How Load View Files from bin Folder in Asp.net MVC

Question

i work on asp.net mvc project and i transfer some view files to other project and enable "copy always" for them (to copy in bin folder of main project).

i create a custom view engine :

public class CMSViewEngine : WebFormViewEngine
    {
        public CMSViewEngine()
        {
            MasterLocationFormats = new string[]
            {
            "~/bin/Views/{1}/{0}.master",
            "~/bin/Views/Shared/{0}.master"
            };

            ViewLocationFormats = new string[]
            {
            "~/bin/Views/{1}/{0}.cshtml",
            "~/bin/Views/{1}/{0}.vbhtml",
            "~/bin/Views/Shared/{0}.cshtml",
            "~/bin/Views/Shared/{0}.vbhtml",
            "~/bin/Views/{1}/{0}.aspx",
            "~/bin/Views/{1}/{0}.ascx",
            "~/bin/Views/Shared/{0}.aspx",
            "~/bin/Views/Shared/{0}.ascx"
            };
        }
    }

then added to mvc ViewEngine in global.ascx

        ViewEngines.Engines.Add(new CMSViewEngine());

        AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
        RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);

but my problem is: for showing view i get under exception:

The view at '~/bin/Views/Forms/Index.cshtml' must derive from ViewPage, ViewPage, ViewUserControl, or ViewUserControl.

i try add web.config to view folder and also try add @inherits System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage to view files but not worked.

my web.config file for bin view files is :

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <sectionGroup name="system.web.webPages.razor" type="System.Web.WebPages.Razor.Configuration.RazorWebSectionGroup, System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35">
      <section name="host" type="System.Web.WebPages.Razor.Configuration.HostSection, System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" requirePermission="false" />
      <section name="pages" type="System.Web.WebPages.Razor.Configuration.RazorPagesSection, System.Web.WebPages.Razor, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" requirePermission="false" />
    </sectionGroup>
  </configSections>

  <system.web.webPages.razor>
    <host factoryType="System.Web.Mvc.MvcWebRazorHostFactory, System.Web.Mvc, Version=5.2.3.0, 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="TestProj.ContactFormApp" />
      </namespaces>
    </pages>
  </system.web.webPages.razor>

  <appSettings>
    <add key="webpages:Enabled" value="false" />
  </appSettings>

  <system.webServer>
    <handlers>
      <remove name="BlockViewHandler"/>
      <add name="BlockViewHandler" path="*" verb="*" preCondition="integratedMode" type="System.Web.HttpNotFoundHandler" />
    </handlers>
  </system.webServer>

  <system.web>
    <compilation>
      <assemblies>
        <add assembly="System.Web.Mvc, Version=5.2.3.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" />
      </assemblies>
    </compilation>
  </system.web>
</configuration>

how can resolve this problem to load view file?

Resolved:

I must extend CMSViewEngine class from RazorViewEngine class (instead of WebFormViewEngine) to work correctly.

Answer 1

It looks like you are using WebFormViewEngine, if that is the case you should not registere razor view files in WebFormViewEngine, your CMSViewEngine class should only contain WebForm based view files extensions like:

public class CMSViewEngine : WebFormViewEngine
{
    public CMSViewEngine()
    {
        MasterLocationFormats = new string[]
        {
        "~/bin/Views/{1}/{0}.master",
        "~/bin/Views/Shared/{0}.master"
        };

        ViewLocationFormats = new string[]
        {
        "~/bin/Views/{1}/{0}.aspx",
        "~/bin/Views/{1}/{0}.ascx",
        "~/bin/Views/Shared/{0}.aspx",
        "~/bin/Views/Shared/{0}.ascx"
        };
    }
}

Answer 2

Just in case you are doing it with .NET Core you can just put the path to the view in bin folder and pass your model through.

 return View(@"bin\Debug\netcoreapp1.0\Views\Test.cshtml", new ReportLibrary.Person());