Asp.net-mvc – Multiple master pages in a single application

Here's what I came up with, and it's working for me. I added the following method(s) to my controller base class. (You can always make these static methods somewhere else that accept a controller as a parameter I suppose)

MVC2 .ascx style

protected string RenderViewToString<T>(string viewPath, T model) {
  ViewData.Model = model;
  using (var writer = new StringWriter()) {
    var view = new WebFormView(ControllerContext, viewPath);
    var vdd = new ViewDataDictionary<T>(model);
    var viewCxt = new ViewContext(ControllerContext, view, vdd,
                                new TempDataDictionary(), writer);
    viewCxt.View.Render(viewCxt, writer);
    return writer.ToString();
  }
}

Razor .cshtml style

public string RenderRazorViewToString(string viewName, object model)
{
  ViewData.Model = model;
  using (var sw = new StringWriter())
  {
    var viewResult = ViewEngines.Engines.FindPartialView(ControllerContext,
                                                             viewName);
    var viewContext = new ViewContext(ControllerContext, viewResult.View,
                                 ViewData, TempData, sw);
    viewResult.View.Render(viewContext, sw);
    viewResult.ViewEngine.ReleaseView(ControllerContext, viewResult.View);
    return sw.GetStringBuilder().ToString();
  }
}

Edit: added Razor code.

I try and avoid FindControl unless there is no alternative, and there's usually a neater way.

How about including the path to your master page at the top of your child page

<%@ MasterType VirtualPath="~/MasterPages/PublicUI.Master" %>

Which will allow you to directly call code from your master page code behind.

Then from your master page code behind you could make a property return your control, or make a method on the master page get your control etc.

public Label SomethingLabel
{
    get { return lblSomething; }
}
//or
public string SomethingText
{
    get { return lblSomething.Text; }
    set { lblSomething.Text = value; }
}

Refers to a label on the master page

<asp:Label ID="lblSomething" runat="server" />

Usage:

Master.SomethingLabel.Text = "some text";
//or
Master.SomethingText = "some text";