Base Class Access a Parameter

Question

Is it possible for a Controller Base class to access a parameter from an action link and if so how do I access that parameter within my Base Controller?

Action Link:

<%=Url.Action("Area_1419", "Home", new { SectionId = 1})%>

Base Controller Class:

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

namespace Website.Controllers
{
    public abstract class CategoriesController : Controller
    {
        public CategoriesDataContext _dataContext = new CategoriesDataContext();

        public CategoriesDataContext DataContext
        {
            get { return _dataContext; }
        }

        public void SectionID()
        {
            int SectionID = Convert.ToInt32(Request.QueryString["SectionID"]);
            ViewData["SectionID"] = SectionID;
        }

        public CategoriesController2()
        {
            //ViewData["Categories"] = from m in _dataContext.Categories where m.Area_ID == SectionID select m;
            //ViewData["Categories"] = from c in DataContext.Categories select c;
        }
    }
}

HomeContoller

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using Website.Models;
using Website.ActionFilters;

namespace Website.Controllers
{
    [HandleError]
    public class HomeController : CategoriesController
   {
        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            return View();
        }

        public ActionResult About(int? SectionID)
        {
            //ViewData["Message"] = SectionID;
            return View();
        }

        public ActionResult Area_1419(int SectionID)
        {
            return View();
        }


        public ActionResult Admin()
        {
            return View();
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

The base class cannot access arguments passed to a controller action, but it can get data out of RouteData. So if you want SectionId to be part of your route, rather than a querystring argument, you could do:

// Global.asax
routes.MapRoute(
    "WithSection",
    "{sectionId}/{controller}/{action}/{id}",
    new { section = String.Emtpy, action = "index", id = String.Empty }
);

// base controller class
public void SectionID()
{
  int SectionID = Convert.ToInt32(RouteData["SectionID"]);
  ViewData["SectionID"] = SectionID;
}

If you're passing SectionId as a querystring parameter then the code you posted should work... does it not?

Answer 2

Typically you would have a property in BaseController which you set in a Filter.

Something like

    public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
     {
              ((BaseController)filterContext.Controller).SectionID = "Something";
     }

But beware that this property should not be used in other filters, because the order of execution is not predictable by default.