asp.net mvc - What does the Web.Config file do in the views folder of a MVC project

Question

I'm having some problems with deploying my application and while troubleshooting, I came across the Web.Config file in the Views folder. In an attempt to narrow down the possibilities of sources to my problem, I tried to find out the purpose of that ~Web.Config` file but can't really find much information.

So basically my questions are:

1. What does the Web.config file do in the Views folder of a MVC project?
2. Is it required?

In Asp.Net webforms, I believe that to use a separate web.config file in a folder, that folder has to be set as a virtual folder in IIS. Is this the case in MVC (i.e. does the Views folder need to be configured as a virtual folder)?

Answer 1

No, you do not need to configure a virtual folder because of this extra web.config file.

The web.config file exists in the Views folders to prevent access to your views by any means other than your controller. In the MVC design pattern, controllers are supposed to route requests and return a rendered view to the calling client.

In other words, your view at www.mydomain.com/MySuperController/AwesomeAction1/SweetPage.aspx should not be directly accessible.

If you peek at the web.config file it actually registers the HttpNotFoundHandler to all paths and verbs:

<add path="*" verb="*" type="System.Web.HttpNotFoundHandler"/>

Or, in IIS 7 it might look like

<add name="BlockViewHandler" path="*.aspx" verb="*" 
    preCondition="integratedMode" type="System.Web.HttpNotFoundHandler"/>