Referencing internal class in MVC View

Question

If I reference an internal class from inside an MVC view, the AssemblyBuilder complains that it can't access the class (which makes sense) here:

System.Web.Compilation.AssemblyBuilder.Compile()

I've tried adding InternalsVisibleTo attributes for:

System
System.Web
System.Core

but I can't get it to work. Is this possible somehow?

Demo:

internal static class InternalClass
{
    public static string Foo = "bar";
}

<%@ Page Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage" %>
<%: InternalClass.Foo %>

Stack trace:

Compiler Error Message: CS0122: 'InternalClass' is inaccessible due to its protection level
at System.Web.Compilation.AssemblyBuilder.Compile()
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildProvidersCompiler.PerformBuild()
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CompileWebFile(VirtualPath virtualPath)
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVPathBuildResultInternal(VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean noBuild, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean allowBuildInPrecompile, Boolean throwIfNotFound, Boolean ensureIsUpToDate)
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVPathBuildResultWithNoAssert(HttpContext context, VirtualPath virtualPath, Boolean noBuild, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean allowBuildInPrecompile, Boolean throwIfNotFound, Boolean ensureIsUpToDate)
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.GetVirtualPathObjectFactory(VirtualPath virtualPath, HttpContext context, Boolean allowCrossApp, Boolean throwIfNotFound)
at System.Web.Compilation.BuildManager.CreateInstanceFromVirtualPath(VirtualPath virtualPath, Type requiredBaseType, HttpContext context, Boolean allowCrossApp)

Edit: Please don't suggest alternative ways of doing it, that isn't what im asking.

Thanks!

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:08

3

That's ASPX view engine, right? AFAIK it generates some code and dynamically compiles it into some randomly named assembly in Temporary Asp.Net Files folder. So, that means you are out of luck with InternalsVisibleTo attribute.

You may have some luck if you pre-compile your views e.g. Compile Views in ASP.NET MVC or Can I precompile my ASP.NET MVC application?

edited May 23 '17 at 12:08

Community

1
1

answered Jul 29 '11 at 13:52

Victor Kornov

66
1

Yeah just stepping through the innards with reflector and hit `GenerateRandomAssemblyName`, so youre right. preompilation is probably the only way. will look into it and report back. cheers – Andrew Bullock Jul 29 '11 at 14:03
dont think that will work either though, as it uses the same compiler internally, its just not at runtime, probably not possible without rewriting the view compiler :( – Andrew Bullock Jul 29 '11 at 14:18

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 29 '11 at 10:42

2

Views should use ViewModels. Why would you make some extra ninja level tricks to render the simple view :)? Define the view model

public class FooViewModel
{
     public string Foo {get;set;}
}

and in controller

public ActionResult FooAction
{
     FooViewModel model = new FooViewModel()
     {
          Foo = InternalClass.Foo
     };

     return View(model);
}

answered Jul 29 '11 at 10:42

archil

39,013
7
65
82

the code I've posted is just an analogy for simplicities sake – Andrew Bullock Jul 29 '11 at 13:41

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 31 '17 at 17:11

I needed also internal classes from Umbraco Assemblies and came up with this solution. Put this statement in the AssemblyInfo.cs from which you want to use Internal classes:

[assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("ActiveDirectory")]

Replace ActiveDirectory with your own Assembly. I wanted to use Internal classes from the Umbraco.Core assembly so I put this statement in the AssemblyInfo.cs from Umbraco.Core and it works like a charm.

Note! Do not forget to record all changes you made to Umbraco source code, so when there will be a new version you can bring in those changes you made.

Referencing internal class in MVC View

3 Answers3