Do you use <%: %> or <%= %> for html helpers in ASP.NET MVC 2.0?

Question

I know they now have this in ASP.NET MVC 2.0 <%: Model.CustomerName %>

So when you make HTML helpers is it better to use this way now (provided that you do not want to do HTML encoding)?

Answer 1

Yes, you always want to use <%: Model.CustomerName %> from now on where you can. Only in very specific cases should you use <%= %> but try not to use it at all.

If you are creating your own html helpers that you don't want to be encoded, then just return a MvcHtmlString from them.

E.g. This is a extension method I created to display a tick icon if the passed in value is true.

public static MvcHtmlString MECross(this HtmlHelper html, string value, string text)
{
    if (Convert.ToBoolean(value))
    {
        string spanTag = string.Format("<span class=\"replace icon-cross\" title=\"{0}\"><em></em>{1}</span>",
                                        html.AttributeEncode(text),
                                        html.Encode(text));

        return MvcHtmlString.Create(spanTag);
    }

    return MvcHtmlString.Empty;
}

Note that I Encode and AttributeEncode anything that could be dangerous in my extension method and then return a MvcHtmlString.

HTHs,
Chares