Use GetView in addition to FindView for view discovery

Author: pranavkm

samples/Mvc.RenderViewToString/Program.cs

@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ public static void Main()
             var emailContent = RenderViewAsync(serviceScopeFactory).Result;
 
             Console.WriteLine(emailContent);
-            Console.ReadLine();
         }
 
         public static IServiceScopeFactory InitializeServices(string customApplicationBasePath = null)
@@ -53,7 +52,7 @@ public static Task<string> RenderViewAsync(IServiceScopeFactory scopeFactory)
                     UserData2 = 2
                 };
 
-                return helper.RenderViewToStringAsync("EmailTemplate", model);
+                return helper.RenderViewToStringAsync("Views/EmailTemplate.cshtml", model);
             }
         }
 
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ private static void ConfigureDefaultServices(IServiceCollection services, string
             else
             {
                 applicationName = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().GetName().Name;
-                fileProvider = new PhysicalFileProvider(AppContext.BaseDirectory);
+                fileProvider = new PhysicalFileProvider(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());
             }
 
             services.AddSingleton<IHostingEnvironment>(new HostingEnvironment

samples/Mvc.RenderViewToString/RazorViewToStringRenderer.cs

@@ -3,13 +3,15 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.IO;
+using System.Linq;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Abstractions;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ModelBinding;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Rendering;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ViewEngines;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ViewFeatures;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing;
 
@@ -31,18 +33,10 @@ public RazorViewToStringRenderer(
             _serviceProvider = serviceProvider;
         }
 
-        public async Task<string> RenderViewToStringAsync<TModel>(string name, TModel model)
+        public async Task<string> RenderViewToStringAsync<TModel>(string viewName, TModel model)
         {
             var actionContext = GetActionContext();
-
-            var viewEngineResult = _viewEngine.FindView(actionContext, name, false);
-
-            if (!viewEngineResult.Success)
-            {
-                throw new InvalidOperationException(string.Format("Couldn't find view '{0}'", name));
-            }
-
-            var view = viewEngineResult.View;
+            var view = FindView(actionContext, viewName);
 
             using (var output = new StringWriter())
             {
@@ -67,6 +61,28 @@ public async Task<string> RenderViewToStringAsync<TModel>(string name, TModel mo
             }
         }
 
+        private IView FindView(ActionContext actionContext, string viewName)
+        {
+            var getViewResult = _viewEngine.GetView(executingFilePath: null, viewPath: viewName, isMainPage: true);
+            if (getViewResult.Success)
+            {
+                return getViewResult.View;
+            }
+
+            var findViewResult = _viewEngine.FindView(actionContext, viewName, isMainPage: true);
+            if (findViewResult.Success)
+            {
+                return findViewResult.View;
+            }
+
+            var searchedLocations = getViewResult.SearchedLocations.Concat(findViewResult.SearchedLocations);
+            var errorMessage = string.Join(
+                Environment.NewLine,
+                new[] { $"Unable to find view '{viewName}'. The following locations were searched:" }.Concat(searchedLocations)); ;
+
+            throw new InvalidOperationException(errorMessage);
+        }
+
         private ActionContext GetActionContext()
         {
             var httpContext = new DefaultHttpContext();