MVC Web site.

Represents a class that is responsible for invoking the

ControllerActionInvoker
action methods of a controller.

ControllerBase Represents the base class for all MVC controllers.

Represents a class that is responsible for dynamically

ControllerBuilder
building a controller.

Encapsulates information about an HTTP request that

ControllerContext matches specified RouteBase and ControllerBase
instances.

Encapsulates information that describes a controller,

ControllerDescriptor
such as its name, type, and actions.

Adds the controller to the FilterProviderCollection

ControllerInstanceFilterProvider
instance.

Represents an attribute that invokes a custom model

CustomModelBinderAttribute
binder.

Provides a container for common metadata, for the

DataAnnotationsModelMetadataProvider class, and
DataAnnotationsModelMetadata
for the DataAnnotationsModelValidator class for a
data model.
 Implements the default model metadata provider for
DataAnnotationsModelMetadataProvider
ASP.NET MVC.

DataAnnotationsModelValidator Provides a model validator.

DataAnnotationsModelValidator(Of Provides a model validator for a specified validation

TAttribute) type.

Implements the default validation provider for

DataAnnotationsModelValidatorProvider
ASP.NET MVC.

Provides a container for the error-information model

DataErrorInfoModelValidatorProvider
validator.

Represents the controller factory that is registered by

DefaultControllerFactory
default.

Maps a browser request to a data object. This class

DefaultModelBinder
provides a concrete implementation of a model binder.

DefaultViewLocationCache Represents a memory cache for view locations.

Provides a registration point for dependency resolvers

DependencyResolver that implement IDependencyResolver or the Common
Service Locator IServiceLocator interface.

Provides a type-safe implementation of GetService

DependencyResolverExtensions
and GetServices.

Represents the base class for value providers whose

DictionaryValueProvider(Of TValue) values come from a collection that implements the
IDictionary(Of TKey, TValue) interface.

Provides an empty metadata provider for data models

EmptyModelMetadataProvider
that do not require metadata.

Provides an empty validation provider for models that

EmptyModelValidatorProvider
do not require a validator.

Represents a result that does nothing, such as a

EmptyResult
controller action method that returns nothing.

Provides the context for using the

ExceptionContext
HandleErrorAttribute class.

Provides a helper class to get the model name from an

ExpressionHelper
expression.

Provides a container for client-side field validation

FieldValidationMetadata
metadata.

FileContentResult Sends the contents of a binary file to the response.

FilePathResult Sends the contents of a file to the response.

FileResult Represents a base class that is used to send binary file

 content to the response.

Sends binary content to the response by using a

FileStreamResult
Stream instance.

Represents a metadata class that contains a reference

Filter to the implementation of one or more of the filter
interfaces, the filter's order, and the filter's scope.

Represents the base class for action and result filter

FilterAttribute
attributes.

FilterAttributeFilterProvider Defines a filter provider for filter attributes.

Encapsulates information about the available action

FilterInfo
filters.

Represents the collection of filter providers for the

FilterProviderCollection
application.

FilterProviders Provides a registration point for filters.

FormCollection Contains the form value providers for the application.

Encapsulates information that is required in order to

FormContext validate and process the input data from an HTML
form.

Represents a value provider for form values that are

FormValueProvider
contained in a NameValueCollection object.

Represents a class that is responsible for creating a

FormValueProviderFactory
new instance of a form-value provider object.

GlobalFilterCollection Represents a class that contains all the global filters.

GlobalFilters Represents the global filter collection.

Represents an attribute that is used to handle an

HandleErrorAttribute
exception that is thrown by an action method.

Encapsulates information for handling an error that

HandleErrorInfo
was thrown by an action method.

Represents an attribute that is used to indicate whether

HiddenInputAttribute a property or field value should be rendered as a
hidden input element.

Represents support for rendering HTML controls in a

HtmlHelper
view.

Represents support for rendering HTML controls in a

HtmlHelper(Of TModel)
strongly typed view.

HttpDeleteAttribute Represents an attribute that is used to restrict an action

method so that the method handles only HTTP
 DELETE requests.

Represents a value provider to use with values that

HttpFileCollectionValueProvider
come from a collection of HTTP files.

Represents a class that is responsible for creating a

HttpFileCollectionValueProviderFactory new instance of an HTTP file collection value
provider object.

Represents an attribute that is used to restrict an action

HttpGetAttribute method so that the method handles only HTTP GET
requests.

Defines an object that is used to indicate that the

HttpNotFoundResult
requested resource was not found.

Represents an attribute that is used to restrict an action

HttpPostAttribute method so that the method handles only HTTP POST
requests.

HttpPostedFileBaseModelBinder Binds a model to a posted file.

Represents an attribute that is used to restrict an action

HttpPutAttribute method so that the method handles only HTTP PUT
requests.

Extends the HttpRequestBase class that contains the

HttpRequestExtensions HTTP values that were sent by a client during a Web
request.

Provides a way to return an action result with a

HttpStatusCodeResult
specific HTTP response status code and description.

Represents the result of an unauthorized HTTP

HttpUnauthorizedResult
request.

JavaScriptResult Sends JavaScript content to the response.

Represents a class that is used to send JSON-

JsonResult
formatted content to the response.

Enables action methods to send and receive JSON-

JsonValueProviderFactory formatted text and to model-bind the JSON text to
parameters of action methods.

LinqBinaryModelBinder Maps a browser request to a LINQ Binary object.

Represents an attribute that is used to associate a

ModelBinderAttribute
model type to a model-builder type.

Represents a class that contains all model binders for

ModelBinderDictionary
the application, listed by binder type.

ModelBinderProviderCollection Provides a container for model binder providers.

ModelBinderProviders Provides a container for model binder providers.

Provides global access to the model binders for the

ModelBinders
application.

Provides the context in which a model binder

ModelBindingContext
functions.

Provides a container for an equality validation rule

ModelClientValidationEqualToRule
that is sent to the browser.

Provides a container for a range-validation rule that is

ModelClientValidationRangeRule
sent to the browser.

Provides a container for a regular-expression client

ModelClientValidationRegexRule
validation rule that is sent to the browser.

Provides a container for a remote validation rule that

ModelClientValidationRemoteRule
is sent to the browser.

Provides a container for client validation for required

ModelClientValidationRequiredRule
field.

Provides a base class container for a client validation

ModelClientValidationRule
rule that is sent to the browser.

Provides a container for a string-length validation rule

ModelClientValidationStringLengthRule
that is sent to the browser.

ModelError Represents an error that occurs during model binding.

ModelErrorCollection A collection of ModelError instances.

Provides a container for common metadata, for the

ModelMetadata ModelMetadataProvider class, and for the
ModelValidator class for a data model.

Provides an abstract base class for a custom metadata

ModelMetadataProvider
provider.

Provides a container for the current

ModelMetadataProviders
ModelMetadataProvider instance.

Encapsulates the state of model binding to a property

ModelState of an action-method argument, or to the argument
itself.

Represents the state of an attempt to bind a posted

ModelStateDictionary form to an action method, which includes validation
information.

ModelValidationResult Provides a container for a validation result.

Provides a base class for implementing validation

ModelValidator
logic.
ModelValidatorProvider Provides a list of validators for a model.

ModelValidatorProviderCollection Provides a container for a list of validation providers.

Provides a container for the current validation

ModelValidatorProviders
provider.

Represents a list of items that users can select more

MultiSelectList
than one item from.

When implemented in a derived class, provides a

metadata class that contains a reference to the
MvcFilter
implementation of one or more of the filter interfaces,
the filter's order, and the filter's scope.

Selects the controller that will handle an HTTP

MvcHandler
request.

Represents an HTML-encoded string that should not

MvcHtmlString
be encoded again.

MvcHttpHandler Verifies and processes an HTTP request.

Creates an object that implements the IHttpHandler

MvcRouteHandler
interface and passes the request context to it.

MvcWebRazorHostFactory Creates instances of MvcWebPageRazorHost files.

Extends a NameValueCollection object so that the

NameValueCollectionExtensions
collection can be copied to a specified dictionary.

Represents the base class for value providers whose

NameValueCollectionValueProvider
values come from a NameValueCollection object.

Provides a convenience wrapper for the

NoAsyncTimeoutAttribute
AsyncTimeoutAttribute attribute.

Represents an attribute that is used to indicate that a

NonActionAttribute
controller method is not an action method.

Represents an attribute that is used to mark an action

OutputCacheAttribute
method whose output will be cached.

Encapsulates information for binding action-method

ParameterBindingInfo
parameters to a data model.

ParameterDescriptor Contains information that describes a parameter.

Represents a base class that is used to send a partial

PartialViewResult
view to the response.

Provides a registration point for ASP.NET Razor pre-

PreApplicationStartCode
application start code.

QueryStringValueProvider Represents a value provider for query strings that are

 contained in a NameValueCollection object.

Represents a class that is responsible for creating a

QueryStringValueProviderFactory
new instance of a query-string value-provider object.

RangeAttributeAdapter Provides an adapter for the RangeAttribute attribute.

Represents the class used to create views that have

RazorView
Razor syntax.

Represents a view engine that is used to render a Web

RazorViewEngine
page that uses the ASP.NET Razor syntax.

Controls the processing of application actions by

RedirectResult
redirecting to a specified URI.

Represents a result that performs a redirection by

RedirectToRouteResult
using the specified route values dictionary.

Contains information that describes a reflected action

ReflectedActionDescriptor
method.

Contains information that describes a reflected

ReflectedControllerDescriptor
controller.

Contains information that describes a reflected action-

ReflectedParameterDescriptor
method parameter.

Provides an adapter for the

RegularExpressionAttributeAdapter
RegularExpressionAttribute attribute.

Provides an attribute that uses the jQuery validation

RemoteAttribute
plug-in remote validator.

Provides an adapter for the RequiredAttributeAttribute

RequiredAttributeAdapter
attribute.

Represents an attribute that forces an unsecured HTTP

RequireHttpsAttribute
request to be re-sent over HTTPS.

Provides the context for the OnResultExecuted

ResultExecutedContext
method of the ActionFilterAttribute class.

Provides the context for the OnResultExecuting

ResultExecutingContext
method of the ActionFilterAttribute class.

RouteCollectionExtensions Extends a RouteCollection object for MVC routing.

Represents a value provider for route data that is

RouteDataValueProvider contained in an object that implements the
IDictionary(Of TKey, TValue) interface.

Represents a factory for creating route-data value

RouteDataValueProviderFactory
provider objects.

SelectList Represents a list that lets users select one item.

 Represents the selected item in an instance of the
SelectListItem
SelectList class.

SessionStateAttribute Specifies the session state of the controller.

Provides session-state data to the current

SessionStateTempDataProvider
TempDataDictionary object.

Provides an adapter for the StringLengthAttribute

StringLengthAttributeAdapter
attribute.

Represents a set of data that persists only from one

TempDataDictionary
request to the next.

Encapsulates information about the current template

TemplateInfo
context.

Contains methods to build URLs for ASP.NET MVC

UrlHelper
within an application.

Represents an optional parameter that is used by the

UrlParameter
MvcHandler class during routing.

ValidatableObjectAdapter Provides an object adapter that can be validated.

Represents an attribute that is used to prevent forgery

ValidateAntiForgeryTokenAttribute
of a request.

Represents an attribute that is used to mark action

ValidateInputAttribute
methods whose input must be validated.

Represents the collection of value-provider objects for

ValueProviderCollection
the application.

Obsolete. Represents a dictionary of value providers

ValueProviderDictionary
for the application.

Represents a container for value-provider factory

ValueProviderFactories
objects.

Represents a factory for creating value-provider

ValueProviderFactory
objects.

Represents the collection of value-provider factories

ValueProviderFactoryCollection
for the application.

Represents the result of binding a value (such as from

ValueProviderResult a form post or query string) to an action-method
argument property, or to the argument itself.

Encapsulates information that is related to rendering a

ViewContext
view.

ViewDataDictionary Represents a container that is used to pass data

 between a controller and a view.

Represents a container that is used to pass strongly

ViewDataDictionary(Of TModel)
typed data between a controller and a view.

Encapsulates information about the current template

ViewDataInfo content that is used to develop templates and about
HTML helpers that interact with templates.

Represents a collection of view engines that are

ViewEngineCollection
available to the application.

ViewEngineResult Represents the result of locating a view engine.

Represents a collection of view engines that are

ViewEngines
available to the application.

Represents the information that is needed to build a

ViewMasterPage
master view page.

Represents the information that is required in order to

ViewMasterPage(Of TModel)
build a strongly typed master view page.

Represents the properties and methods that are needed

ViewPage
to render a view as a Web Forms page.

Represents the information that is required in order to

ViewPage(Of TModel)
render a strongly typed view as a Web Forms page.

Represents a class that is used to render a view by

ViewResult using an IView instance that is returned by an
IViewEngine object.

Represents a base class that is used to provide the

ViewResultBase model to the view and then render the view to the
response.

Provides an abstract class that can be used to

ViewStartPage
implement a view start (master) page.

ViewTemplateUserControl Provides a container for TemplateInfo objects.

ViewTemplateUserControl(Of TModel) Provides a container for TemplateInfo objects.

ViewType Represents the type of a view.

Represents the information that is needed to build a

ViewUserControl
user control.

Represents the information that is required in order to

ViewUserControl(Of TModel)
build a strongly typed user control.

Represents an abstract base-class implementation of

VirtualPathProviderViewEngine
the IViewEngine interface.

WebFormView Represents the information that is needed to build a

 Web Forms page in ASP.NET MVC.

Represents a view engine that is used to render a Web

WebFormViewEngine
Forms page to the response.

Represents the properties and methods that are needed

WebViewPage in order to render a view that uses ASP.NET Razor
syntax.

Represents the properties and methods that are needed

WebViewPage(Of TModel) in order to render a view that uses ASP.NET Razor
syntax.

Interfaces
Interface Description

IActionFilter Defines the methods that are used in an action filter.

Defines the contract for an action invoker, which is used to invoke an

IActionInvoker
action in response to an HTTP request.

IAuthorizationFilter Defines the methods that are required for an authorization filter.

Provides a way for the ASP.NET MVC validation framework to

IClientValidatable discover at run time whether a validator has support for client
validation.

IController Defines the methods that are required for a controller.

Provides fine-grained control over how controllers are instantiated

IControllerActivator
using dependency injection.

IControllerFactory Defines the methods that are required for a controller factory.

Defines the methods that simplify service location and dependency

IDependencyResolver
resolution.

IExceptionFilter Defines the methods that are required for an exception filter.

IFilterProvider Provides an interface for finding filters.

Provides an interface for exposing attributes to the

IMetadataAware
AssociatedMetadataProvider class.

IModelBinder Defines the methods that are required for a model binder.

Defines methods that enable dynamic implementations of model

IModelBinderProvider
binding for classes that implement the IModelBinder interface.

IMvcFilter Defines members that specify the order of filters and whether multiple
 filters are allowed.

IResultFilter Defines the methods that are required for a result filter.

IRouteWithArea Associates a route with an area in an ASP.NET MVC application.

Defines the contract for temporary-data providers that store data that is
ITempDataProvider
viewed on the next request.

IUnvalidatedValueProvider Represents an IValueProvider interface that can skip request validation.

Defines the methods that are required for a value provider in ASP.NET
IValueProvider
MVC.

IView Defines the methods that are required for a view.

IViewDataContainer Defines the methods that are required for a view data dictionary.

IViewEngine Defines the methods that are required for a view engine.

Defines the methods that are required in order to cache view locations
IViewLocationCache
in memory.

IViewPageActivator Provides fine-grained control