Providing MVC Shared Folder Structure

Question

I'm working on a project and I would like to be able to place a number of views within the shared folder. However when these are all created (through a generation process) i begin to feel "custer&^%$ fobic" due to having X * N partial views within the shared folder and am looking for a better organizational model.

Is it possible to just create a folder structure in the Shared folders and "Hope" MVC wires them up correctly or do I have to do something else.

Ex. Folder structure I have

...
Shared
    Product1DropdownList.ascx
    Product2DropdownList.ascx
    Product3DropdownList.ascx
    Product1Search.ascx
    Product2Search.ascx
    Product3Search.ascx
...


Folder Structure I would like
...
Shared
    Product
        Product1DropdownList.ascx
        Product1Search.ascx
    Product2
        Product2DropdownList.ascx
        Product2Search.ascx
    Product3
        Product3DropdownList.ascx
        Product3Search.ascx
...

Answer 1

This sounds like a case for a simple ViewEngine over-ride.

In your derived ViewEngine, you can set rules, subdirectorties to search etc etc to instruct MVC how to find the view .....

There are quite a few examples of this approach around the web, but no "definitive" code since the usage can be quite dynamic, but I suggest you refer to:

Chris Pietschmann:Implement Theme Folders using a Custom ViewEngine

for ideas and inspiration.