Viewstart Page in ASP.NET MVC 3

_Viewstart Page in ASP.NET MVC 3

• The _ViewStart.cshtml page is a special view page containing the statement declaration to include the Layout page.
• Instead of declaring the Layout page in every view page, we can use the _ViewStart page.
• When a View Page Start is running, the “_ViewStart.cshtml” page will assign the Layout page for it.
• So the application will be less maintainable.

How to create _a Viewstart page?

Add a View named _ViewStart to the project. (Remember the name “_ViewStart” is important.).

Note. If it already exists, do not add any more.

Let’s see its effect. There is no statement to include “Layout.cshtml”.

Run the application and watch the output.

This is because the Layout file is included on the “_ViewStart.cshtml“ page.

Let’s comment out the code line in the _ViewStart page run the application again and watch the output.

Run the application.

Note. You can also explicitly add the Layout.cshtml page to the Target page.

The Benefit of the _ViewStart.cshtml page

• Instead of declaring the Layout page individually on every page, we can include it in one place only.
• So the application became maintainable.
• You can still add another page as your Layout page to individual pages, regardless of your _ViewStart page.

So remove the Layout page and the declaration from individual pages and put it in the “_ViewStart.cshtml” page only.

Watch the difference

Run the application