404 Pages in ASP.NET MVC

Question

I'm building my first ASP.NET MVC website, and I'm trying to figure out how to implement a 404 page.

Should I create a controller called "404Controller?" If so, how do I then register this Controller with IIS so that it redirects 404s to that page? Also, in a situation where something is not found (in the database, for example) by some other Controller code, how would I redirect the request to my 404 page?

score 14 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 24 '10 at 00:44

14

There's no single answer for what your are trying to do, the simplest and what I like is using the HttpException class, e.g.

public ActionResult ProductDetails(int id) {

   Product p = this.repository.GetProductById(id);

   if (p == null) {
      throw new HttpException(404, "Not Found");
   }

   return View(p);
}

On web.config you can configure customError pages, e.g.

<customErrors mode="RemoteOnly" redirectMode="ResponseRewrite">
   <error statusCode="404" redirect="Views/Errors/Http404.aspx" />
</customErrors>

edited Dec 24 '10 at 00:44

David Murdoch

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answered Apr 04 '10 at 05:33

Max Toro

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The way IIS handles errors makes me sick. Don't redirect me just because I typed the URL incorrectly. – David Murdoch Nov 29 '10 at 21:42
4

@David Murdoch: With `redirectMode="ResponseRewrite"` there's no redirection. – Max Toro Nov 30 '10 at 00:25
well, I feel much better now. :-) – David Murdoch Dec 24 '10 at 00:43
@UpTheCreek It does work if the error page does not depend on MVC. – Max Toro Feb 04 '11 at 17:59

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 04 '10 at 05:40

7

The favorite option for me is to return a view called 404.

if (article == null)
    return View("404");

This will let you the option to have a generic 404 view in the shared folder, and a specific 404 view to the article controller.

In addition, a big plus is that there is no redirect over here.

answered Apr 04 '10 at 05:40

Fitzchak Yitzchaki

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Simple and customizable, I like it. – Max Toro Apr 04 '10 at 05:45
don't forget about the unhandled events like bad urls. try this solution: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/619895/how-can-i-properly-handle-404s-in-asp-net-mvc/2577095#2577095 – Matt Kocaj Apr 05 '10 at 06:16
1

True, you have also to change the status code. But you get the point. – Fitzchak Yitzchaki Jul 23 '10 at 01:18

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 10 '10 at 22:51

MVC 3 includes a HttpNotFoundResult class and Controller has a HttpNotFound static method too.

    public ActionResult Index(int id) {
        var myThing = Loader.GetById(id);
        if (myThing == null) {
            return HttpNotFound("Thing Not Found");
        }
        return View(myThing);
    }

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:24

0

Add an Application_EndRequest method to your MvcApplication per Marco's Better-Than-Unicorns MVC 404 Answer. To cause a "not found" error from your code, throw new HttpException(404, "Not Found").

edited May 23 '17 at 10:24

Community

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answered Aug 24 '12 at 21:00

Edward Brey

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 25 '13 at 15:01

In case it helps someone down the road...

Similar to Fitzchak's answer I have a custom 404 view in my shared folder. To return the correct status code I simply added this to the top of that view

@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Page Not Found";
    Response.StatusCode = 404;
}

worked great on my localhost but on my production server I had to add this line to the web config because IIS was catching the 404 status and putting up it's own 404 page.

<system.webServer>
    ...
    <httpErrors errorMode="Detailed" />
</system.webServer>

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 04 '10 at 05:35

0

You're correct, create a NotFoundController and map route to it, say /404 and then put the URL in your web.config file (see @R0MANARMY) answer.
You can just throw new HttpException(404, "Not Found") or if you don't want to throw exceptions (which is costly) you can simply set the status code to 404 via Response.StatusCode property and then return a View("My404Template") from your action methods.

answered Apr 04 '10 at 05:35

chakrit

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@chakrit: Won't asp.net mvc give you a 404 anyway without a NotFoundController? Or do you mean in case you want to redirect to something other than a static html 404 page? – Roman Apr 04 '10 at 05:37

404 Pages in ASP.NET MVC

6 Answers6