Using Virtual Paths in ASP.NET MVC 3

Question

I have a layout page which is shared across all of the views in my app. That view references the .css in my app. For the sake of reference, I currently have the following at the top of my _layout.cshtml file:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/themes/default/app.css" />

I am planning on taking this app and loading into a phone app via PhoneGap. Because of that, I cannot use /css/themes/default.app.css. Instead, I need to get it converted to a string that is relative to the path of the file. For instance, I need to dynamically generate a value that looks something like the following:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="../../../css/themes/default/app.css" />

The number of "../" will be determined based on how deep it is. I figured there would be a utility or something built into the ASP.NET MVC 3 framework to do this. However, I can't find anything. I have a LOT of files and I don't want to have to manually update all of the url patterns. Is there a utility that will automatically handle what I'm trying to acomplish? If so, how?

Thank you

Shyju · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-20 18:24:55Z

1

Use the UrlHelper.Content HTML Helper method .

This method Converts a virtual (relative) path to an application absolute path.

<link href="@Url.Content("~/css/themes/default/app.css")" 
                                       rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />

You may drop your css folder under the Content directory in the root of your MVC project

answered Jul 20, 2012 at 18:24

Shyju

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5 Comments

JavaScript Developer Over a year ago

when I use Url.Content, it converts "~/css/themes/default/app.css" to "/css/themes/default/app.css". What I need though is something like "../../css/themes/default/app.css"

Shyju Over a year ago

those files are outside your root ?

JavaScript Developer Over a year ago

I guess I'm not sure. The whole routing thing in MVC regularly confuses me. I will say that I have my css directory in MVC.csproj/resources and my cshtml files are in MVC.csproj/Views

Shyju Over a year ago

Use the conventions MVC provides. Keep your css/images inside the Content folder and use the HTML Helper methods

JavaScript Developer Over a year ago

is there anyway to salvage it if I'm already a long ways down my current path? Or is the only way to restructure my folders?

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