I had a similar need for something like this and found that by creating an authorization filter (implementing/deriving from FilterAttribute, IAuthorizationFilter
) rather than a regular action filter (deriving from ActionFilterAttribute
), and setting Inherited=true
and AllowMultiple=false
on the attribute, that it would only run once at the appropriate spot.
This means I am able to "cascade" my filter down from a base controller (the site-wide default), to a derived controller (for example the AdminController or whatever), or even further down to an individual action method.
For example,
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Class|AttributeTargets.Method, Inherited=true, AllowMultiple=false)]
public class MyCustomAttribute : FilterAttribute, IAuthorizationFilter
{
private MyCustomMode _Mode;
public MyCustomAttribute(MyCustomMode mode)
{
_Mode = mode;
}
public virtual void OnAuthorization(AuthorizationContext filterContext)
{
if (filterContext == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("filterContext");
}
// run my own logic here.
// set the filterContext.Result to anything non-null (such as
// a RedirectResult?) to skip the action method's execution.
//
//
}
}
public enum MyCustomMode
{
Enforce,
Ignore
}
And then to use it, I can apply it to my super-controller,
[MyCustomAttribute(Ignore)]
public class BaseController : Controller
{
}
And I can change/override it for specific controllers, or even for specific actions!
[MyCustomAttribute(Enforce)]
public class AdministrationController : BaseController
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
}
[MyCustomAttribute(Ignore)]
public ActionResult SomeBasicPageSuchAsAHelpDocument()
{
}
}
This allowed me to "turn off" the filter for specific cases, while still being able to apply it as a default on either the whole controller or whole application.
Good luck!