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Creating a modular ASP.NET Core application

What you will build

You will build a modular ASP.NET Core MVC web application similar to the sample "Hello World" application included with Orchard Core. It includes a web application and a module. The web application provides the layout while the module registers a route and responds to homepage requests. You can refer to the following projects in Orchard Core for more information.

  • src/OrchardCore.Mvc.Web
  • src/OrchardCore.Modules/OrchardCore.Mvc.HelloWorld

What you will need

Creating an Orchard Core site and module

There are different ways to create sites and modules for Orchard Core. You can learn more about them here.

In this guide we will use our Code Generation Templates. You can install the latest stable release of the templates using this command:

dotnet new install OrchardCore.ProjectTemplates::2.1.6-*

Note

To use the development branch of the template add --nuget-source https://nuget.cloudsmith.io/orchardcore/preview/v3/index.json

Create an empty folder, called OrchardCore.Mvc, that will contain our projects. Open a terminal, navigate to that folder and run the following command to create the web application:

dotnet new ocmvc -n OrchardCore.Mvc.Web

Next, create the "Hello World" module.

dotnet new ocmodulemvc -n OrchardCore.Mvc.HelloWorld

Important

Add a project reference to the web application that points to the module.

dotnet add OrchardCore.Mvc.Web reference OrchardCore.Mvc.HelloWorld

Optionally, you can add a solution file that references both the web application and module in case you want to open a solution in Visual Studio.

dotnet new sln -n OrchardCore.Mvc
dotnet sln add OrchardCore.Mvc.Web\OrchardCore.Mvc.Web.csproj
dotnet sln add OrchardCore.Mvc.HelloWorld\OrchardCore.Mvc.HelloWorld.csproj

Testing the resulting application

From the OrchardCore.Mvc root folder containing both projects, run the following command to start the web application:

dotnet run --project .\OrchardCore.Mvc.Web\OrchardCore.Mvc.Web.csproj

Note

If you are using the development branch of the templates, run dotnet restore .\MySite\MySite.csproj --source https://nuget.cloudsmith.io/orchardcore/preview/v3/index.json before running the application

Your application should now be running and listening on the following ports:

Now listening on: https://localhost:5001
Now listening on: http://localhost:5000
Application started. Press Ctrl+C to shut down.

Open a browser and navigate to https://localhost:5001/OrchardCore.Mvc.HelloWorld/Home/Index. It should display Hello from OrchardCore.Mvc.HelloWorld.

The Layout is from the main web application project, while the controller, action and view are from the module project.

Registering a custom route

By default, all routes in modules follow the pattern {area}/{controller}/{action}, where {area} is the name of the module. We will change the route of the view in the module to respond to homepage requests.

In the Startup.cs file of OrchardCore.Mvc.HelloWorld, add a custom route in the Configure() method.

    routes.MapAreaControllerRoute(
        name: "Home",
        areaName: "OrchardCore.Mvc.HelloWorld",
        pattern: "",
        defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index" }
    );

You can also change the Index.cshtml file in the module's Views -> Home folder so that it displays Hello World similar to the project in Orchard Core.

<h1>Hello World</h1>

Restart the application and navigate to the homepage at https://localhost:5001 to display the Hello World message.

Summary

You just created a modular ASP.NET Core MVC web application using Orchard Core. It includes a web application that supplies the layout and a custom module that responds to homepage requests.

Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoPlECp31Oo