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C# ASP.NET MVC Forms Finishing Our CRUD Web App Creating a Partial View for Our Form

Daniel Hildreth
Daniel Hildreth
16,170 Points

Encountering _EntryForm not found or no supported view engine...

So my code looks the same as the video, yet I'm getting a buggy error. When I hit F5 to run my app, I get this error:

An exception of type 'System.InvalidOperationException' occurred in System.Web.Mvc.dll but was not handled in user code

Additional information: The partial view '_EntryForm' was not found or no view engine supports the searched locations. The following locations were searched:

  • $exception {"The partial view '_EntryForm' was not found or no view engine supports the searched locations. The following locations were searched:\r\n~/Views/Entries/_EntryForm.aspx\r\n~/Views/Entries/_EntryForm.ascx\r\n~/Views/Shared/_EntryForm.aspx\r\n~/Views/Shared/_EntryForm.ascx\r\n~/Views/Entries/_EntryForm.cshtml\r\n~/Views/Entries/_EntryForm.vbhtml\r\n~/Views/Shared/_EntryForm.cshtml\r\n~/Views/Shared/_EntryForm.vbhtml"} System.InvalidOperationException

Does anyone know why I am getting this error?

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points

Try sharing your code (or your github repo) here.

You might be overlooking a typo or some other issue that is causing the problem, and perhaps someone else can help you spot it when they see your code.

3 Answers

James Churchill
STAFF
James Churchill
Treehouse Teacher

Daniel,

Looking at the error message, you can see the locations that MVC is looking within for your partial view.

~/Views/Entries/EntryForm.aspx
~/Views/Entries/_EntryForm.ascx
~/Views/Shared/EntryForm.aspx
~/Views/Shared/EntryForm.ascx
~/Views/Entries/EntryForm.cshtml
~/Views/Entries/_EntryForm.vbhtml
~/Views/Shared/_EntryForm.cshtml
~/Views/Shared/EntryForm.vbhtml

Looking at your GitHub repo, it looks like the "_EntryForm.cshtml" partial view is located in the "Views" folder. I'd try moving that file to either the "Views/Entries" or "Views/Shared" folder.

If a partial view is only shared across views for a single controller, I'd recommend placing the partial view in views folder for that controller. If a partial view is shared across views for more than one controller, I'd place the partial view in the "Shared" folder.

Hope this helps.

Thanks ~James

Daniel Hildreth
Daniel Hildreth
16,170 Points

Thank you James, that fixed my issue. Amazing a simple folder moving can make such a big difference.

Daniel Hildreth
Daniel Hildreth
16,170 Points

Steven it is on GitHub. Didn't think to post that part earlier. Here is the link to the GitHub page.

https://github.com/HanSolo0001/Fitness-Frog

Here is also a link to the latest video on that part of the code where I noticed it giving that error.

https://teamtreehouse.com/library/creating-a-partial-view-for-our-form

Daniel Hildreth
Daniel Hildreth
16,170 Points

Here is the physical code too so you don't have to go to GitHub for it (sorry for it being long).

_EntryForm.cshtml

@model Treehouse.FitnessFrog.Models.Entry
@using Treehouse.FitnessFrog.Models

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    @Html.ValidationSummary("The following errors were found:", new { @class = "alert alert-danger" })

    <div class="row">

        <div class="col-md-6">

            <div class="form-group">
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Date, new { @class = "control-label" })
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Date, "{0:d}", new { @class = "form-control datepicker" })
            </div>

            <div class="form-group">
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.ActivityId, new { @class = "control-label" })
                @Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.ActivityId, (SelectList)ViewBag.ActivitiesSelectListItems, "", new { @class = "form-control" })
            </div>

            <div class="form-group">
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Duration, new { @class = "control-label" })
                @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.Duration, new { @class = "form-control" })
            </div>

            <div class="form-group">
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Intensity, new { @class = "control-label" })
                <div>
                    <label class="radio-inline">
                        @Html.RadioButtonFor(m => m.Intensity, Entry.IntensityLevel.Low) @Entry.IntensityLevel.Low
                    </label>
                    <label class="radio-inline">
                        @Html.RadioButtonFor(m => m.Intensity, Entry.IntensityLevel.Medium) @Entry.IntensityLevel.Medium
                    </label>
                    <label class="radio-inline">
                        @Html.RadioButtonFor(m => m.Intensity, Entry.IntensityLevel.High) @Entry.IntensityLevel.High
                    </label>
                </div>
            </div>

            <div class="form-group">
                <div class="checkbox">
                    <label>
                        @Html.CheckBoxFor(m => m.Exclude) @Html.DisplayNameFor(m => m.Exclude)
                    </label>
                </div>
            </div>

        </div>

        <div class="col-md-6">

            <div class="form-group">
                @Html.LabelFor(m => m.Notes, new { @class = "control-label" })
                @Html.TextAreaFor(m => m.Notes, 14, 20, new { @class = "form-control" })
            </div>

        </div>

        <div class="col-md-12">
            <div class="pad-top">
                <button type="submit" class="btn btn-success btn-lg margin-right">
                    <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-save"></span> Save
                </button>
                <a href="@Url.Action("Index")" class="btn btn-warning btn-lg">
                    <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-remove"></span> Cancel
                </a>
            </div>
        </div>

    </div>
}

Edit.cshtml

@model Treehouse.FitnessFrog.Models.Entry

@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Edit Entry";
}

<h2>@ViewBag.Title</h2>

@Html.Partial("_EntryForm")

Add.cshtml

@model Treehouse.FitnessFrog.Models.Entry

@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Add Entry";
}

<h2>@ViewBag.Title</h2>

@Html.Partial("_EntryForm")

EntriesController.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using Treehouse.FitnessFrog.Data;
using Treehouse.FitnessFrog.Models;

namespace Treehouse.FitnessFrog.Controllers
{
    public class EntriesController : Controller
    {
        private EntriesRepository _entriesRepository = null;

        public EntriesController()
        {
            _entriesRepository = new EntriesRepository();
        }

        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            List<Entry> entries = _entriesRepository.GetEntries();

            // Calculate the total activity.
            double totalActivity = entries
                .Where(e => e.Exclude == false)
                .Sum(e => e.Duration);

            // Determine the number of days that have entries.
            int numberOfActiveDays = entries
                .Select(e => e.Date)
                .Distinct()
                .Count();

            ViewBag.TotalActivity = totalActivity;
            ViewBag.AverageDailyActivity = (totalActivity / (double)numberOfActiveDays);

            return View(entries);
        }

        public ActionResult Add()
        {
            var entry = new Entry()
            {
                Date = DateTime.Today,
            };

            SetupActivitiesSelectListItems();

            return View(entry);
        }

        [HttpPost]
        public ActionResult Add(Entry entry)
        {
            ValidateEntry(entry);

            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                _entriesRepository.AddEntry(entry);

                return RedirectToAction("Index");
            }

            SetupActivitiesSelectListItems();

            return View(entry);
        }

        public ActionResult Edit(int? id)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest);
            }

            Entry entry = _entriesRepository.GetEntry((int)id);

            if (entry == null)
            {
                return HttpNotFound();
            }

            SetupActivitiesSelectListItems();

            return View(entry);
        }

        [HttpPost]
        public ActionResult Edit(Entry entry)
        {
            ValidateEntry(entry);

            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                _entriesRepository.UpdateEntry(entry);

                return RedirectToAction("Index");
            }

            SetupActivitiesSelectListItems();

            return View(entry);
        }

        public ActionResult Delete(int? id)
        {
            if (id == null)
            {
                return new HttpStatusCodeResult(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest);
            }

            return View();
        }

        private void ValidateEntry(Entry entry)
        {
            // If there aren't any "Duration" field validation errors
            // then make sure that the duration is greater than "0".
            if (ModelState.IsValidField("Duration") && entry.Duration <= 0)
            {
                ModelState.AddModelError("Duration", "The Duration field value must be greater than '0'.");
            }
        }

        private void SetupActivitiesSelectListItems()
        {
            ViewBag.ActivitiesSelectListItems = new SelectList(Data.Data.Activities, "Id", "Name");
        }
    }
}

_Layout.cshtml

@{ 
    var applicationName = "Fitness Frog";
}

@helper GetAddEntryButtonVisibility()
{
    if ((string)ViewContext.RouteData.Values["controller"] == "Entries" && 
        (string)ViewContext.RouteData.Values["action"] == "Add")
    {
        <text>hidden</text>
    }
    else
    {
        <text>visible</text>
    }
}

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>@ViewBag.Title - @applicationName</title>
    <link href="~/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon">
    <link href="~/favicon.ico" rel="icon" type="image/x-icon">
    <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans|Secular+One" rel="stylesheet">
    @*<link href="~/Content/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
    <link href="~/Content/bootstrap-datepicker3.min.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />*@
    <link href="~/Content/site.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
    <script src="~/Scripts/modernizr-2.6.2.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <div class="navbar navbar-inverse navbar-fixed-top">
        <div class="container">
            <div class="navbar-header">
                <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle" data-toggle="collapse" data-target=".navbar-collapse">
                    <span class="icon-bar"></span>
                    <span class="icon-bar"></span>
                    <span class="icon-bar"></span>
                </button>
                <a class="navbar-brand" href="@Url.Action("Index", "Entries")">
                    @Html.Partial("_Logo", new ViewDataDictionary { { "element-id", "logo" } })
                    @applicationName
                </a>
            </div>
            <div class="navbar-collapse collapse">
                <ul class="nav navbar-nav">
                </ul>
                <a href="@Url.Action("Add", "Entries")" style="visibility: @GetAddEntryButtonVisibility()"
                   class="btn btn-primary navbar-btn navbar-right">
                    <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-plus"></span> Add Entry
                </a>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="container body-content">
        @RenderBody()
        <footer>
            @Html.Partial("_Logo", new ViewDataDictionary { { "element-id", "footer_logo" } })
            <p>&copy; @DateTime.Now.Year @applicationName, All Rights Reserved.</p>
        </footer>
    </div>

    <script src="~/Scripts/jquery-1.10.2.min.js"></script>
    <script src="~/Scripts/jquery.validate.min.js"></script>
    <script src="~/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.min.js"></script>
    <script src="~/Scripts/jquery.validate.bootstrap.js"></script>
    <script src="~/Scripts/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
    <script src="~/Scripts/bootstrap-datepicker.min.js"></script>
    <script>
        $('input.datepicker').datepicker({
                format: 'm/d/yyyy'
        })
    </script>
</body>
</html>
Daniel Hildreth
Daniel Hildreth
16,170 Points

I am still getting this error. Any advice?

An exception of type 'System.InvalidOperationException' occurred in System.Web.Mvc.dll but was not handled in user code

Additional information: The partial view '_EntryForm' was not found or no view engine supports the searched locations. The following locations were searched:

$exception {"The partial view 'EntryForm' was not found or no view engine supports the searched locations. The following locations were searched:
\r\n~/Views/Entries/EntryForm.aspx
\r\n~/Views/Entries/_EntryForm.ascx
\r\n~/Views/Shared/EntryForm.aspx
\r\n~/Views/Shared/EntryForm.ascx
\r\n~/Views/Entries/EntryForm.cshtml
\r\n~/Views/Entries/_EntryForm.vbhtml
\r\n~/Views/Shared/_EntryForm.cshtml
\r\n~/Views/Shared/EntryForm.vbhtml"} 
System.InvalidOperationException