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c#javascriptajaxasp.net-mvc
Alex
Alex

Reputation: 38529

Ajax post to ASP.net MVC controller - object properties are null

I've got an ajax post being constructed like this:

var myData = [
    {
        id: "a",
        name: "Name 1"
    },
    {
        id: "b",
        name: "Name 2"
    }
];

$.ajax({
    type: 'POST',
    url: '/myurl/myAction',
    data: { items: myData },
    dataType: 'json',
    error: function (err) {
        alert("error - " + err);
    }
});

And an MVC controller:

[HttpPost]
public JsonResult MyAction(MyClass[] items)
{

}

MyClass is just a simple representation of the data:

public class MyClass {
    public string Name {get; set; }
    public string Id {get; set; }
}

When the javascript makes the post request, the controller action does indeed receive 2 items, however the properties (id, name) in these items are null.

Checking the request in fiddler, the body looks like this:

Name                 | Value
items[0][Name]       | Name 1
items[0][Id]         | a
items[1][Name]       | Name 2
items[1][Id]         | b

Have I missed something?

Upvotes: 34

Views: 37349

Answers (2)

HamidReza
HamidReza

Reputation: 1934

you can use this code to solve the problem :

$.ajax({
    url: '/myurl/myAction',
    data: { '': items },
    method: "POST",
    dataType: 'json',
    success: function (xhr, status, response) {
    },
    error: function (xhr, status, response) {
    }
});

[HttpPost]
public JsonResult MyAction(IEnumerable<MyClass> items)
{

}

Upvotes: -4

Darin Dimitrov
Darin Dimitrov

Reputation: 1039438

Have I missed something?

Yes, take a look at the following article to understand the correct wire format that the default model binder expects for binding collections. In other words, for this to work, instead of:

items[0][Name]       | Name 1
items[0][Id]         | a
items[1][Name]       | Name 2
items[1][Id]         | b

your payload should have looked like this:

items[0].Name       | Name 1
items[0].Id         | a
items[1].Name       | Name 2
items[1].Id         | b

Unfortunately with jQuery it can be quite frustrating to achieve this payload. For this reason I would recommend that you use a JSON payload if you want to send complex objects/arrays to your server with AJAX:

$.ajax({
    type: 'POST',
    url: '/myurl/myAction',
    data: JSON.stringify({ items: myData }),
    contentType: 'application/json',
    error: function (err) {
        alert("error - " + err);
    }
});

Things to notice:

  • data: JSON.stringify({ items: myData }) instead of data: { items: myData }
  • Added contentType: 'application/json'
  • Gotten rid of dataType: 'json'

Now your payload looks like this:

{"items":[{"id":"a","name":"Name 1"},{"id":"b","name":"Name 2"}]}

Upvotes: 65

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