CODEWITHSUNDEEP
asp.net-mvc
Mark Meisel
Mark Meisel

Reputation: 861

MVC Deserializes null into "null" (string)

I'm passing an object from jQuery to a MVC3 Controller via a $.ajax POST. While debugging using Developer Tools, I can see the object I'm assigning to the ajax data property. The object contains properties whose value is null. When I debug the Controller, the properties which were null in the JS Debugger are now "null" (strings).

Why is this? What can I do to prevent this from happening?

C# Object

public class User
{
   public string Name { get; set; }
}

Javascript Object

var user = {
Name: null
}

Controller Method

public JsonResult HelloWorld(User user) { .. some logic .. }

ajax Call

var data = user;
$.ajax({
url: '/Controller/HelloWorld/',
data: data,
type: 'post',
success: ...
error: ...
})

Upvotes: 4

Views: 723

Answers (1)

Darin Dimitrov
Darin Dimitrov

Reputation: 1039578

Yeap, that's an unfortunate side effect with the default model binder. You could avoid it by either not including null properties in the request at all or by using a JSON request:

$.ajax({
    url: '@Url.Action("HelloWorld", "Controller")',
    data: JSON.stringify({ Name: null }),
    contentType: 'application/json',
    type: 'post',
    success: function (result) {
        // ...
    }
});

Things to notice:

  • contentType: 'application/json'.
  • JSON.stringify around the data parameter in order to convert to a JSON string the request.

Upvotes: 4

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