Can I get the controller from the HttpContext?

Question

Given an HttpContext (or HttpContextBase), is there a way to get an instance of the Controller?

Answer 1

The HttpContext will hold a reference to the MvcHandler, which will hold a reference to the RouteData, which will hold a reference to what controller is being invoked by a particular route.

NB: This doesn't give you the actual controller, only the controller that the specific route is going to catch.

GetController(HttpContextBase httpContext)
{
    var routeData = ((MvcHandler)httpContext.Handler).RequestContext.RouteData;

    var routeValues = routeData.Values;
    var matchedRouteBase = routeData.Route;
    var matchedRoute = matchedRouteBase as Route;

    if (matchedRoute != null)
    {
        Route = matchedRoute.Url ?? string.Empty;
    }

    AssignRouteValues(httpContext, routeValues);
}
protected virtual VirtualPathData getVirtualPathData(HttpContextBase httpContext, RouteValueDictionary routeValues)
{
    return RouteTable.Routes.GetVirtualPath(((MvcHandler)httpContext.Handler).RequestContext, routeValues);
}

private void AssignRouteValues(HttpContextBase httpContext, RouteValueDictionary routeValues)
{
    var virtualPathData = getVirtualPathData(httpContext, routeValues);

    if (virtualPathData != null)
    {
        var vpdRoute = virtualPathData.Route as Route;
        if (vpdRoute != null)
        {
            RouteDefaults = vpdRoute.Defaults;
            RouteConstraints = vpdRoute.Constraints;
            RouteDataTokens = virtualPathData.DataTokens;
            RouteValues = routeValues;
        }
    }
}

This code may look familiar, it's because I've adapted it from Phil Haack's route debugger source code.