ASP.NET 2.0: Rewriting URL Paths just got a whole lot easier

Rewriting URL paths in ASP.NET 2.0 is referred to as URL Mapping. Instead of putting some code in your Application_BeginRequest method, you can now just put a few lines in your Web.Config file and like magic you can rewrite those URL paths with ease.

With URL Mapping you can turn a not so friendly URL like ~/Blog/Post/11/12/2005/145.aspx into ~/TheCoolestPost.aspx

Example Web.Config File:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<configuration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/.NetConfiguration/v2.0">
  <system.web>


    <urlMappings enabled="true">
      <add
          url="~/Category.aspx"
          mappedUrl="~/Default.aspx?category=default" />
      <add
          url="~/Autos.aspx"
          mappedUrl="~/Default.aspx?category=autos" />
      <add
          url="~/Games.aspx"
          mappedUrl="~/Default.aspx?category=games" />
      <add
          url="~/Health.aspx"
          mappedUrl="~/Default.aspx?category=health" />
      <add
          url="~/News.aspx"
          mappedUrl="~/Default.aspx?category=news" />
    </urlMappings>


  </system.web>
</configuration>

Since the Web.Config file is an XML document, you could add functionality to the admin section of your app to add/edit/delete custom URL Mappings. This is definitely something I’m going to keep in mind for future ASP.NET 2.0 app I design/build.

Kudos to the ASP.NET team! This is just one of the many new features added to ASP.NET 2.0. And they couldn’t have made it any easier to use! <!– URL Mapping in ASP.NET 2.0: http://beta.asp.net/QUICKSTART/aspnet/doc/navigation/urlmapping.aspx

If you want to see how to rewrite url paths with ASP.NET 1.x go here: http://edsid.com/blog/articles/160.aspx –>