How to redirect to action mvc

Question

I am creating an ASP.NET MVC app and I would like it so when an error occurs I call another action which loads a different view.

public ActionResult Invoices()
{
    invoiceClass invoice = getInvoice();
    //do stuff with invoice
}

public invoiceClass getInvoice()
{
    invoiceClass invoice = new invoiceClass();
    try
    {
        // Do stuff
    }
    catch(exception e)
    {
        return RedirectToAction("Index");
    }
    return invoice;
}

I have a method that is very similar to this, when I step through the code, the exception is caught and it hits the redirect call then goes to the return and continues without redirecting. Am I missing something obvious?

Answer 1

If this is an HTTP entry point, you should be returning an ActionResult .

public ActionResult stuff()
{
    try
    {
        // Do stuff
    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
        //Return a RedirectResult
        return RedirectToAction("Index");
    }

    //Return a JsonResult
    //Example: return the JSON data { "number": 1 }
    return Json(new { number = 1 });
}

Edit

Here is how I would address your question given the edits you just made.

public ActionResult Invoices()
{
    try
    {
        invoiceClass invoice = getInvoice();
        //do stuff with invoice
        return Json(...);
    }
    catch
    {
        //Catch the exception at the top level
        return RedirectToAction("Index");
    }
}

public invoiceClass getInvoice()
{
    invoiceClass invoice = new invoiceClass();
    // Do stuff; possibly throw exception if something goes wrong
    return invoice;
}

Answer 2

you are missing a return

return RedirectToAction("Index");

And don't forget to change your return type to ActionResult

Answer 3

So Ive managed to find a solution to this problem however I'm certain there will be a better more efficient way.

public ActionResult Invoices()
{
    try{
        invoiceClass invoice = getInvoice();
        //do stuff with invoice
    }catch (exception e){
        return RedirectToAction("Index");
    }
}

public invoiceClass getInvoice()
{
    invoiceClass invoice = new invoiceClass();
    try
    {
        // Do stuff
    }
    catch(exception e)
    {
        index(); //<--the action result
    }
    return invoice;
}

calling index() runs through the method then throws an exception in the Invoices() method which then redirects.