Generic Controller Blogpost

foo.cs

    public abstract class ModelRoot
    {
        public virtual int Id { get; set; }
    }
    
    
    public class Foo : ModelRoot
    {
        public string FirstName { get; set; }
        public string LastName { get; set; }
    }

GController.cs

    
    // Generic Controller base class
    public abstract class GController<TModel> : Controller where TModel : ModelRoot
    {
        private readonly Mvc4Context _context = new Mvc4Context();

        // Public accessors for dbContext
        public Mvc4Context DbContext { get { return _context; } }

        public virtual ViewResult Index()
        {
            return View(_context.Set<TModel>().ToList());
        }

        public virtual ViewResult Details(int id)
        {
            return View(_context.Set<TModel>().Find(id));
        }

        public virtual ActionResult Create()
        {
            return View();
        }

        [HttpPost]
        public ActionResult Create(TModel model)
        {
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                _context.Set<TModel>().Add(model);
                _context.SaveChanges();
                if (Request.IsAjaxRequest())
                {
                    return Json(model, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);
                }
                return RedirectToAction("Index");
            }
            return View();
        }

        public virtual ActionResult Edit(int id)
        {
            return View(_context.Set<TModel>().Find(id));
        }

        [HttpPost]
        public virtual ActionResult Edit(TModel model)
        {
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                _context.Entry(model).State = EntityState.Modified;
                _context.SaveChanges();
                return RedirectToAction("Index");
            }
            return View();
        }


        public ActionResult Delete(int id)
        {
            return View(_context.Set<TModel>().Find(id));
        }

        [HttpPost, ActionName("Delete")]
        public ActionResult DeleteConfirmed(int id)
        {
            var entity = _context.Set<TModel>().Find(id);
            _context.Set<TModel>().Remove(entity);
            _context.SaveChanges();

            return RedirectToAction("Index");
        }

    }

NewFooController.cs

    // Foo controller implemented with generic controller
    public class FooController : GController<Foo>
    {
        public override ViewResult Index()
        {
            return View(DbContext.Set<Foo>().Include(foo => foo.Bar));
        }
    }

StandardFooController.cs

    // standard foo controller implementation
    public class FoosController : Controller
    {
        private Mvc4Context context = new Mvc4Context();

        public ViewResult Index()
        {
            return View(context.Foos.ToList());
        }

        public ViewResult Details(int id)
        {
            Foo foo = context.Foos.Single(x => x.Id == id);
            return View(foo);
        }

        public ActionResult Create()
        {
            return View();
        } 

        [HttpPost]
        public ActionResult Create(Foo foo)
        {
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                context.Foos.Add(foo);
                context.SaveChanges();
                return RedirectToAction("Index");  
            }

            return View(foo);
        }
        
        public ActionResult Edit(int id)
        {
            Foo foo = context.Foos.Single(x => x.Id == id);
            return View(foo);
        }

        [HttpPost]
        public ActionResult Edit(Foo foo)
        {
            if (ModelState.IsValid)
            {
                context.Entry(foo).State = EntityState.Modified;
                context.SaveChanges();
                return RedirectToAction("Index");
            }
            return View(foo);
        }

        public ActionResult Delete(int id)
        {
            Foo foo = context.Foos.Single(x => x.Id == id);
            return View(foo);
        }

        [HttpPost, ActionName("Delete")]
        public ActionResult DeleteConfirmed(int id)
        {
            Foo foo = context.Foos.Single(x => x.Id == id);
            context.Foos.Remove(foo);
            context.SaveChanges();
            return RedirectToAction("Index");
        }
    }