Render data from database in layout file - razor

Question

I want to include data (fetching from a database) in the _layout file of my asp.net mvc core project.
Situation:
_Layout page
#if (SignInManager.IsSignedIn(User))
{
Html.Action("Modules", "Layout")
}
Controllers/LayoutController.cs
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
namespace project.Controllers
{
public class LayoutController : Controller
{
...
public ActionResult Modules()
{
///Return all the modules
return PartialView("_Modules", moduleAccess.ToList());
}
}
}
Views/Shared/_Modules.cshtml
#model IEnumerable<project.Models.Module>
<div class="two wide column">
<div class="ui menu" id="modules">
#foreach (var item in Model)
{
<a class="item">
#Html.DisplayFor(modelItem => item.Name)
</a>
}
</div>
When going the webpage I get the following error:
'IHtmlHelper<dynamic>' does not contain a definition for 'Action' and the best extension method overload 'UrlHelperExtensions.Action(IUrlHelper, string, object)' requires a receiver of type 'IUrlHelper'
What am I doing wrong? How can I get the data in the layout page?

Answer 1

In ASP.NET Core instead of Html.Action use View Components: #await Component.InvoceAsync.
You can still use #await Html.RenderPariantAsync and pass there some data from the model if you want.

Answer 2

Solution with view components
ViewComponents/ModuleListViewComponent.cs
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace ViewComponents
{
public class ModuleListViewComponent : ViewComponent
{
...
public async Task<IViewComponentResult> InvokeAsync()
{
return View(moduleAccess.ToList());
}
}
}
Views/Shared/Components/ModuleList/Default.cshtml
#model IEnumerable<project.Models.AdminModels.Module>
<div class="two wide column">
<div class="ui left vertical labeled icon menu stackable" id="modules">
#foreach (var module in Model)
{
<a class="item">
#module.Name
</a>
}
</div>
</div>
Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml
#if (SignInManager.IsSignedIn(User))
{
#await Component.InvokeAsync("ModuleList")
}