ASP.NET MVC4 - OutputCache exception

Question

I'm able to appropriately utilize the ASP.NET MVC4 OutputCache with the following code as an attribute on my Controller's Index():

[OutputCache(Duration = 600, VaryByParam = "none")]

However,

To manage differing caching scenario's, per the MSDN documentation we can cache (for example) our controllers Index() method using OutputCache. Following the documentation we end up with the following code:

in our Controller

    //[OutputCache(Duration = 600, VaryByParam = "none")] //works without any modification to the Web.config
    [OutputCache(CacheProfile = "Cache1Hour", VaryByParam = "none")]
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return View();
    }

and in our Web.config

  <system.web>
    <caching>
      <outputCacheSettings>
          <outputCacheProfiles>
              <add name="Cache1Hour" duration="3600"/>
          </outputCacheProfiles>
      </outputCacheSettings>
    </caching>
            ...
            ...
            ...
  </system.web>

Question/Problem: evidently I'm missing something as I continually throw the following exception:

Exception Details: System.Web.HttpException: The 'Cache1Hour' cache profile is not defined. Please define it in the configuration file.

full exception:

Server Error in '/' Application.
The 'Cache1Hour' cache profile is not defined.  Please define it in the configuration file.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.Web.HttpException: The 'Cache1Hour' cache profile is not defined.  Please define it in the configuration file.

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:


[HttpException (0x80004005): The 'Cache1Hour' cache profile is not defined.  Please define it in the configuration file.]
   System.Web.UI.Page.InitOutputCache(OutputCacheParameters cacheSettings) +3136900
   System.Web.Mvc.OutputCachedPage.FrameworkInitialize() +47
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +48
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest() +72
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestWithNoAssert(HttpContext context) +21
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequest(HttpContext context) +58
   System.Web.Mvc.OutputCacheAttribute.OnResultExecuting(ResultExecutingContext filterContext) +184
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilter(IResultFilter filter, ResultExecutingContext preContext, Func`1 continuation) +72
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass1c.<InvokeActionResultWithFilters>b__19() +72
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilter(IResultFilter filter, ResultExecutingContext preContext, Func`1 continuation) +388
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass1c.<InvokeActionResultWithFilters>b__19() +72
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList`1 filters, ActionResult actionResult) +303
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass2a.<BeginInvokeAction>b__20() +155
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass25.<BeginInvokeAction>b__22(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +184
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult`1.End() +136
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +56
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +40
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass1d.<BeginExecuteCore>b__18(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +40
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass4.<MakeVoidDelegate>b__3(IAsyncResult ar) +47
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult`1.End() +151
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +59
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +40
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecuteCore(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +44
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass4.<MakeVoidDelegate>b__3(IAsyncResult ar) +47
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult`1.End() +151
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +59
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +40
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +39
   System.Web.Mvc.Controller.System.Web.Mvc.Async.IAsyncController.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +39
   System.Web.Mvc.<>c__DisplayClass8.<BeginProcessRequest>b__3(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +45
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass4.<MakeVoidDelegate>b__3(IAsyncResult ar) +47
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.WrappedAsyncResult`1.End() +151
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +59
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.End(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Object tag) +40
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +40
   System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result) +38
   System.Web.CallHandlerExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +9629296
   System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +155

Answer 1

I found that I'd placed the config code in the 'View's' Web.config instead of the root Web.config. Once I placed:

<system.web>
    <caching>
      <outputCacheSettings>
          <outputCacheProfiles>
              <add name="Cache1Hour" duration="3600"/>
          </outputCacheProfiles>
      </outputCacheSettings>
    </caching>
    ...
    ...
    ...
</system.web>   

...into the correct Web.config the method was correctly cached, I hope this helps someone else. If nothing else the code and strategy I've displayed here in this post gives you minimum requirements to cache a method in your controller using OutputCache.