UrlEncode of link ids with ASP.NET MVC HtmlHelper extension methods

Question

I have actions that take string id parameters that are based on a username which can include characters that require encoding, for instance "user?1"

If I use ActionLink() to generate the links, passing the string without encoding, it generates a link like this: http:\\localhost\controller\action\user?1, and the action gets passed "user" as the id.

If I UrlEncode() the string before passing it to ActionLink, then the link generated is: http:\\localhost\controller\action\user%253f1 as ActionLink will then encode the '%' character for you. Besides this looking ugly, it then also generates a HTTP Error 400 - Bad Request when following the link which I've not yet tracked down the cause of.

Is there any way that I can generate the url like: http:\\localhost\controller\action\user%3f1?

Answer 1

How about removing the ? character or replacing it with something else like a dash (-) or underscore (_) ?

Answer 2

You should look in the Global.asax.cs file

add another route for your convenience, in this case, the ff. might work:

        routes.MapRoute(
             null,                            
             "{controller}/{action}/user/{id}",
             new { controller = "Home", action = "Index" }
         );

I guess this is what you want, to separate action for each users, but i suggest you use cookie for this purpose.

PS: Remember to put that one on top of your default route since routing is trying to match from top to bottom.