MvcHtmlString MVC 2 Conversion Error
asp.net-mvc-2, model-view-controller
Solution
`Html.ActionLink()` does no longer return a string. It now returns a MvcHtmlString. A MvcHtmlString does not have a method called `.Substring()` (only string does). If you call `.ToString()` or `.ToHtmlString()` (will encode the value) then you will be able to call `.Substring()`. See this link.
Problem
I converted my project from MVC 1 to MVC 2 and Visual Studio 2008 gives me the following error: ``` Error 1 'System.Web.Mvc.MvcHtmlString' does not contain a definition for 'Substring' and no extension method 'Substring' accepting a first argument of type 'System.Web.Mvc.MvcHtmlString' could be found (are you missing a using directive or an assembly reference?) C:\Dev\SapientFansite\SapientFansiteApplication\SapientFansiteWeb\Code\ExtensionMethods\Html.cs 68 75 SapientDevelopment.SapientFansite.Web ``` Here is the code the error is pointing to. It is specifically having trouble with the "linkHtml.Substring(0, 2)". ``` var linkHtml = htmlHelper.ActionLink(linkText, actionName, controllerName); if (isActiveMenuItem) { linkHtml = string.Format("{0} class=\"active\" {1}", linkHtml.Substring(0, 2), linkHtml.Substring(3)); } return linkHtml; } ``` I suspect that it has something to do with a missing reference or something but I'm at a loss.