The names of the files and folders under the \Views application sub-folder will now automatically be updated when you perform controller class rename or action method rename using the “Rename” refactoring command in VS 2008.  VS 2008 will apply the standard convention-based naming pattern to existing view files/folders when the Controller class is updated.

View Improvements

The RC build includes a number of view-specific enhancements that were incorporated based on feedback during the preview releases.

Views without Code-Behind Files

Based on feedback we’ve changed view-templates to not have a code-behind file by default.  This change helps reinforce the purpose of views in a MVC application (which are intended to be purely about rendering and to not contain any non-rendering related code), and for most people eliminates unused files in the project.

The RC build now adds C# and VB syntax support for inheriting view templates from base classes that use generics.  For example, below we are using this with the Edit.aspx view template – whose “inherits” attribute derives from the ViewPage<Product> type:

Figure 22

One nice benefit of not using a code-behind file is that you'll now get immediate intellisense within view template files when you add them to the project.  With previous builds you had to do a build/compile immediately after creating a view in order to get code intellisense within it.  The RC makes the workflow of adding and immediately editing a view compile-free and much more seamless.

Important: If you are upgrading a ASP.NET MVC project that was created with an earlier build make sure to follow the steps in the release notes – the web.config file under the \Views directory needs to be updated with some settings in order for the above generics based syntax to work.