How to create route with multiple optional string parameters in ASP.NET Core

Question

I have an application that is written in ASP.NET Core 5.0. I have a need to create a flexible route that would bind multiple string parameters.

for example, the route would look like this

/homes-for-sale-in-los-angeles-100/0-5000_price/condo,apartment_type/0-5_beds/0-4_baths/2_page

In the above URL the only required part will be /homes-for-sale-in-los-angeles-100. los-angeles is the city name and 100 is the id. The rest of it are just parameters. The 0-5000_price meaning I want to bind the value 0-5000 to a parameter called price.

Not always all the parameters are provided. Here are some different shapes of the same route

/homes-for-sale-in-los-angeles-100/condo,apartment_type
/homes-for-sale-in-los-angeles-100/0-5000_price/10_page
/homes-for-sale-in-los-angeles-100/condo_type/0-5000_price/2_page

Here is what I have done

[Route("/homes-for-sale-in-{city}-{id:int}.{filter?}/{page:int?}", Name = "HomesForSaleByCity")]
public async Task<IActionResult> Display(SearchViewModel viewModel)
{
    return View();
}

public class SearchViewModel 
{
    [Required]
    public int? Id { get; set; }
    
    public string City { get; set; }

    public string Price { get; set; }

    public string Type { get; set; }

    public string Beds { get; set; }

    public string Baths { get; set; }

    public int Page { get; set; }
}

How can I create a route that would allow multiple optional parameters and bind them correctly?

Using query string parameters is more suitable in this case. And also u can keep using the SearchViewModel like this public async Task<IActionResult> Display([FromQuery] SearchViewModel viewModel) — Eldar
– Eldar, Commented May 29, 2021 at 18:50
@Eldar query parameters are not SEO friendly. The URL in the question will provide a natural URL that is SEO friendly — Jay
– Jay, Commented May 29, 2021 at 19:03
@jdweng I don't think having multiple route is doable as there are lots of combination these filters. For example, Price, Type, and beds, Price and beds, bed and type.... I am looking for more of a robust solution that would just parse all these parameters and populate what is available — Jay
– Jay, Commented May 29, 2021 at 19:13
@Jay then you need a something like a capture-all kind of route and a regex processing of route parameters. Like this. It is for old asp.net but it can give you the idea — Eldar
– Eldar, Commented May 29, 2021 at 19:20

Eldar · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-30 11:01:57Z

1

Using a route definition like this will make it capture all those routes you provided :

[Route("homes-for-sale-in-{city}-{id}/{**catchAll}")]
[HttpGet]
public async Task<IActionResult> City(string city, string id, string catchAll)
{
  // Here you will parse the catchAll and extract the parameters        
  await Task.Delay(100);
  return this.Ok(catchAll);
}

Also please note that catchAll parameter can't be made optional. So a request like /homes-for-sale-in-los-angeles-100/ will result in 404.

answered May 30, 2021 at 11:01

Eldar

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4 Comments

Jay Over a year ago

This does not work. Its is throwing the following error

RoutePatternException: A path segment that contains more than one section, such as a literal section or a parameter, cannot contain a catch-all parameter.

Jay Over a year ago

Actually this code worked! Thank you so much!!

Taylor C. White Over a year ago

@Jay I have the same error message. How'd you solve for that?

Taylor C. White Over a year ago

Just kidding--I see, you just cannot have a segment after the catch-all...which makes sense!

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