How to use MVC 3 @Html.ActionLink inside c# code

Question

I want to call the @Html.ActionLink method inside a c# function to return a string with a link on it.

Something like this:

string a = \"Email is lock         


        

Answer 1

You could create an HtmlHelper extension method:

public static string GetUnlockText(this HtmlHelper helper)
{
    string a = "Email is locked, click " + helper.ActionLink("here to unlock.", "unlock");
    return a;
}

or if you mean to generate this link outside of the scope of an aspx page you'll need to create a reference to an HtmlHelper and then generate. I do this in a UrlUtility static class (I know, people hate static classes and the word Utility, but try to focus). Overload as necessary:

public static string ActionLink(string linkText, string actionName, string controllerName)
{
    var httpContext = new HttpContextWrapper(System.Web.HttpContext.Current);
    var requestContext = new RequestContext(httpContext, new RouteData());
    var urlHelper = new UrlHelper(requestContext);

    return urlHelper.ActionLink(linkText, actionName, controllerName, null);
}

Then you can write the following from wherever your heart desires:

string a = "Email is locked, click " + UrlUtility.ActionLink("here to unlock.", "unlock", "controller");