How is Error.cshtml called in ASP.NET MVC?

Question

I\'ve read a dozen similar questions on StackOverflow, but I can\'t seem to grasp this. With regards to the custom errors node in the web.config and the HandleErrorAttribute, h

Answer 1

Inside your Global.asax you have the following method:

public static void RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilterCollection filters)
{
    filters.Add(new HandleErrorAttribute());
}

This registers the HandleErrorAttribute as global action filter. This means that this handler is automatically applied to all controller actions. Now let's take a look at how this attribute is implemented by looking at the source code:

[SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Performance", "CA1813:AvoidUnsealedAttributes", Justification = "This attribute is AllowMultiple = true and users might want to override behavior.")]
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class | AttributeTargets.Method, Inherited = true, AllowMultiple = true)]
public class HandleErrorAttribute : FilterAttribute, IExceptionFilter {

    private const string _defaultView = "Error";

    private readonly object _typeId = new object();

    private Type _exceptionType = typeof(Exception);
    private string _master;
    private string _view;

    public Type ExceptionType {
        get {
            return _exceptionType;
        }
        set {
            if (value == null) {
                throw new ArgumentNullException("value");
            }
            if (!typeof(Exception).IsAssignableFrom(value)) {
                throw new ArgumentException(String.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture,
                    MvcResources.ExceptionViewAttribute_NonExceptionType, value.FullName));
            }

            _exceptionType = value;
        }
    }

    public string Master {
        get {
            return _master ?? String.Empty;
        }
        set {
            _master = value;
        }
    }

    public override object TypeId {
        get {
            return _typeId;
        }
    }

    public string View {
        get {
            return (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(_view)) ? _view : _defaultView;
        }
        set {
            _view = value;
        }
    }

    public virtual void OnException(ExceptionContext filterContext) {
        if (filterContext == null) {
            throw new ArgumentNullException("filterContext");
        }
        if (filterContext.IsChildAction) {
            return;
        }

        // If custom errors are disabled, we need to let the normal ASP.NET exception handler
        // execute so that the user can see useful debugging information.
        if (filterContext.ExceptionHandled || !filterContext.HttpContext.IsCustomErrorEnabled) {
            return;
        }

        Exception exception = filterContext.Exception;

        // If this is not an HTTP 500 (for example, if somebody throws an HTTP 404 from an action method),
        // ignore it.
        if (new HttpException(null, exception).GetHttpCode() != 500) {
            return;
        }

        if (!ExceptionType.IsInstanceOfType(exception)) {
            return;
        }

        string controllerName = (string)filterContext.RouteData.Values["controller"];
        string actionName = (string)filterContext.RouteData.Values["action"];
        HandleErrorInfo model = new HandleErrorInfo(filterContext.Exception, controllerName, actionName);
        filterContext.Result = new ViewResult {
            ViewName = View,
            MasterName = Master,
            ViewData = new ViewDataDictionary<HandleErrorInfo>(model),
            TempData = filterContext.Controller.TempData
        };
        filterContext.ExceptionHandled = true;
        filterContext.HttpContext.Response.Clear();
        filterContext.HttpContext.Response.StatusCode = 500;

        // Certain versions of IIS will sometimes use their own error page when
        // they detect a server error. Setting this property indicates that we
        // want it to try to render ASP.NET MVC's error page instead.
        filterContext.HttpContext.Response.TrySkipIisCustomErrors = true;
    }
}

The source code contains comments and is more than self explanatory. The first thing it checks is whether you have enabled custom errors in your web.config (i.e. <customErrors mode="On">). If you haven't it does nothing => YSOD. If you have enabled custom errors then it renders the Error view passing it a model containing the exception stacktrace and other useful information.