MVC Easy util in view? - asp.net

Question

I am using asp.net MVC 4, I'd like to do something like this in my view
my link
I don't like it. Is there a way I can have the namespace implicit? Can I not pass in Viewbag and grab it somehow like global.request.current.viewbag?
If it helps I don't need TheFunctionIUseAlot to be static. I just need it to be easily callable in all my views and hopefully i'd like to not pass in viewbag. The reason I pass viewbag is because i need something in the controller which i stuck in viewbag as well. Maybe i can put it in the model but i don't want the same problem where i am passing model instead of viewbag

Answer 1

You can make the namespace implicit by adding #using NamespaceHere; at the top of your view, or by registering it as a namespace in the views web config. Something like this:
<system.web.webPages.razor>
<host factoryType="System.Web.Mvc.MvcWebRazorHostFactory, System.Web.Mvc, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" />
<pages pageBaseType="System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage">
<namespaces>
<add namespace="System.Web.Mvc" />
<add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Ajax" />
<add namespace="System.Web.Mvc.Html" />
<add namespace="System.Web.Routing" />
<add namespace="NamespaceHere"/>
</namespaces>
</pages>
</system.web.webPages.razor>
You can get access to the viewbag in your function if you use a custom page base type for your views. You can find instructions on doing that here: http://haacked.com/archive/2011/02/21/changing-base-type-of-a-razor-view.aspx.
In your situation, to get access to the ViewBag you will want to define your FunctionThatIUseALot in a non-static class that takes a WebViewPage as a constructor parameter (either as dynamic or as a ViewDataDictionary). Then, in your WebViewPage's InitHelpers override, you can create your helper class, passing in this. That will give you access to all of the standard properties of the WebViewPage.
Something like this:
public class Utils {
private WebViewPage page;
public Utils(WebViewPage page) { this.page = page; }
public FunctionThatIUseALot(string someParameter) {
string someViewBagValue = page.ViewBag.SomeViewBagValue;
}
}
public abstract class CustomWebViewPage : WebViewPage {
public Utils Utils { get; set; } // Utils is your helper class
public override void InitHelpers() {
base.InitHelpers();
Utils = new Utils(this);
}
}
The above is not everything you need to do to make it work, you will need to read the article for the rest. But the end result should be that you can just call #Utils.FunctionThatIUseALot("some value") directly in your views.
Note: you will need to do this twice - once for the standard WebViewPage base class, and one for the WebViewPage<TModel> base class.