How to: Add a Controller to an MVC Application in Visual Studio

Introduction

In an ASP.NET MVC application, a controller is a class that processes incoming requests, handles user interactions, and executes appropriate application logic. An MVC controller class is derived from the Controller class, which provides methods for rendering a view and for switching between controller actions.

An MVC application can have any number of controllers. The MVC application that is generated when you start a new project has only one controller, which is named HomeController.

This topic shows how to add a new controller to an existing MVC application.

To add a controller to an MVC application

Open the MVC application in Visual Studio.
In Solution Explorer, right-click the Controllers folder, click Add, and then click New Item.

The Add New Item dialog box is displayed.
Under Categories, expand either Visual Basic or Visual C# (depending on your project), expand Web, and then click MVC.
Under Templates, select MVC Controller Class.
In the Name box, type the name of the controller, using "Controller" as a suffix.

Note
The ASP.NET MVC framework requires controller names to end with "Controller", such as HomeController, GameController, or LoginController.
Click Add.

Visual Studio adds the controller class to the project.

Example

When Visual Studio generates the new controller, it includes an action-method stub. The following example shows a newly generated controller class.

Public Class ProductController
        Inherits Controller
    Public Function Index()
        ' Add action logic here
        Throw New NotImplementedException()
    End Function
End Class

public class ProductController : Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        // Add action logic here
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }
}

How to: Add a Controller to an MVC Application in Visual Studio

Introduction

To add a controller to an MVC application

Example

See Also