Routing in ASP.NET Web Pages is a mechanism that allows you to define URL patterns and map them to specific pages or actions in your application. This enables cleaner, more user-friendly URLs and helps improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Below, we will explore how routing works in ASP.NET Web Pages in detail.

Key Concepts of Routing

• URL Patterns: Routing allows you to define patterns that URLs must match to be processed by specific pages.
• Route Handlers: Each route can be associated with a specific handler, which is responsible for processing the request and generating a response.
• Default Routes: You can define default routes that will be used when no specific route matches the incoming request.

Setting Up Routing in ASP.NET Web Pages

To set up routing in an ASP.NET Web Pages application, you typically use the RouteConfig.cs file. This file is where you define your routes. Here’s how to do it:

1. Create a Route Configuration File

In your ASP.NET Web Pages project, create a new class file named RouteConfig.cs in the root directory. This file will contain the routing configuration.

        
            using System.Web.Routing;

            public class RouteConfig
            {
                public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
                {
                    routes.MapPageRoute(
                        "Default", // Route name
                        "{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
                        "~/Default.cshtml" // Page to handle the request
                    );
                }
            }
            

2. Register Routes in Global.asax

Next, you need to register the routes in the Global.asax file. This file is used to handle application-level events. Add the following code to the Application_Start method:

        
            protected void Application_Start()
            {
                RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
            }
            

3. Creating Pages for Routing

Now that you have set up routing, you can create pages that correspond to the routes you defined. For example, create a page named Home.cshtml for the Home controller and an About.cshtml page for the About action.

        
            <!-- Home.cshtml -->
            <h1>Welcome to the Home Page</h1>
            

        
            <!-- About.cshtml -->
            <h1>About Us</h1>
            

4. Accessing Routes

With the routing set up, you can access your pages using friendly URLs. For example:

• Access the home page: /Home
• Access the about page: /About

5. Route Parameters

You can also define routes with parameters. For example, if you want to create a route that accepts an id parameter, you can modify your route definition as follows:

        
            routes.MapPageRoute(
                "Product", 
                "Product/{id}", 
                "~/Product.cshtml"
            );
            

In this case, you can access a product page using a URL like /Product/123, where 123 is the product ID.

Conclusion

Routing in ASP.NET Web Pages provides a powerful way to create user-friendly URLs and manage how requests are handled in your application. By defining routes, you can improve the organization of your application and enhance the user experience.