ASP.NET MVC Action Selectors: Effectively Managing Controller Action Method Selection

Understand how action selectors in ASP.NET MVC control which action method is invoked in response to a user request. This tutorial covers `ActionName` and `ActionVerbs` attributes, demonstrating their use in mapping URLs to specific controller actions and handling different HTTP methods (GET, POST, etc.) for robust and flexible route management.

ASP.NET MVC Action Selectors: Choosing the Right Action Method

Introduction to Action Selectors

In ASP.NET MVC, action selectors are attributes applied to controller action methods. They control which action method is invoked in response to a user request. They help manage how the MVC framework routes requests to the appropriate controller actions.

ActionName Attribute

The ActionName attribute lets you specify a different name for an action method. This is useful when you want to access an action using a URL that doesn't match the method's name.

using System.Web.Mvc;
namespace MvcApplicationDemo.Controllers
{
public class MusicStoreController : Controller
{
    [ActionName("store")]
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return View();
    }
}
}

@{
    ViewBag.Title = "store";
}
<p>Hello, this is the Music store.</p>

ActionVerbs Attributes

ActionVerbs attributes specify the HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.) that an action method should handle. This enables you to create actions that respond to different types of HTTP requests.

using System.Web.Mvc;
namespace MvcApplicationDemo.Controllers
{
public class MusicStoreController : Controller
{
    [HttpGet]
    public ActionResult Index() { return View(); }
    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Welcome() { return View(); }
}
}

<p>Welcome to the music store.</p>