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How do I map the root directory to a controller in c# using web api?

I have a c# web api (.net 4) web application. I have several controllers. I'd like to map a new controller to the root directory for the web app.
So, I have http://localhost/listproducts
I'd like the url to be http://localhost
But I don't know how to tell the controller to use the root directory. It seems to be configured based on the name.
The solution I went with is:
config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
name: "ListProductsApi",
routeTemplate: "",
defaults: new { controller = "ListProducts" } // Parameter defaults
);
The trick is the defaults: new { controller = "ListProducts" } line. (I need a POST action so I just left action out. Apparently when you want the root route "/" you need to explicitly name the controller.

You simply need to change the default route you already have. It should currently look something like this:
routes.MapRoute(
name: "Default",
url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index",
id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);
Change controller = "Home" to controller = "listproducts".

It should be fairly easy, just change a default route in your global.asax.cs and instead of
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional } // Parameter defaults
);
change it to
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "ListProducts", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional } // Parameter defaults
);

Set default action (instead of index) for controller in ASP.NET MVC 3

I have a controller called Dashboard with 3 actions: Summary, Details, and Status, none of which take an ID or any other parameters. I want the URL /Dashboard to route to the Summary action of the Dashboard controller, as /Dashboard/Summary does, but I can't figure out the correct way to add the route. In Global.asax.cs, I have the following:
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new {controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional} // Parameter defaults
);
routes.MapRoute(
"/Dashboard",
"Dashboard",
new { controller = "Dashboard", action = "Summary" }
);
For the second part, I've also tried:
routes.MapRoute(
"/Dashboard",
"{controller}",
new { controller = "Dashboard", action = "Summary" }
);
and
routes.MapRoute(
"/Dashboard",
"{controller}",
new { action = "Summary" }
);
but I always get a 404 when trying to access /Dashboard. I'm pretty sure I'm missing something about the format for the parameters to MapRoute, but I don't know what it is...

Move your Dashboard route in front of the Default route:
routes.MapRoute(
"Dashboard",
"Dashboard/{action}",
new { controller = "Dashboard", action = "Summary" }
);
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new {controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional} // Parameter defaults
);
The order of routes changes everything. Also, notice the changes I made to the Dashboard route. The first parameter is the name of the route. Second is the URL, which match URLs that start with Dashboard, and allows for other actions in your Dashboard controller. As you can see, it will default to the Summary action.

You need to declare the "Default" catch-all route last.

This set default Action for any Controller asp.net:
routes.MapRoute("Dashboard", "{controller}/{action}",
defaults: new { controller = "Dashboard", action = "Summary" });

MVC Razor routing suggestion

I have a web site with something like this:
http://website/Controller/Action/Id
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Controller", action = "Action", id = UrlParameter.Optional } // Parameter defaults
);
Is there any way to route to the same action if the url changes to be
http://website/Action/Id
I was trying to change global.asax but nothing is working.

Based on how I'm reading your question, you're saying that you may only ever have one controller and want to be able to route all actions to that single controller?
If I'm reading it correctly, you should be able to do something similar to this:
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Controller", action = "Action", id = UrlParameter.Optional } // Parameter defaults
);

Passing a parameter to an Index view

Pretty basic question here. How come I get a 404 error when I try to view
/Vendors/123
But I can see the page if I go to
/Vendors/Index/123
Is there any way for me to make it work the first way? I'm just using the default routes being registered in Global.asax.

Because that's how the default route is defined. If you don't want to specify an actionname you could modify it like this:
routes.MapRoute(
"Default",
"{controller}/{id}",
new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);
This being said you probably shouldn't be doing this because now in your route you do not have the possibility to specify the action name that you wish to invoke on a given controller which means that you can only have a single action on each controller and that action would be Index. On the other hand if you wanted to do this on some specific controller you could still preserve the default route and add another one:
routes.MapRoute(
"Vendors",
"vendors/{id}",
new { controller = "Vendors", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);
routes.MapRoute(
"Default",
"{controller}/{action}/{id}",
new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);

Because in your basic routing {id} expects after action name, but you are trying to put it after controller name.
routes.MapRoute(
"Default", // Route name
"{controller}/{action}/{id}", // URL with parameters
new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional } // Parameter defaults
);
Change your rout to accept {id} just after {controller}. Just like #Darin described.

MVC 3 How to use MapRoute

Could someone show me how to use the MapRoute method? I have tried creating my own routes, but it's not working. What i want to accomplish is a route that routes "http://servername/home/default.aspx" into controller "Home" and action "Default". Also, would it be possible to say that if the user is browsing the default.aspx "file", it would actually point to the "Index" action?
I have tried reading the MSDN references and googling, but it didn't make me any wiser.

Probably too late to help the developer who raised the question but may help someone else. New to MVC but what I found is the map routes seem to be processed in the order they are added. I had a similar problem, my specific route was not working until I started adding the default route as the last route.
If the default map route is added before your custom one and your custom URL matches the structure defined by the default map route you will never reach your custom route.

The route you want to configure the first part of your question is:
routes.MapRoute(
"",
"home/default.aspx",
new { controller = "Home", action = "Default" }
);
Assuming you wish to 'browse' default.aspx with some sort of parameter you can do something like:
routes.MapRoute(
"",
"home/default.aspx/{param}",
new { controller = "Home", action = "Default", param = UrlParameter.Optional }
);
And you would then need to create your Default action to accept string param.

You also have to make sure the parameter name is the same as the action's parameter name.
Example:
routes.MapRoute(
name: "MyName",
url: "{controller}/{action}/{myParam}",
defaults: new { controller = "MyController", action = "MyAction", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);
routes.MapRoute(
name: "Default",
url: "{controller}/{action}/{id}",
defaults: new { controller = "Home", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
);
MyController:
public ActionResult MyAction(string myParam = "")
{
}