Alternative to ViewBag.Title in ASP.NET MVC 3

Question

By default the new project template for ASP.NET MVC 3 adds the following to the default layout (masterpage in razor):

<         


        

Answer 1

I also do not use the ViewBag, at all.

At the top of _Layout.shtml ...

@model <YourWebAppNameSpace>.Models.Base.EveryPageViewModel

In _Layout.shtml ...

<title>@Model.Title</title>

In your Model ...

/// <summary>
/// Index View Model
/// </summary>
public class IndexViewViewModel : EveryPageViewModel {

}

In EveryPageViewModel

/// <summary>
/// Every Page View Model
/// </summary>
public abstract class EveryPageViewModel {
    /// <summary>
    /// Title
    /// </summary>
    public string Title { get; set; }
    /// <summary>
    /// Sub Title
    /// </summary>
    public string SubTitle { get; set; }
}

In your controller action

    /// <summary>
    /// Index
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public ActionResult Index() {
        var model = new IndexViewViewModel();
        model.Title = "Home";
        return View(model);
    }

Answer 2

we prefer strong title setting.. few sample from our BaseController class. (Page defines encapsulated view modal)

protected override ViewResult View(string viewName, string masterName, object model)
{
    if (model is Page)
    {
        ViewBag.Title = ((Page)model).Title;
        //HACK: SEO
        //TODO: SEO
    }
    return base.View(viewName, masterName, model);
}