In order to be able to add controllers in my ASP.NET Core app, I can add either
services.AddControllersWithViews()
or
services.AddMvc()
in ConfigureServices method at Startup class.
It looks like both of them are working fine for me. I would like to learn which one is better under which circumstances?
As far as I know, services.AddMvc() was the older way, but still available.
If I keep using services.AddMvc() would it be a problem in the future?
The source code speaks for itself
MvcServiceCollectionExtensions.AddMvc()
/// <summary>
/// Adds MVC services to the specified <see cref="IServiceCollection" />.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="services">The <see cref="IServiceCollection" /> to add services to.</param>
/// <returns>An <see cref="IMvcBuilder"/> that can be used to further configure the MVC services.</returns>
public static IMvcBuilder AddMvc(this IServiceCollection services)
{
if (services == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(services));
}
services.AddControllersWithViews();
return services.AddRazorPages();
}
/// <summary>
/// Adds MVC services to the specified <see cref="IServiceCollection" />.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="services">The <see cref="IServiceCollection" /> to add services to.</param>
/// <param name="setupAction">An <see cref="Action{MvcOptions}"/> to configure the provided <see cref="MvcOptions"/>.</param>
/// <returns>An <see cref="IMvcBuilder"/> that can be used to further configure the MVC services.</returns>
public static IMvcBuilder AddMvc(this IServiceCollection services, Action<MvcOptions> setupAction)
{
if (services == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(services));
}
if (setupAction == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(setupAction));
}
var builder = services.AddMvc();
builder.Services.Configure(setupAction);
return builder;
}
MvcServiceCollectionExtensions.AddControllersWithViews()
/// <summary>
/// Adds services for controllers to the specified <see cref="IServiceCollection"/>. This method will not
/// register services used for pages.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="services">The <see cref="IServiceCollection" /> to add services to.</param>
/// <returns>An <see cref="IMvcBuilder"/> that can be used to further configure the MVC services.</returns>
/// <remarks>
/// <para>
/// This method configures the MVC services for the commonly used features with controllers with views. This
/// combines the effects of <see cref="MvcCoreServiceCollectionExtensions.AddMvcCore(IServiceCollection)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcApiExplorerMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddApiExplorer(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcCoreMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddAuthorization(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcCorsMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddCors(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcDataAnnotationsMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddDataAnnotations(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcCoreMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddFormatterMappings(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="TagHelperServicesExtensions.AddCacheTagHelper(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcViewFeaturesMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddViews(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// and <see cref="MvcRazorMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddRazorViewEngine(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>.
/// </para>
/// <para>
/// To add services for pages call <see cref="AddRazorPages(IServiceCollection)"/>.
/// </para>
/// </remarks>
public static IMvcBuilder AddControllersWithViews(this IServiceCollection services)
{
if (services == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(services));
}
var builder = AddControllersWithViewsCore(services);
return new MvcBuilder(builder.Services, builder.PartManager);
}
/// <summary>
/// Adds services for controllers to the specified <see cref="IServiceCollection"/>. This method will not
/// register services used for pages.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="services">The <see cref="IServiceCollection" /> to add services to.</param>
/// <param name="configure">An <see cref="Action{MvcOptions}"/> to configure the provided <see cref="MvcOptions"/>.</param>
/// <returns>An <see cref="IMvcBuilder"/> that can be used to further configure the MVC services.</returns>
/// <remarks>
/// <para>
/// This method configures the MVC services for the commonly used features with controllers with views. This
/// combines the effects of <see cref="MvcCoreServiceCollectionExtensions.AddMvcCore(IServiceCollection)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcApiExplorerMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddApiExplorer(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcCoreMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddAuthorization(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcCorsMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddCors(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcDataAnnotationsMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddDataAnnotations(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcCoreMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddFormatterMappings(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="TagHelperServicesExtensions.AddCacheTagHelper(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// <see cref="MvcViewFeaturesMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddViews(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>,
/// and <see cref="MvcRazorMvcCoreBuilderExtensions.AddRazorViewEngine(IMvcCoreBuilder)"/>.
/// </para>
/// <para>
/// To add services for pages call <see cref="AddRazorPages(IServiceCollection)"/>.
/// </para>
/// </remarks>
public static IMvcBuilder AddControllersWithViews(this IServiceCollection services, Action<MvcOptions> configure)
{
if (services == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(services));
}
// This method excludes all of the view-related services by default.
var builder = AddControllersWithViewsCore(services);
if (configure != null)
{
builder.AddMvcOptions(configure);
}
return new MvcBuilder(builder.Services, builder.PartManager);
}
As you can see AddMvc is basically wrapping a call to AddControllersWithViews, with the addition of calling AddRazorPages.
If I keep using services.AddMvc() would it be a problem in the future?
There is really no way to answer that accurately.
Follow the advice provided by currently available documentation to avoid any unwanted behavior
AddControllersWithViews covers MVC, and AddMvc covers both MVC and Razor Pages. I never would have guessed that.